A. Initial certification
The manner of conducting the certification process of an air operator wishing to conduct commercial air transport operations is described in Part CAT of the PIAC-OPS Procedures “Civil Aviation Procedures and Instructions for Conducting Air Operations”.
The process of issuing the certification document includes the following steps:
(1) Information stage;
(2) The initiation stage of the certification process;
(3) Documentation evaluation stage;
(4) Stage of operational demonstrations and inspections;
(5) The stage of issuing the certification document.
(1) Information stage
The applicant who intends to carry out commercial air transport operations, before submitting the standard application for the Air Operator Certificate, may provide the AACR with information on the intention to carry out these types of operations.
The meeting takes place between the AACR certification team and the persons proposed for the management of the applicant and aims to provide the applicant with complete information on the operations for which he can be certified, the data to be provided and the procedures to be followed. will be followed.
(2) The initiation stage of the certification process
The request for the certification document is made by submitting a standard application at least 90 days before the proposed start date of the operation.
The application shall be accompanied by supporting documentation specified in PIAC-OPS, Part CAT, Chapter 1, Section 1.3.
(3) Documentation evaluation stage
This stage is carried out entirely within the AACR, the documentation supporting the application for the issuance of the AOC being analyzed, and at the end of which the operator is informed about the compliance of the content of the submitted documents with the applicable requirements.
(4) Operational demonstration and inspection stage
AACR assesses the applicant's ability to ensure the safe operation of the aircraft and consists of on-the-spot checks (where applicable, at headquarters, operating bases, training facilities) to determine how it is intended to implement what is stated in the documentation. submitted by the applicant.
AACR requires operational demonstrations to ensure that the applicant has the ability to comply with applicable flight safety requirements and procedures. These operational demonstrations represent the simulation of the activity for which the certification is requested and will be carried out in the presence of the members of the certification team in charge of evaluating the effectiveness of the policies, procedures, instructions and methods stated in the approved / accepted documentation.
(5) The stage of issuing the certification document
The total duration of the entire certification process does not exceed 6 months from the date of initial submission of the standard application for the granting of the certification document.
If the applicant does not prove compliance with the applicable legislation in order to obtain the certification document within 6 months, AACR shall send the applicant a notification of refusal to grant the requested certification document.
If compliance with all the requirements of the applicable legislation is found, the AACR issues the certification document.
B. Modification of the Air Operator Certificate
The request to modify the Operator Certificate is made by submitting a standard application to AACR. The application shall be accompanied by supporting documentation, together with documents proving payment of the fee corresponding to the requested change.
Deadlines
The initial application and the necessary documentation for issuing the Air Operator Certificate must be submitted to the Romanian Civil Aeronautical Authority at least 90 days before the date on which it is proposed to start the operation, except for the Operations Manual which can be submitted at least 60 days before that date.
The application for the modification of the Air Operator Certificate shall be submitted to the Romanian Civil Aeronautical Authority at least 30 days before the proposed date for the start of the operation, for which the modification is requested.
The above - mentioned deadlines start to run from the moment of submitting all the necessary documentation.
C. Continuous supervision
AACR has implemented a surveillance program comprising the surveillance activities provided for in Regulation (EU) no. 965/2012.
For organizations certified by AACR, the oversight program shall be developed taking into account the specific nature of the organization, the complexity of its activities, the results of previous certification and / or oversight activities and shall be based on an assessment of the associated risks.
Each oversight planning cycle includes:
1. audits and inspections, including platform inspections and unannounced inspections, as appropriate; and
2. meetings between the responsible management body and the competent authority to ensure that both parties remain informed of important issues.
AACR shall apply a supervisory planning cycle not exceeding 24 months. The oversight planning cycle may be reduced if there is evidence that the organization's security performance has decreased.
More details on how to supervise Romanian AOC holders are described here.
D. Findings and corrective actions
AACR has a system for analyzing findings in terms of their safety significance, as follows:
a Level 1 finding is issued when any significant non-compliance with the applicable requirements, the organisation's procedures and manuals or the conditions of an approval or certificate is found, which reduces the level of safety or seriously endangers the safety of the flight.
a level 2 finding shall be issued when any non-compliance with applicable requirements, the organisation's procedures and manuals or the conditions of an approval or certificate is detected, which could reduce the level of safety or endanger the safety of the flight.
When a non-compliance is issued, the AACR communicates that finding in writing to the organization and requests corrective action to resolve the identified non-compliance (s). The corrective action plan must be formulated so as to allow the identification of the cause of the non-compliance, its correction and the corrective action as well as the time period necessary for the implementation of the proposed corrective action.
In the case of Level 1 findings, the AACR shall take immediate and appropriate measures to prohibit or restrict activities and, where appropriate, take measures to revoke the certificate or specific approval or to limit or suspend it in whole or in part, in depending on the extent of the level 1 finding, until the organization has successfully taken corrective action.
In the case of Level 2 findings, AACR:
- gives the organization a deadline for the implementation of corrective actions corresponding to the nature of the finding, which, in any case, does not exceed three months in any case. At the end of this period and depending on the nature of the finding, AACR may extend the period by three months subject to the existence of a satisfactory, previously accepted corrective action plan; and
- assess the corrective actions and implementation plan proposed by the organization and, if the evaluation concludes that they are sufficient to resolve the non-compliance (s), accept them.
If an organization does not submit an acceptable corrective action plan or does not execute the corrective action within the timeframe accepted or extended by the AACR, the finding becomes a Level 1 finding and action is taken on this type of non-compliance.