FAA FLIGHT STANDARDS CONSULATIONS/ASSESSMENT

UNCLAS BRASILIA 000386 SIPDIS SENSITIVE FAA FOR LYNNE OSMUS AND PEGGY GILLIGAN STATE FOR EEB/TRA JOHN BYERLY AND DAN MOORE, WHA/BSC, WHA/EPSC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAIR ECON BR SUBJECT: FAA FLIGHT STANDARDS CONSULATIONS/ASSESSMENT SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED REF: A) STATE 20084 B) STATE 21635 C) BRASILIA 0288 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: In a meeting on March 25 between ANAC President Solange Vieira and Ambassador Sobel that addressed FAA's proposed consultations and follow-up assessment, Vieira respectfully declined FAA's offer of consultations and proposed that FAA move ahead with its IASA assessment and offered the end of May or the beginning of June as the potentially acceptable target period. In order to confirm the dates, ANAC will require information on how many team members would come, what official level of representation is expected on the Brazilian side, the elements of the assessment (particularly whether the team expects to examine airports, aircraft manufacturing, physical air traffic control, as well as examining paperwork) and the approximate duration in order to ensure that appropriate ANAC personnel make themselves available. Action request for FAA in para 3. End Summary ¶2. (SBU) While expressing appreciation for the offer, Vieira declined the FAA consultation option. She noted that ANAC had already paid for consultants from ICAO to help them get ready for the May 4-15 ICAO inspection and felt additional consultations offered by FAA would not be necessary and would pull resources away from ICAO inspection preparations. Vieira suggested timing the FAA assessment for the period shortly after the ICAO inspections based on ANAC's desire to complete both the ICAO and FAA assessments prior to turning its attention to submitting an airport privatization model to President Lula by the July 2009 deadline. Vieira requested that FAA provide details on how many team members would come, what official level of representation is expected on the Brazilian side (including whether she is expected to participate throughout or in a debrief at the end of the assessment),the elements of the assessment (particularly whether the team will physically examine airports, aircraft manufacturing, air traffic control operations, airline operations, as well as examining paperwork) and the approximate duration of the inspection in order to ensure that appropriate ANAC personnel make themselves available for the topics and time period FAA requires. With the information on scope and duration in hand, Vieira committed that she would then consult with her directors to establish a date for the IASA assessment in the late May/early June timeframe and ensure the necessary team made themselves available for the required time period. ¶3. (SBU) ACTION REQUEST: Post requests that FAA provide immediately substantive background information relating to the IASA process and estimated duration so that assessment dates can be quickly finalized and locked on ANAC's calendar. SOBEL