JAMAICA CIVAIR: INFORMING GOJ OF FAA REQUEST FOR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINGSTON 000292

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CAR AND EB/TRA (BYERLE AND MATTINGLEY)
STATE PASS FAA FOR KRISTA BERQUIST
MONTREAL FOR U.S. MISSION TO ICAO

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAIR ECON ETRD PREL JM
SUBJECT: JAMAICA CIVAIR: INFORMING GOJ OF FAA REQUEST FOR
IMMEDIATE FINAL DISCUSSION ON POSSIBLE DOWNGRADE TO IASA
CATEGORY TWO STATUS

REF: A. STATE 13346


B. 04 STATE 130299

C. 04 KINGSTON 1738

D. 04 KINGSTON 1683

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SUMMARY
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1. (SBU) Per Ref A instructions, on January 27 Pol/Econ
Chief and Econoff met with Transport Minister Robert
Pickersgill, Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA) Chief
Col. Torrance Lewis, and members of their staffs, to advise
of the areas in which the FAA found the Jamaica Civil
Aviation Authority (JCAA) to be out of compliance with
minimum ICAO standards. Emboffs further requested that the
GOJ schedule, soonest, final consultations with the FAA to
review corrective actions thus far and determine whether
Jamaica should be downgraded to Category 2. There were some
initial protests from the GOJ representatives that the USG
wasn't giving the GOJ the time or notification it had
promised in June 2004 (Ref B),but Pickersgill silenced the
protests and informed Emboffs of his intention to cooperate
fully with the FAA's request and to work with the USG to
ensure the safety of Jamaica's air travel industry. End
Summary.


2. (SBU) Per Ref A instructions, on January 27 Pol/Econ Chief
Mark Powell and Econoff Eric Salzman met with Transport
Minister Robert Pickersgill, JCAA Chief Col. Torrance Lewis,
JCAA Chairman Tony Kelly, and members of their staffs
(including legal officer Marva Gordon Simmonds),to advise
them of the areas in which FAA found the Jamaica Civil
Aviation Authority (JCAA) not to be in compliance with
minimum ICAO standards. P/E Chief also specifically
requested that the GOJ agree to hold immediate formal final
discussion with FAA to discuss the shortcomings in the
present safety oversight system and related deficiencies. On
January 26, the day prior to the briefing for Pickersgill et
al, P/E Chief telephoned Joy Wheeler, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and Foreign Trade (MFAFT) Director for the Americas
and the Caribbean, to inform her of the next day's briefing
for Minister Pickersgill, and agreed to provide her the text
of the documents he would hand to Pickersgill the following
day. Wheeler expressed appreciation for the prior notice.
P/E Chief also attempted to contact Claudia Barnes, MFA
Acting Director for Economic Affairs, with the same heads-up,
leaving a message with her secretary.


3. (U) At the outset of the meeting with Pickersgill,
Pol/Econ Chief officially informed him that the USG considers
the demarche delivery to be "consultations" under the terms
of Article 6, and formally requested that the GOJ schedule
and hold final discussions with the USG (as represented by
the Department of State and the FAA) to go over the specific
deficiencies noted in the December assessment. Pol/Econ
Chief then delivered the talking points verbally, before
handing to Col Lewis, the Minister and others, copies of Ref
A letter to Col. Lewis from FAA's James Ballough, FAA
Reassessment Report, and talking points.


4. (SBU) Pickersgill questioned the time-frame for the final
decision-making process, citing the 60-day period given in
the June 2004 demarche letter (Ref B). Pol/Econ Chief
replied that the extent of the safety issues was not apparent
at that time, and that the severity of the oversight lapses
necessitates a shortening of the evaluation period. By the
end of the discussion, Pickersgill appeared to accept the
fact that the FAA would make its determination immediately
following final consultations with the GOJ.


5. (SBU) Lewis cited the June letter as well, stating that it
had promised that a written report on the FAA assessment
team's findings would be provided to the JCAA no more than
two weeks after the conclusion of the assessment, which was
concluded in early December. He stated that the document
given to him at the January 27th demarche delivery was the
first time he'd seen such a report, and that the JCAA had
been waiting for the report in order to begin taking specific
corrective actions.


6. (SBU) Pickersgill advised the GOJ representatives at the
meeting that it was not the time or place to discuss
technical issues or legalities. He further instructed them
to compile reports from their departments on what corrective
actions had been taken for each of the 18 items noted in the
FAA assessment report and to have a report on their findings
ready by the end of the day.


7. (SBU) As the meeting wound down, Pickersgill asked Emboffs
to convey three messages to Washington:

"When it comes to safety, the JCAA exercises no discretion.
Any problem is reported directly to the political
directorate. We are as concerned as anyone about safety. As
a major tourism destination, we have an impeccable safety
record to protect. We want to demonstrate our seriousness
and show we are involved. We will do whatever it takes to
address the FAA's safety concerns."

"It is not easy for a small country like Jamaica to attract
and retain people with the necessary technical skills.
Currently, we use former Air Jamaica employees, but this
brings up questions of conflict of interest. We'd like to
hire retired FAA employees, if that were possible. We're
endeavoring our utmost and don't want the FAA to second-guess
our seriousness."

"We need guidance. The head of the JCAA was invited by the
FAA and George Washington University to the Global Summit on
Regional Aviation Safety Oversight at GWU on Feb 1-3 2005,
but members of the political directorate are never invited to
such meetings. As Minister, I'd like to be able to talk to
U.S. policy-setting decision makers at my level. Who can I
talk with? I want to hear from someone where we're going
wrong overall, beyond just the technical issues."


8. (U) Following up on P/E Chief's commitment to do so, on
January 28, Embassy sent the MFAFT's Joy Wheeler and Claudia
Barnes individual copies of Ref A letter (addressed to Col.
Lewis from FAA James J. Ballough) and the accompanying
talking points.

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COMMENT
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9. (SBU) Though several GOJ representatives initially sought
wiggle room regarding the scheduling of final discussions,
Pickersgill repeatedly made it clear (on several occasions
going so far as to cut off a protesting member of his staff)
that quibbling with Emboffs about what constituted
"immediate" was a waste of time, and that his Ministry and
the JCAA would do everything possible to work with the FAA to
bring Jamaica's operations up to acceptable standards.


10. (SBU) Despite Lewis' protests that he had not received a
timely written report from the FAA, several other Ministry
staffers present at the meeting acknowledged that they had
been in direct contact with the FAA office in Miami, and that
they had been working on addressing the FAA's safety concerns
for several weeks.
TIGHE