The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has given Thailand sixty-five days to improve the overall standard of safety in its aviation sector following a five-day long International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) earlier this month.

Thai Minister of Transport, Prajin Juntong, told a media briefing last week that the FAA audit involved visits to the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) as well Thai Airways International (TG, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi) and Bangkok Airways (PG, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi).

Though a full comprehensive report will only be published in 30 days time, Jontong said the FAA has highlighted three problematic areas which include a shortage of qualified DCA personnel needed to carry out inspections of aircraft currently in service in the country; an incomplete operations manual (possibly due to a lack of adequately-trained staff); and improper verification/follow-up inspections needed to ensure regulatory standards are maintained and enforced.

According to the Bangkok Post, Prajin said the DCA has committed itself to hiring more qualified personnel while work on two manuals - the Flight Operations Inspector's Manual and Air Operator's Certification Requirements - was now complete.

As such, failure to improve the problem areas within the specified 65-day timeframe could see the FAA downgrading Thailand from Category 1 status, to Category 2. Demotion to the latter would see Thai carriers being unable to launch new services to the United States.

The immediate commercial impact of the downgrade will, however, be offset as Thai Airways International, the only locally-based carrier to serve the US, has announced plans to drop its Los Angeles International service from October 25.

The FAA's audit comes after the ICAO formally instituted a Serious Safety Concern (SSC) against Thailand last month for failure to adequately address shortcomings identified during a Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) inspection in January.