LIMA, PERÚ – A story of Mr. Sergio Romero, Lima-born safety expert that has shared his story with us during our stay in this beautiful capital of Perú.
Location of the meeting was a coffee place in an urban neighborhood of Miraflores that is regarded as the most advanced part of Lima. We are sitting with a Peruvian safety expert, mister Sergio Romero, with whom we have decided to perform an interview after a series of his successful, yet intriguing articles published on our portal VOICE.
1. Sergio, tell us how you started your career and why you chose aviation?
My father actually worked as an engineer in aviation and my first experience with aviation was when I was 19 and my father took me to the airport. Back then, Peruvian airline Aero Peru was a national flag carrier and I was offered to work as a translator. I took the job and after 2 years there I was offered to be a translator from English to Spanish in DGAC (Peruvian Civil Aviation Authority). Back then Perú didn’t have some policies or procedures so we were translating a lot of documentation from the FAA. Through translating safety manuals and other documents I began learning all regulations and specifications inside aviation safety. Later I became an inspector for aviation training schools. In 2009 I became a safety manager for a major airline in my country. Then, I worked as a consultant on SMS in Panama back in 2012. Now, I’m exploring opportunities to open my own business and start from there.
2. Can you tell us from your experience what are the main obstacles in implementing SMS in Latin America?
There is a lot of hiding and lack of Just Culture. Everyone is looking at SMS as detached from operations which I think is wrong. Operations and safety go together. There is also a lack of accountability which I would say is the key obstacle in implementing SMS.
CEOs do not trust SMS and look at it as just another expense as they are very business oriented. Therefore, safety managers do not have a support from their management. Also in my country operational people do not like to write reports as there is still punishment when something goes wrong. On the other hand operators are just copying procedures/manuals without their own input. Civil aviation agencies are not working enough with the operators.
3. What are the challenges in Perú?
Similar as in whole Latin America. The biggest problem is, as I mentioned, accountability. When someone does something wrong, they will not take responsibility and rather say “I did’t do it” as they do not want to be punished. CEOs do not know anything of SMS and our airport infrastructure needs to be improved. Also, English is not spoken and it is something what Perú needs to improve as well as majority of Latin America.
4. On the other side, what are some advantages of aviation in Latin America?
I would say there is a lot of operating experience and technical knowledge. Our people learn a lot working in Latin America and for example our pilots gain a lot of great experience here. We can see positive trends in Latin America as airlines are buying more aircraft and the air traffic is increasing. Perú also has an advantage of it’s location connecting north and south part of Latin America.
5. Your articles are very popular among our readers, how you developed your skill for writing?
Hehe, I always had an affection to writing and started writing when I was 11 when I wrote my first novel. I also write poetry and poems so I guess my skills for writing came from there.
6. Perú is one of the must-see countries for any tourist, but apart from the obvious attractions what are some less known attractions you can share with us?
Perú is rich in food and you can try a lot of tasty food. However, one of the interesting dishes are “Eye of the Grape” and “Redfish Diablo” which is sea food. Our special drink is called “Pisco” which you need to try. For some special hidden place I would recommend a little town called “Tarapoto” in east Perú that is stunning with amazing nature. Inside Tarapoto there is a beautiful castle called “Lamas” which I like to visit in my free time.
Thank you, Sergio for this interesting interview and we are looking forward reading more of your articles!
Sergio Romero
