A group of industry associations have written to the EU’s The Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE) calling for the suspension of consultation and rukle making activities that were scheduled for the timeframe 2020 to 2024, to help the industry cope with Covid 19.
According to the ERA it has signed a joint letter with IATA, A4E and AIRE to DG MOVE, which urges EASA to temporarily freeze all non-urgent consultation and rulemaking activities and provide an extension for maintenance tasks to complement the measures already co-ordinated on personnel licensing and airworthiness review certificates enabling the performance of major maintenance checks.
In a statement announcing the letter ERA said that it also supports IATA’s renewed call to governments to take urgent measures to ensure that vital air cargo supply lines remain open, efficient and effective.
“The impact of COVID-19 on airlines around the world is plain to see as the pandemic challenges the viability of the global air transport system like never before. The current industry crisis is much worse and more widespread than 9/11, SARS or the global financial crisis,” said the ERA.
“The process under regulation EU2019/373, calls for meaningful consultation, which simply cannot happen at this time. The current crisis means that we still do not have an updated STATFOR forecast that reflects the traffic demand in the years ahead, which is a fundamental prerequisite for any performance conversation. Any forecasts that are produced will be subject to significant uncertainty, as airlines simply do not know how consumers will react in months ahead,” ERA added.
The ERA also highlighted concern over the availability of maintenance and repair organisations (MRO) to comply with approved aircraft maintenance programmes. “MROs have significantly reduced their working arrangements following COVID-19 restrictions put in place across the globe, but with many aircraft expected to require maintenance to return to service once borders reopen, this will without doubt have a knock-on effect and lead to a lack of available MRO slots,” said ERA.
Montserrat Barriga, ERA Director General, said: “Operators, authorities and the MRO industry must work together to ensure that aircraft safety is kept at the highest level, so we are prepared for when any relaxations and flexibility are considered.”