The Federal Civil Aviation Agency (AFAC) is the product of a long struggle by the industry to create an autonomous and highly specialized instance, which would replace the functions previously carried out by the General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (DGAC), which , being an entity dependent on the Ministry of Communications and Transportation (SCT at that time, today SICT) did not have full investiture to take responsibility for its powers, which were subordinated to the Undersecretary of Transportation.
The idea of having an agency of this type was not that it perform operational functions. The important thing about this instance is that it has all the elements to rigorously and honestly supervise the proper functioning of air operators, workshops, training centers, schools, airports and all kinds of services related to the aviation sector, with the idea that they perform their functions properly.
This means that the aeronautical authority thus constituted must have the resources, the attributions, the management cadres, and the best-trained technical personnel in the country, so that it can do the best supervisory work in a regulatory environment that is consistent with international standards. in particular of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), through whose annexes all the procedures, formalities, requirements and others are explained, as well as the reasons for them.
In this sense, the idea of having Aviation Medicine under the care of AFAC is not necessarily in charge of carrying out the medical examinations, although it could do so, as long as it had the means, but if it doesn’t -which is unfortunately, its function is to ensure that authorized third-party physicians have the competencies to perform exams that meet the requirements established by ICAO.
Just yesterday, a mandatory circular came into force, CO MED 08/22, which was published in December 2022, but which could not be in force without the Civil Aviation Law passing to the AFAC the powers to take charge of Medicine of Aviation, was approved. Last Friday it was announced that the circular came into effect yesterday, but the AFAC page itself was not ready on Friday or Monday (many crew members made efforts to make an appointment without results). Now, the pilots are asking that the entry into force be postponed and that the authorized third-party doctors not be immediately removed.
This could be a gradual step in ensuring that the Agency’s medical units have resources and sufficient trained medical personnel to care for all applicants. Let’s remember that during the pandemic there was a very significant backlog in terms of medical examinations and license issuance, which was managed through unilateral extensions, but this is a fundamental point to correct if we want to recover Category 1 from the Federal Aviation Agency of the United States (FAA).
It is not the only problem that must be corrected. For this reason, it is desirable that the aeronautical authority be sensitive to the needs of aeronautical technical personnel who are, ultimately, the ones that make air transport work. It is about listening and reaching sensible agreements. Nothing special.
