The International Air Transport Association suspended the membership of six carriers from Latin America , Asia and Russia for failing to meet a year-end deadline for conducting safety audits. The six are so small, IATA, which failed to name them, said it is unlikely anyone has heard of them. The carriers failed to hire one of seven firms IATA has accredited to conduct the audits under the IATA Operational Safety Audits (IOSA) program launched in 2003 by the December deadline. Some 111 of the organization’s 250 carriers have at least contracted with the firms for the audits although 117 have yet to complete the audit. Some 100 members and 30 non-member carriers have completed and passed the audits with an additional 33 waiting the results of their audits. IATA said that while 2006 was the safety year in history for commercial airlines, it wanted further improvement from the 0.41 hull losses per million flights posted last year. Its target is a 25 percent reduction in the rate by 2008 and believes IOSA, the first global standard for airline safety management audits, will play its part in meeting that goal. Carriers have until the end of this year to complete their audits with all remedial actions taken by the end of 2008. Membership for those who fail to have an audit this year will be eliminated from the organization. IATA set aside $3 billion for its “partnership for safety program, designed to help members from developing countries to improve standards and pass audits. It expects half to be spent this year.