The Wicks Group (TWG) recently served as the official aviation industry specialist for a United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) India Aviation Safety, Security, and Airport Infrastructure Reverse Trade Mission (RTM) in Washington, DC. The conference planning contractor Global Marketing & Communications (GMC), led by President Olympia Brescia, relied on the expertise of TWG Senior Advisors Barry Valentine and Loretta McNeir in developing the RTM itinerary and arranging for informative meetings and site visits. Mr. Valentine and Ms. McNeir also accompanied the RTM delegation throughout each day’s events.
The RTM took place from September 10th to September 15th and focused on advancing US- India commercial cooperation and encouraging continued growth of the Indian aviation sector. The Indian delegation was limited to top executives from India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation, Airports Authority of India, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security and Air India.
The RTM gave the Indian officials an opportunity to learn about US technologies and services that support airport infrastructure, safety and security. The itinerary included meetings with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA); visits to several US companies; visits to the David J. Hurley Air Traffic Control Systems Command Center, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Transportation Security Integration Facility, and Ronald Reagan National Airport; and an Industry Roundtable hosted by the General Aircraft Manufacturers Association (GAMA).
The Industry Roundtable was moderated by Barry Valentine, and included representatives from 24 US companies, including Smiths Group, Prism, Transecura, Frequentas, Leidos, OST, Boeing, Avanti Partners, KPMG, and Honeywell, as well as TWG Managing Director Glenn Wicks and TWG Partner Ronce Almond. Representatives of GAMA, the Transportation Security Administration, the US Department of Commerce and the US State Department also participated. India’s Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey began the Roundtable by discussing the importance of general aviation as a feeder of commercial aviation growth, and expressed an interest in harmonizing India’s regulations with those of the FAA and EASA to make it easier for foreign aviation companies to do business in India. Other topics discussed during the Roundtable included regulatory compliance, airline operations, airport capacity, and airport security.
The Wicks Group has been working in India since May 2014. The firm’s initial work, supported by a USTDA grant to the DGCA, entailed providing a wide range of technical assistance and training to the DGCA to help it prepare for an FAA IASA audit. The IASA audit was conducted in December 2014 and, due to the technical assistance provided by TWG, India passed the audit and regained IASA Category 1 (compliant) status. Soon thereafter, TWG began a second project with the DGCA, also with USTDA support, to help India ensure it maintains Category 1 status going forward.
The Wicks Group is a multi-disciplinary legal and consulting firm that provides a wide range of services world-wide to clients with aviation and transportation-related interests. The firm regularly assists countries with achieving their civil aviation development objectives, including coming into compliance with international safety standards, by providing specialized technical and management consulting services as well as legal counsel. TWG has a 100% success record in helping countries prepare for FAA IASA audits, with Category 1 ratings following all five projects completed since 2012.
For more information about The Wicks Group’s services, please contact Glenn Wicks at gpwicks@wicks-group.com.