Speech

African Aviation Leadership Conference

Good morning, and thank you for permitting me to speak to you today. I bring greetings and best wishes for a successful conference from President Bush and Transportation Secretary Mary Peters. Admiral Barrett, who was here last spring, sends his best wishes as well. I’m particularly excited to be the first FAA administrator to participate in this conference. Africa has a growing role in aviation. The number of visitors from my country is increasing. All nations need to strive to attain the highest level of safety possible, and conferences such as this one are an important step in that direction.

Speaking of safety, ICAO released the results of the Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program audit of the United States in which we received a rating of 91.

A 91 is a good report card, but it’s not an A plus. We plan to do better. As a nation, we are willing to work for it. But it takes political will to establish the framework that will propagate aviation safety. It also takes transparency. We need to share our safety information on a global level, and in support of that goal, we have asked ICAO to make public our entire audit report.

The FAA has for a number of years worked with our African colleagues to support increased safety and operational efficiencies. We have had an FAA representative based in Dakar, Senegal, since the 1980s. We are exploring whether we should increase our African continent representation in the future. One of our primary goals has been to work with a number of sub-Saharan countries to support them as they attain compliance with ICAO standards. And we are working with our African partners and ICAO to improve regional air navigation services as well.

The U.S. Transportation Department is working closely with the Department of State, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the World Bank to realize these goals.

We believe that partnership works. We’re committed to funding our belief that Africa can and will establish a strong aviation safety culture that will revolutionize flight on this continent.

The time for raising the bar is now. We’re all familiar with the accident statistics. During the period between 1994 and 2004, Africa’s accident rate was far greater than the world average. Africa has 4.5 percent of the world’s total air traffic but 25 percent of the accidents. What makes this especially important is that Africa’s traffic is growing at a rate higher than the world average. In fact, the president of ACI-Africa said that in 2007, ACI Africa members' airports handled more than 137 million passengers. That represents an 11 per cent increase from 2006. Moreover, data for the first half of 2008 shows that this growth continues. This growth is good news, but we need to make sure that our ability to meet safety standards grows also, particularly as you prepare for the World Cup in 2010.

I’m pleased that the FAA can be a part of some notable successes. Nigeria has worked closely with us to spearhead the Civil Aviation Authority’s development of an action plan to help it meet international aviation safety standards. In the East African Community, the Civil Aviation Safety and Security Oversight Agency there became the first regional oversight agency on the continent. Today, Ghana and the FAA will sign a memorandum of agreement that will begin the process of a closer relationship between our two countries. Over the next five years, our goal is to continue to work with our African partners to increase the safety and the capacity of the regional civil aerospace system.

We all know the challenges are there, especially in these changing times, but we recognize the successes are there as well. Leadership is what will raise the safety bar and sustain it. And with that leadership comes a commitment to funding and training, and a focus on retaining qualified, professional staff.

In closing, I’d like to say thank you to captain Boyo and the organizers, that it’s an honor to be here at the 14^th Leadership Conference. And thank you for your leadership.