LETTERS: Referring to the story "RM4.4B Blow for Aviation Industry?" on Feb 12, it is surprising that the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) took almost three months to comment on the downgrade of Malaysia’s civil aviation safety from Category 1 to Category 2 in November by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Mavcom states that the downgrade may erase up to RM4 billion revenue for Malaysian carriers, Malaysia Airlines Berhad, AirAsia and AirAsia X, and another RM400 million for airport operators should the respective regulatory body of China, South Korea and Japan follow the FAA downgrade and prohibit the three carriers from expanding its services.
FAA’s downgrade, however, does not affect existing routes. The story also states Mavcom’s concern about the Malaysian carriers as the airlines may suffer the same fate as Thailand when it was downgraded from Category 1 to Category 2 in 2015 by FAA.
As one who works closely with the civil aviation industry in the Asia Pacific, I would like to say that Thai carriers were barred from expanding their services including operating charter flights to China, Korea and Japan by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), Ministry of Infrastructure, Land and Transport (MLIT), South Korea and the Civil Aviation Bureau (CAB) of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Government of Japan respectively.
This move was taken after the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) red-flagged Thailand for safety oversights in June 2015.
This was followed by the FAA downgrade two months later. In February 2017, ICAO after a technical review on Thailand, lifted the red flag but the FAA downgrade remains.
So, i would like to take the opportunity to say that no Malaysian carrier has been red-flagged by ICAO, or IACO and FAA at the same time. For that, it is unlikely that Malaysian carriers will suffer the same fate as Thailand.
The story also reported Mavcom saying that after Malaysia’s recent re-election as an ICAO council member for the 2019-2022 period, the downgrade is particularly embarrassing and tarnishes the image of the country’s image.
However, the re-election should be viewed positively for Malaysia as it gives the country the chance to work towards being elevated to Category 1 again.
I want to stress again that Malaysia has never been red flagged by ICAO, or ICAO and FAA at the same time. The downgrade by FAA is a separate issue.
WILLIAM DENNIS
Subang Jaya
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times