Honouring commitment, excellence

On May 11, the Trinidad and Tobago Civil Aviation Authority (TTCAA) hosted a gala retirement, long service and recognition function at the Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain. The theme of the function was Soaring through Time: Honouring Commitment and Excellence.

The function was well attended by all categories of employees, retirees, members of the TTCAA board and the Minister of Works and Transport, Rohan Sinanan.

Through the valued performances of its employees, the TTCAA is recognised by regional and international aviation bodies as a world class centre of aviation excellence.

As a signatory to the Chicago Convention, TT has an international obligation to maintain a standard of safety and efficiency in its civil aviation system that is at least equal to the standard of safety prescribed by the convention.

The Civil Aviation Act established the TTCAA as a body corporate and prescribes its statutory functions which include the regulation of all civil aviation operations in TT and the provision of air navigation services (ANS) in the Piarco Flight Information Region (FIR). The Piarco FIR is an area of approximately 750,000 square miles of airspace.

The ANS division of the TTCAA provides air navigation services 24/7 to aircraft that traverse the Piarco FIR. Services include air traffic services, communication, navigation, surveillance, air navigation meteorological services, aeronautical information services and search and rescue.

The safety and security division licenses pilots, engineers, air traffic controllers, flight dispatchers and TT’s two international airports. It approves aviation-maintenance organisations and aviation-training organisations. A critical function is the certification of air operators to conduct commercial air transport operations by the grant of an air operators certificate. The grant of all licenses and approvals conforms to the ICAO standards prescribed in the annexes to the Chicago Convention.

The corporate services division includes support functions such as finance, human resource, information technology, property maintenance, the economic regulation of air transport, civil aviation training and corporate planning.

The corporate planning department (CPD), established in 2015, is a centralised coordinating body to implement and monitor strategies that fulfil both divisional and overarching goals in alignment with the TTCAA statutory functions. The CPD develops and updates the TTCAA strategic goals, strategies to support those goals and operational objectives of the TTCAA through consultations with the management team, the director general of civil aviation (DGCA) and the board.

In his opening remarks, the DGCA, Cary Price, stated that the function, the first of its kind, was the brainchild of Francis Regis, his predecessor.

The board’s chairman, Capt Thomas Lawrence, and Sinanan gave short welcome remarks. Sinanan complimented the TTCAA for its achievements in meeting TT’s Chicago Convention obligations and hailed the TTCAA as an outstanding agency of his ministry. Previous ministers and a former prime minister publicly stated that the TTCAA is the most efficient state agency in TT.

Sinanan presented the two former DGCAs – myself and Regis – with special awards for their outstanding contributions to the establishment of the TT’s safety oversight system based on ICAO standards and the subsequent attainment of FAA category one status.

There were very unique features of this long service and recognition function. Firstly, there was no cordoned off VIP area. All attendees from the attendant who mops the floor to the minister sat at the same level and shared a common space together. Secondly, everyone regardless of hierarchical position queued up and dined from the same menu of food and beverages. This epitomizes the TTCAA’s core value of equity and underscores that its employees are its most valuable asset. Every category of employee is a link in the TTCAA’s chain of success in maintaining a safe civil aviation system.

In his closing remarks, Price made a surprise announcement that he had instituted an annual award, the TTCAA Employee of the Year. He indicated that after engaging in consultations, it was by overwhelming consensus based on dedication to duty, excellent performance and commitment that Meena Dharampaul was selected as the TTCAA Employee of the Year.

There is an untold story about Meena that dates back to August 2015 when tropical storm Erika devastated Dominica causing widespread flooding and destruction. The Canefield and Douglas-Charles airports were closed. As chairman of CASSOS, I was contacted by Caricom’s secretary general Irwin LaRocque, a native of Dominica, who wanted assistance to airlift medical personnel and supplies to Dominica by helicopter.

The Ministry of National Security assigned two Air Guard AW139 helicopters and crew to the relief mission. The next morning, LaRocque arrived at Piarco from Guyana to accompany the relief mission to Dominica. The AW139s were scheduled to depart at noon, but due to outstanding maintenance work, the departure was rescheduled for 4 pm.

I went across to the airport’s VIP lounge and invited LaRocque to lunch. He told me that he would enjoy a "wrapped curried chicken roti.” I called Meena and informed her that I was hosting a VIP guest for lunch and to order two wrapped curried chicken rotis from a nearby restaurant.

I took LaRocque over to the TTCAA complex for a quick tour until Meena called to say that the rotis were ready. As we entered he TTCAA dining room, LaRocque expressed his pleasant surprise at the way Meena had gracefully plated and presented the rotis in the finest of culinary styles. During lunch, Meena frequently checked in and with her pleasant demeanour would ask, “Sir is there anything else you want?"

When were finished eating, the big surprise came when Meena served us strawberry cheesecake for dessert. When Meena exited the dining room, LaRocque turned to me and said, “I wish I had people like her working at Caricom.”

Therefore, the DGCA's likely rationale for selecting someone from the lowest category of employees as employee of the Year was because Meena’s dedication to duty, outstanding work ethic and commitment best symbolised the excellence that the TTCAA is all about.