[Peetwo]

Chalk & Cheese: Transport Canada v CASA

Rehash of what is currently publicly available on the ICAO 2023 audit report:

In February 2024 ICAO completed its final report following a focussed aviation safety audit held in September 2023. The report reaffirmed that Australia has an effective aviation safety oversight system. The report highlighted areas where Australia could more fully realise the benefits of closer alignment with ICAO’s standards and practices and these areas will be responded to through corrective action plans agreed with ICAO and updates to our State Safety Program (SSP) and National Aviation Safety Plan (NASP) this year. ICAO also undertook a State Safety Programme Implementation Assessment in September 2023. ICAO assessed Australia as having a mature aviation safety system overall that proactively identifies, manages and mitigates safety risks.

Australia’s results can be viewed via the ICAO website.

And from the Albo Governments WOFTAM GWEP MKII (Great White Elephant Paper):

ICAO audited Australia’s aviation safety systems in 2023

In September 2023, ICAO conducted an audit of Australia’s State Safety Programme Implementation.  ICAO assessed Australia as having a mature aviation safety system overall that proactively identifies, manages and mitigates safety risks. The audit also identified some areas where Australia can enhance its air safety arrangements, including by strengthening some regulations and processes for oversight of the industry.

The Australian Government welcomes this assessment and will take up ICAO recommendations to maintain Australia’s internationally respected high safety standards. The Australian Government will continue to seek closer alignment with ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices.

The Australian Government is updating Australia’s aviation safety planning documents

As part of our ongoing commitment to aviation safety, the Australian Government will publish an updated State Safety Programme, National Aviation Safety Plan and National Air Navigation Plan in 2024, which will set out how Australia will achieve aviation safety outcomes, consistent with our international obligations. These documents will complement and add to policy directions articulated in the Aviation White Paper.

All ICAO member states publish a State Safety Program. Australia’s program is the primary document describing how Australia’s aviation agencies ensure the effectiveness of our aviation safety system. It summarises all Australian aviation safety related legislation; and risk management and assurance processes.

However, despite all the above weasel words and Motherhood statements, outlining the Aviation Safety bureaucracies good intentions, we are yet to see as an industry the actual findings and the intended action plans for addressing the NCN findings of the ICAO audit? Like most sensitive and potentially embarrassing independent assessments of Albo's government performance, it would seem that the audit report is in a secretive non-transparent bubble?? - 

In a similar timeline the Canadians were also audited by ICAO in 2023 and unfortunately their report was leaked and they ended up with bad headlines. Example, via AvWeb:

Canada Barely Passes ICAO Audit

Canadian airlines and the country’s regulator are defending aviation safety in the country after the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO) gave Canada a C in its implementation of international safety…

Russ Niles

Updated Dec 13, 2023 7:21 AM EST



Canadian airlines and the country's regulator are defending aviation safety in the country after the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO) gave Canada a C in its implementation of international safety standards. The confidential report, obtained by the Canadian Press news agency, gave Canada a score of 64 out of 100 according to CH-Aviation. A similar audit in 2005 rated Canada at 95 out of 100. The report apparently said Canada's aircraft operations, airports and air navigation only barely make the grade. The audit recommends Transport Canada set up systems to monitor regulatory compliance by airlines and ensure proper training and fatigue management for air traffic controllers. The low score prompted quick reaction from Transport Canada and the country's two largest airlines.

“ICAO has not identified any significant safety concerns with Canada’s civil aviation system, and we know our country’s air sector is among the safest in the world,” Transport Ministry spokeswoman Laura Scaffidi told the publication. Air Canada said in a statement that the ICAO document "was not an audit of the safe operation of Canadian aircraft." The airline said it was recently audited by the International Air Transportation Association and "passed with exemplary findings." WestJet said the audit focused on Transport Canada and not Canadian operators "and therefore do not assess or reflect WestJet’s industry leading safety standards."

 
Plus read JDA solutions article: Canada’s bad USOAP score= message to other Civil Aviation Authorities? 

Hmm...perhaps, like the Canucks, we could hope for the official report to be leaked?? - 

However that is where the two countries diverge in moral responsibility as signatories to the Chicago convention.

From the TC website, 21 March 2024, the Canucks don't shirk or deny the ICAO audit findings:

TRAN March 21, 2024, Briefing on Infrastructure in Canada
22. International Civil Aviation Organization Audit (ICAO)International Civil Aviation Organization Audit 2023
Location: National
Issue/source: Results of International Civil Aviation Organization Audit / TRAN
Date: March 2024

Suggested Responses

• Transport Canada (TC) officials have received the final audit report from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and have submitted the required corrective actions.
  
• As a signatory to the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation, and host nation of the ICAO, Canada pledges its firm commitment to adhering to the recommended practices established by the ICAO and will take action to address the findings.
  
• The ICAO has not identified any safety concerns with Canada’s civil aviation system.
  
• Transport Canada remains confident in the safety of Canada’s aviation system. Canadian carriers, maintenance organizations, manufacturers and airports continue to operate cohesively.
  
• Accident and incident statistics demonstrate that Canada has one of the safest civil aviation ecosystems in the world.
  
• Transport Canada officials have been engaging with international counterparts to reaffirm safety performance, showcase aeronautical rigor, and commitment to the ICAO standards, emphasizing proactive measures in response to audit findings.
  

Background Information

• From May to June 2023, Transport Canada (TC) was audited by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), as part of the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme. Canada received an audit score of 65.1%, a significant decline from the last audit performed in 2005 when Canada was among the top-10 performing countries.
  
• Canada is one of the first states to go through a full-scope audit under the ICAO’s revised audit methodology.
  
• This audit evaluated the effectiveness of Canada’s regulatory system and its alignment with international norms. It is not a direct measure of safety indicators or an assessment of unsafe operations within the Canadian aviation industry.
  
• Canada’s audit score has been published on the ICAO website in December 2023.
  
• Transport Canada submitted the required Corrective Action Plans within the ICAO 45-day timeline that concluded on January 29, 2024. The ICAO has 60 days to review and assess the Corrective Action Plans. Should a Corrective Action Plan not fully address the finding, Canada will have 45 days to amend and resubmit the Corrective Action Plan.
  
• Transport Canada has established an International Civil Aviation Branch that will focus on ICAO compliance, international policy and engagement with domestic and international stakeholders, Safer skies, and technical cooperation.
  
• Specific examples of how safety performance is maintained and enhanced in Canada include
  

   - Since 2018, there have been 29 Regulatory amendments to the Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARs).
   - Since its inception in 1990, the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) has made 154 recommendations to TC. To date, 133 recommendations have been addressed to strengthen the safety posture of civil aviation.
   - There were no accidents in the Canadian commuter operations sector in 2022, a decrease from the previous year’s total of one. The previous 10-year average in this sector was 2.3 accidents per year.
   - Airline operations in Canada continue to be one of the safest in the world. In 2022, there was one accident in this sector; a decrease from the previous 10-year average of 3.8 accidents per year.

Meanwhile Downunda in an apparently similar ICAO audit result, what do we get from Betsy's Department and the aviation safety bureaucracy...??

KC sums up the farce and detriment to the Australian economy, coupled with the international embarrassment in non-compliance with the ICAO SARPs:





MTF...P2