THE downgrading of Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia’s (CAAM) air safety rating by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States is a damning assessment of this country’s aviation industry, in particular and standards maintenance in government agencies generally.

This slide, from the coveted category 1 to category 2, suggests that the professionalism of the aviation personnel as a whole cannot stand up to international scrutiny, which is disturbing particularly where it concerns the safety and security of flying passengers.

It is noteworthy that this is the first time in Malaysian history that the country has been dropped from the first-tier safety status. There shouldn’t be room for slack in an important sector such as this.  

If it’s true, as shown by the findings of a banking research outfit, that some of the weaknesses in our aviation sector are lack of new workers, underpaid employees and poor staff retention, then it is incumbent upon CAAM to address these issues as soon as possible so that there are sufficient personnel, who are well trained and highly competent, to manage the industry and maintain the required standards.

To reiterate, CAAM should head-hunt the best in the business, irrespective of race and religion, in an effort to regain and maintain the top category of safety status, which comes with many perks. Meritocracy is clearly of great importance here.

It should be of concern to us all that it would take about two years or even more to regain category 1 status, if the experience of other countries, which had been downgraded, is any guide.

The problem is serious enough to bring about adverse consequences. For one thing, the safety of Malaysian carriers can be suspect in the eyes of the public, which can be detrimental to particularly Malaysian Airlines that has been struggling to stay afloat all these years.

International travellers’ confidence in our national carriers may be further dampened against the backdrop of the MH370 flight tragedy of 2014.

Such a situation may also affect the Visit Malaysia Year 2020 programme that is aimed to profit considerably from international visitors to Malaysia. In short, tourism may suffer to a certain extent by their reluctance to fly our national carriers.

This is apart from the fact that Malaysian pilots and engineers will not be able to find employment outside Malaysia, while maintenance, repair and overhaul businesses suffer.

As a tier-2 country that joins the ranks of Bangladesh, Thailand, Costa Rica, Curacao and Ghana, Malaysian carriers – in particular, AirAsia X – are no longer allowed to add new routes to and from the United States.

Nor can Malaysian carriers code-share with American ones. In particular, the code-sharing between Malaysian Airlines and American Airlines will have to cease given the recent downgrade.

This latest development might also put into jeopardy the planned partnership between Malaysian Airlines and Singapore Airlines that seeks revenue-sharing agreement.

Quality slip of this nature should remind us of the importance of achieving and maintaining standards not only for the aviation industry, but also other vital governmental institutions, such as schools, universities and criminal justice system, for this has serious socio-economic and political implications.

In the wider context of the nation preparing itself for the phenomenon called IR4.0 (Fourth Industrial Revolution), the task of achieving and maintaining high standards and competency should not slip away from our attention and concern. – November 15, 2019.