U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx recently announced that India's airline industry has improved its safety ratings by agreeing to international safety standards.
Since the agreement, Indian airlines have received a Category 1 rating according to the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) program. This allows India to fly to the U.S. with their own air carriers. The airlines can also carry the code for U.S. carriers through their operations.
Initially, in August 1997, India received a Category 1 rating. In December 2012, the FAA conducted an audit that identified some shortcomings according to international global standards; as a result, the FAA officials placed Indian airlines at a Category 2 safety level designation.
The international safety standards, created by the International Aviation Organization, are an important part of airline safety.
“U.S. and Indian aviation officials have an important, cooperative working relationship,” Foxx said. “The U.S. government commends the government of India for taking corrective action to address the safety oversight issues identified during the IASA process.”
The announcement was made after Foxx held a meeting with Ashok
Gajapathi Raju, the minister of civil aviation in India, in New Delhi.
“Our countries will continue to work together to meet the challenges of ensuring safety in international civil aviation,” FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said.
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