US embassy cable - 05KINGSTON831

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINGSTON 000831 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CAR (BENT) AND EB/TRA (MATTINGLEY) 
SOUTHCOM FOR J7 (RHANNAN) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAIR, ECON, ETRD, JM 
SUBJECT: CIVAIR:  FAA TEAM HOLDS FINAL CONSULTATIONS WITH 
JAMAICAN CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY 
 
REF: A. KINGSTON 0292 
 
     B. STATE 13346 
     C. POWELL/MATTINGLEY/BENT 3/17/05 FAXES 
     D. 04 KINGSTON 1738 
     E. 04 KINGSTON 1683 
     F. 04 STATE 130299 
 
1. (U) This message is Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU). 
Please handle accordingly. 
 
2. (SBU) Summary:  On March 16, an FAA team led by FAA Flight 
Standards Southern Region Division Manager Frederick Walker, 
held final consultations with Transport and Works Minister 
Pickersgill, Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA) DirGen 
Lewis, and other GOJ officials.  Lewis and his team provided 
a report on the status of JCAA's program to correct the 
deficiencies previously identified by FAA in its 
International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA).  FAA and 
JCAA delegation members reviewed the list of outstanding 
issues, and Walker and JCAA DG Lewis signed a Record of 
Discussion covering the day's proceedings.  Walker informed 
the GOJ representatives that, based upon the JCAA's 
presentation and the discussions, he would recommend that 
Jamaica not be downgraded, adding that FAA/Washington would 
make the final determination in this regard.  The Jamaican 
reps welcomed the news.  Not surprisingly, Pickersgill 
quickly reported the news to the press.  End Summary. 
 
3. (U) An FAA Assessment Team, headed by FAA Flight Standards 
Southern Region Division Manager Frederick Walker, visited 
Jamaica March 15-17 to hold final consultations with the 
Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA).  The consultations 
were part of FAA's formal reassessment  of the JCAA under 
FAA's International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) program 
(Regs B, F).  The consultations took place on March 16 at the 
JCAA headquarters in Kingston.  A full list of participants 
is at Paragraph 9. 
 
4. (SBU) Minister of Transport and Public Works Robert 
Pickersgill opened the meeting with a prepared statement in 
which he welcomed the FAA team and emphasized the GOJ's 
"political will" - up to and including that of Prime Minister 
P.J. Patterson - to do everything necessary to address FAA's 
concerns and to avoid a downgrade to Category Two.  He 
described intensive efforts by himself and by JCAA officials 
since the FAA reassessment visit in December 2004, and 
expressed, on behalf of the GOJ, official gratitude to FAA 
Administrator Blakey and to former Ambassador Cobb for their 
engagement on the issue.  Pickersgill said that JCAA 
officials were given "no leeway" on safety issues, and that 
he had repeatedly instructed JCAA staff to refer any such 
issues immediately to him to be shared with the Prime 
Minister, and resolved. 
 
5. (SBU) Following his presentation Pickersgill departed, 
leaving Lt. Col. Oscar Derby, JCAA Deputy Director General, 
to conduct a PowerPoint presentation addressing, point by 
point, JCAA's program to address FAA's eight areas of 
concern: 
 
1) primary aviation legislation; 
2) aviation regulations; 
3) CAA organization; 
4) adequate technically qualified personnel; 
5) inspector technical guidance; 
6) licensing and certification; 
7) records of continuing inspections and surveillance; and 
8) resolution of safety issues. 
 
6. (SBU) After further discussions among members of the two 
delegations, FAA team leader Walker informed Col. Lewis that 
the FAA team would recommend that, based upon the team's 
findings, Jamaica not be downgraded to Category Two, but with 
a caveat:  that FAA will, upon notification by JCAA, return 
to Jamaica no later than August 2005, to ensure that the few 
outstanding issues have been resolved.  The FAA team prepared 
a Record of Discussion covering the day's proceedings.  After 
reviewing the draft text with JCAA officials for accuracy, 
Walker and Lewis signed it.  (Copy faxed to EB/TRA and 
WHA/CAR - Ref C.)  At several points throughout the 
discussions, Walker reminded the GOJ that FAA/Washington, not 
his assessment team, would make the final determination 
vis-a-vis Jamaica. 
 
7. (U) Not surprisingly, Pickersgill held a press conference 
the following day, March 17, to announce that FAA had found 
that "...Jamaica continues to meet all international 
standards with regard to aviation safety and oversight." 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
8. (SBU) Pickersgill, Col. Lewis and all the GOJ 
representatives present were extremely pleased and visibly 
relieved by the FAA team's preliminary recommendation.  In 
fact, hours after the conclusion of the consultations, poloff 
received a telephone call from a senior GOJ official who 
expressed great enthusiasm at the news (which he and the 
entire Cabinet had just heard directly from Pickersgill), and 
reported that the Transport Minister was at that very moment 
enjoying a celebratory drink in the canteen at Parliament. 
Regrettably, politics being politics and Pickersgill an 
aspiring prime minister, Pickersgill and Air Jamaica Chairman 
Vin Lawrence have made several public (mis-)statements in 
which they implied, among other things, that FAA is 
responsible for the turmoil caused to Air Jamaica's 
operations (numerous canceled flights, stranded, angry 
passengers and diminished prestige for the national carrier), 
without mentioning key factors such as the serious 
operational deficiencies by Air Jamaica - under Lawrence - 
and JCAA's earlier failure - under Pickersgill - to provide 
proper, internationally required oversight. 
 
-------------------- 
List of Participants 
-------------------- 
 
9. (U): 
 
GOJ 
 
Robert Pickersgill, Minister of Transport and Public Works 
Dr. Alwin Hayles, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transport 
and Public Works 
Tony Kelly, Chairman, Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority 
Arturo Steward, Deputy Chairman, JCAA 
COL Torrance Lewis, Director General, JCAA 
LTC Oscar Derby, Deputy Director General, JCAA 
Marva Gordon Simmonds, Legal Counsel, JCAA 
Howard McCalla, JCAA 
Keith Hummel, JCAA 
Nari Williams-Singh, JCAA 
Ambassador Raymond Wolfe, Undersecretary for Multilateral 
Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade (MFAFT) 
Claudia Barnes, Chief, Legal Affairs Unit, MFAFT 
Gary Perkins, aviation consultant 
 
USG 
 
Frederick Walker 
Sergio Lopez, Miami Int'l Field Office, FAA 
Michael Jennison, Assistant Chief Counsel, FAA 
Mayte Ashby, Senior Representative, FAA 
Mark J. Powell, Chief, Political/Economic Section, Embassy 
Kingston 
TIGHE