U.S. FAA downgrades St Kitts-Nevis to Category 2 Rating

By: Tito Chapman

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced Thursday that it has downgraded the safety rating for the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) which includes: St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada.

Due to this latest development, they now have a category 2 rating based on the reassement of each country’s civial aviation authority.

According to ICAO, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) has been assigned a Category 2 rating because it does not comply with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) safety standards under the FAA’s International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) program.

As part of the IASA program, the FAA assesses the civil aviation authorities of all countries with air carriers that have applied to fly to the United States, currently conduct operations to the United States, or participate in code-sharing arrangements with U.S. partner airlines, and makes that information available to the public. The assessments determine whether foreign civil aviation authorities are meeting ICAO safety standards, not FAA regulations.

A Category 1 rating means the country’s civil aviation authority complies with ICAO standards. With an IASA Category 1 rating, a country’s air carriers can establish service to the United States and carry the code of U.S. carriers.

To maintain a Category 1 rating, a country must adhere to the safety standards of ICAO, the United Nations’ technical agency for aviation that establishes international standards and recommended practices for aircraft operations and maintenance. IASA information is posted on our website.