Summary
Santo Domingo.- “To give peace of mind to aviation users in the Dominican Republic, I can report that in that final review carried out by the Faa no failure was found that was not duly corrected,” said Javier “J” Rodríguez, the specialist. American who led the team of technical advisors hired by the Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation Idac during the recent audit carried out by the United States Federal Aviation Administration Faa.
Santo Domingo.- “To give peace of mind to aviation users in the Dominican Republic, I can report that in that final review carried out by the Faa no failure was found that was not duly corrected,” said Javier “J” Rodríguez, the specialist. American who led the team of technical advisors hired by the Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation Idac during the recent audit carried out by the United States Federal Aviation Administration Faa.
The former Faa technician recognized that the participation of President Luis Abinader was a key factor in the efforts to overcome the great challenge of the Iasa audit, based on Icao standards, since under the conditions detected in 2020 and possibly even In 2022 the country was not prepared to save category 1.
“The synergy that emerged between President Abinader and director Porcella in monitoring the audit issue, from the first day that possibility was announced, was very important in the timely and effective response offered by the Dominican State in the face of the imminent risk. that the country’s aviation faced,” Rodríguez said.
Porcella’s leadership stands out
When evaluating the actions of the Idac authorities, Rodríguez highlighted that the general director Héctor Porcella showed an impressive understanding of the problem and took care of putting together the strategy to prevent the situation from getting out of hand for the country.
“From the first moment, Porcella acted with a clear sense of urgency and took care of hiring the group of international experts with the appropriate qualifications, plus 20 Dominican technicians who worked at forced pace and without hours to review the entire system and fine-tune the regulations, regulations and operational protocols that had not been duly updated for several years,” said Rodríguez.
He said that between President Abinader, the Minister of Tourism David Collado and the aviation authorities, an effective interaction has worked to promote the recovery and strengthening of the sector, making possible the notable growth of the aeronautical park, which already has three new airlines. and four times more seats than were available before the pandemic.
Rodríguez produced his statements when participating, along with former Faa technician Joaquín Ochoa, who was also part of the international advisory group hired by the Idac, in an interview on the program “Now for Super 7.”
About the reform of law 491-06
Ochoa referred to the new law recently approved by Congress as part of the arrangements agreed with the FAA authorities. He indicated that the reform to law 491-06, enacted in 2007, had to be updated to respond to the needs and complexities of current aviation.
“It was part of the updating process, the Law needed to be promulgated and it was already promulgated, it was sent to the Faa in draft form, so that it could issue its opinion and they gave us approval,” said Ochoa.
He argued that the update to said law places the country in an advantageous condition to maintain a bilateral exchange relationship with the United States and other countries in the world, since they are recommendations of the Icao, which ensures that States comply with these operational safety standards. required, to provide peace of mind to recipient countries.