PUTRAJAYA (Nov 18): The Ministry of Transport has set up a special taskforce dedicated to addressing the downgrade of the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia's (CAAM) status by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and to review the authority's existing fees and charges with the aim of restoring its Category 1 status and make it financially independent.

FAA recently downgraded CAAM to aviation regulator Category 2, following a review that was carried out by the US regulator in April this year.

At a press briefing here today, Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook said the task force will review the 33 issues raised in the FAA International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) findings, which led to the downgrade.

Most of the 33 issues raised were procedural and can be resolved, he said.

"Thereafter, the FAA will be invited to conduct a re-assessment of [CAAM on] the IASA programme with the objective of re-categorizing CAAM from Category 2 to Category 1. We're hoping to resolve these issues in the next 12 months," he said.

In addition to setting up the task force, Loke said CAAM will also need to review its current fees structure, which he said is necessary for the regulator to increase its revenue.

Loke said CAAM currently operates on a RM350 million budget per annum, though revenue stands at RM120 million, resulting in a shortfall of RM230 million at present.

The aim, he said, is for CAAM to become an autonomous regulator that is financially independent.

Increasing the regulator's income is also important, given an expected increase in budget in order to ensure their staff are paid better, said Loke. This was also one of the issues highlighted in the FAA review.

"The remuneration package currently is not attractive enough to retain and recruit talent. In fact, this is one of the concerns raised by the FAA," he said, adding that the agency eventually wants to separate their current payscale from the government payscale.

The task force will consist of qualified technical personnel and international experts in aviation and those who have expertise in the various fields of aviation which includes four pilots, three engineers and a technical coordinator.

"The taskforce will be headed by former Civil Aviation Malaysia director general Datuk Kok Soo Chon. He will coordinate the work of the task force and lead the development and review process of the work plan as well as to oversee the full implementation of the work plan. The taskforce will report to me as transport minister," Loke said.