US embassy cable - 05NAIROBI3983

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NAIROBI 003983 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FAA FOR CORNELIA HUNTER, CJ COLLINS AND JENNIFER FANGMAN 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAIR, EAID, KE 
SUBJECT: SAFE SKIES; FEEDBACK FROM KENYANS ON FAA TRAINING 
COURSES 
 
1. Summary: Five managers and one technician from the Kenya 
Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) and Kenya Airport Authority 
(KAA) whom FAA sent to training courses in August praised 
the classes and said they would strive to use the 
information to improve management, both of security and more 
widely within their agencies.  KCAA DG Kuto assured Emboffs 
the agencies are developing incentives and commitments to 
ensure retention of trainees. The FAA training under the 
Safe Skies Initiative should contribute significantly to 
improvements in civil aviation security and safety in Kenya. 
Emboffs will check back with trainees in early 2006 for a 
progress report.  End Summary. 
 
2. In response to a proposal from Embassy, KCAA official 
Cornel Oguya arranged a meeting for EconOff Fleitman and DHS 
Jones with KCAA and KAA officials recently returned from FAA 
training courses to provide feedback on the classes and 
their plans for implementing the training in their agencies. 
KCAA Human Resources Manager Grace Okungu, KCAA Aviation 
Security Manager Victor Mbithi, and KAA's airport security 
managers Machio Harrison, Evans Achochi and John Kirarei 
attended the August 18-31 session of the Advanced Manager 
Training (Course 10002) at the FAA's Center for Management 
and Executive Leadership (CMEL) in Palm Coast, Florida. 
John Nyamu attended the August 22-26 ILS Light Inspection 
for Airways Facilities (Course 43854) in Oklahoma City.  KAA 
Management Training and Development Director Mary Gachochu 
and other officials also attended. 
 
3. KCAA Director General Kuto opened the meeting by 
expressing gratitude for the valuable training resources FAA 
was providing under the Safe Skies program and noting that 
the trainees had found the courses very good.  He strongly 
regretted the subsequent resignations of some other previous 
training recipients, noting both the loss of valuable FAA 
resources, and the disruption to KCAA.  He said that KCAA 
was developing both retention incentives and binding 
agreements to prevent future losses. 
 
4. All of the management trainees praised the content and 
training procedures used in the course, noting that previous 
training had focused entirely on technical security issues. 
Kirarei found the practical demonstrations and interaction 
with colleagues from other countries especially useful. 
Harrison asked for longer courses and additional specialized 
instructors that would provide more in-depth, detailed 
information.  Seeing a large foreign airport operation was 
an eye-opening experience for the class.  After discussion, 
the group agreed that in order to make future courses even 
more relevant, trainees and management would review the 
course outline and provide some suggestions or case studies 
for discussion.  All agreed they need to develop means to 
sustain improvements in performance that come after a 
security lapse was noted and corrected. 
 
5. Okungu said the training came at the right time in KCAA's 
development of management systems in an independent agency, 
and fit perfectly into the strategic plan.  With many more 
managers needing such training, she urged holding similar 
courses at the East Africa School of Aviation at Kenyatta 
Airport.  She also recommended bringing in students from 
East African Community (EAC) members Tanzania and Uganda to 
build a shared vision across the region, conjecturing that 
training 30% of the management cadre across the EAC would 
create the critical mass needed to change the management 
culture. 
 
6. KAA Management Director Gachochu agreed on the need for 
localized training, stressing the security managers' need 
for broader management training, especially to improve 
customer service skills.  Training top managers would 
incline them to encourage middle management to use the 
management techniques.  She underscored the need for the 
trainees to develop means to demonstrate to their senior 
management the training's benefit to the organization, 
especially the saving of resources. 
 
7. DHS's Jones suggested the FAA could provide the course 
materials and perhaps send one trainer to assist and train 
local instructors for the first session.  He invited KCAA to 
submit a proposal, and suggested that future FAA courses 
could also be tailored to include a train the trainer 
component. 
 
8. Nyamu, who took the ILS Light Inspection course, praised 
the class and said he would implement it for the upcoming 
inspection.  KAA repeated that localized training was needed 
for six more inspectors to cover the three airports with 
ILS.  However, they were unsure whether the East Africa 
Aviation School had the ILS equipment needed for training. 
 
9. Everyone agreed to hold another session in early 2006 to 
discuss their progress in implementing the course materials 
and improving management in their agencies. 
 
BELLAMY