IMPLEMENTATION OF AVIATION SAFETY STANDARDS AND PERFORMANCE OF AIR TRANSPORT INDUSTRY: A CONCEPTUAL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The air transport industry has played an increasingly important role during the last quarter of the 21st century as a facilitator of overall economic activity and a critical element in certain economic sectors. Kenya has experienced a number of air accidents mostly with light aircrafts and helicopters in the recent years, and preventing accidents has remained a major challenge. Even though Kenya is experiencing challenges in terms of air accidents, the growth of air transport in terms of increased number of passengers through the airports, increase in number of operating aircrafts, increased license registrations, and air business expansion is evident. This paper is based on conceptual literature review on the relationship between monitoring of the implementation of aviation standards and performance of Air Transport. From the literature reviewed it is evident that the operational performance of the air transport industry in Kenya is closely dependent on monitoring of implementation of aviation safety standards which include continuous aviation training programs, proper and quality aviation personnel certification procedures, aviation infrastructure and proper data management on aviation safety procedures and concerns. The monitoring of the implementation of aviation safety standards is done by Civil Aviation Authority of Kenya.