CemAir wins appeal over grounded planes, but won't be flying just yet

Don’t expect to see CemAir planes in the air anytime soon.

This is despite the operator announcing on social media on Tuesday, that it had won its appeal against the Civil Aviation Appeal Committee against the grounding of its fleet and the suspension and subsequent cancellation of its operating certificates.

All notices issued by SACAA had been overturned by the Appeal Committee, the airline said.

However, the SA Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) - in response to the Appeal Committee’s setting aside of the two grounding notices issued against CemAir - has said that CemAir is still not permitted to operate as an airline pending the renewal audit process being finalised “and the operator being issued with the relevant operating certificates or approvals".

The airline’s operations were suspended - not for the first time - in December due to what the SACAA called “concerns over the “systematic failure of the airline’s maintenance controls”.

According to the authority, the most recent annual renewal audit revealed CemAir’s “inability to prove the continued airworthiness of its fleet".

The Civil Aviation Appeal Committee has since set aside the grounding notices, but in a statement issued on Friday evening, the SACAA said: “The implications of the Tribunal’s decision is that CemAir is still not permitted to operate as an airline or utilise any of its aircraft commercially, pending the renewal audit process being finalised, and the operator being issued with the relevant operating certificates or approvals.”

Director of Civil Aviation Poppy Khoza said: “The actions expected to be undertaken by (me), as well as by both the SACAA and CemAir, as outlined in the ruling, are unambiguous, and as a result, I have already delegated my functions in terms of legislation to the SACAA's Aviation Safety Operations to immediately implement the recommendations of the [Appeals Committee].”

The pace of finalising the matter was in the hands of the airline, Khoza said.

“The regulator will rely on CemAir’s cooperation in relation to the submission of the relevant documents and records, as well as any other evidence that will contribute to the speedy completion of the inspection.

“To this end, I have written to CemAir to inform the operator of my decision to continue the renewal audit and inspection process for purposes of completing this task.”

Speaking to Radio 702 on Tuesday evening, the airline’s CEO, Miles van der Molen, said the CAA’s grounding of its fleet in December, at the height of the festive season, had inconvenienced tens of thousands of people and resulted in many airline staff losing their jobs.

The authority had been “completely unreasonable”, he said. “We did all we could to satisfy them but there was no way to move it forward.”

Asked if the airline planned to sue in light of the appeal committee’s ruling, Van der Molen said he would be calling on the transport minister, Blade Nzimande, to “look at the SACAA and see if it is doing the job it is there to do”.

“Aviation safety is an honourable goal, but it can be applied too subjectively,” he said.

In March, the SACAA said CemAir had embarked on a new certification application process, which was subject to the applicable regulatory requirements.

“As matters stand, the CemAir aircraft fleet remains grounded.”

That has left many consumers with paid-for tickets to and from CemAir’s destinations - Jo’burg, Cape Town, Plettenberg Bay, Bloemfontein, Sishen Kathu and Margate - out of pocket.

TimesLIVE’s email to Cemair about its refund process went unanswered.

In January the airline confirmed that passengers affected by the suspension of its operations by the SACAA during December would be granted full refunds within eight weeks, and advised those who had made bookings via a travel agent to ask the agent to apply for a refund on their behalf.

Sean Featonby , who is among the many consumers who bought CemAir tickets, was unable to use them due to the grounding of the airline in December, and has yet to receive his promised refund.

He paid R4,000 for tickets over the peak Christmas/New Year week, but was forced to pay for flights with another airline, which cost him R2,000 more than his CemAir flights.

“I submitted my information to CemAir and was told the refund would take six weeks.

“Well, that was four months ago now and any attempt to contact the airline is met with a blanket response and an excuse that it is very complicated to refund my money,” Featonby said this week.

“How can an airline take your money and then just refuse to refund it, but still continue periodically, when not grounded, to operate?”

Suzanne Eley said she and her brother Lance had both lost out on flights when CemAir was grounded in December.

“The airline does not answer its phones or respond to my emails,” she told TimesLIVE. “Initially they reassured us that we would be refunded in full, but that we should be patient because they have many claims to work through.

“But four months later we have no money and no communication.”

Eley said she intended to request a chargeback on her credit card due to the non delivery.

Derek Ackerman is R25,000 out of pocket for CemAir tickets bought for the festive season.

“Trying to contact any senior management is proving very difficult indeed,” he said.