With an operational crisis now in its 16th month, the Airlines Association of Southern Africa (AASA) is pushing for greater urgency and clarity from the Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS).
This follows a review of the ATNS commissioned by transport minister Barbara Creecy after almost 300 instrument flight procedures were suspended last year.
At affected airports around the country, from East London and George to Upington, this means take-offs and landings are not permitted when there is mist, low cloud, fog or dense smoke obstructing pilots’ visibility.
The ATNS’ recently appointed acting CEO Matome Maholola on Wednesday told a media briefing the organisation has implemented rigorous and focused efforts to stabilise operations.
Travel News reports he promised fully reinstated flight procedures at “all major airports” by July, with Polokwane and Richards Bay set to be back online by year-end. The Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport (KMIA), which had to suspend normal operations mid-month, was able to resume full flight operations this week after the SA Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) granted the ATNS an exemption.
The procedures and charts at Bloemfontein and Kimberley have also been approved by the SACAA and will come into effect on November 27, Engineering News reports.
The ATNS and the department of transport must eliminate and prevent these types of disruptions and deliver on their mandate of enabling safe, reliable, efficient and accessible passenger and cargo air transport
— Airlines Association of Southern Africa
AASA CEO Aaron Munetsi urged the ATNS management to strengthen collaboration with airlines — which have to pay statutory fees to the state-run entity — to help find effective solutions.
The effects of the flight instrument issues on airlines and their passengers are disruptions, delays, diversions and flight cancellations — with economic consequences.
“We are dealing with an operational crisis now in its 16th month and with no clear end in sight. This threatens the economic viability of several towns and cities and South Africa’s ability to be a dependable, efficient and competitive trading partner and destination for tourism and investment,” he said.
The association said the ATNS’ briefing on the status of suspended flight instruments, staffing and critical infrastructure upgrades, as well as the recent publication of its annual report, raises more questions than answers:
1. If the ATNS was able to expedite the reinstatement of an approach procedure for KMIA, why is it unable to do the same for most of the 326 instrument flight procedures it suspended in July 2024 and the additional procedures suspended on September 11 and October 8?
“In most instances there are no new obstacles requiring revisions to the procedures, so revalidation should be a formality,” the AASA said.
2. What is the ATNS doing to ensure all other instrument flight procedures due to expire in the next 12 months will be renewed in time so they do not cause additional disruption?
The additional suspensions last month and earlier this month, which include 17 at Cape Town and eight at George, suggest the ATNS is falling further behind in addressing the problem.
3. The expedited KMIA procedure and several others that were renewed this year have required pilots to “hand amend” the instructions. When instrument flight procedures are published electronically and displayed digitally, why is the ATNS still asking pilots and flight planners to make those adjustments by hand — and inviting errors which raise the safety stakes — instead of publishing them in the correct format?
4. What measures — temporary or permanent — has the ATNS implemented to enable it to rapidly recruit experienced skilled personnel, including rehiring ex-ATNS employees who retired or took their skills elsewhere, and deploy them into critical positions?
It would be reassuring to know how many people are in the ATNS’ training pipeline and what the timeframes are for deploying them operationally.
5. As the primary providers of income to the ATNS through its statutory user charges, AASA members rightfully ask what recompense could be implemented to at least recover costs airlines have had and continue to incur due to no fault of their own?
“Flight schedule disruptions are financial hammer blows to airlines. Customers lose confidence, resulting in lost sales, ticket cancellations and refunds,” AASA said.
“Simultaneously, airlines are saddled with additional costs for taking care of affected passengers, animals in transit, additional fuel, landing, parking and ground handling for diverted flights, additional crew and accelerated maintenance of aircraft and engines due to the unplanned additional flight hours they incur.
“Airlines also have to pay the ATNS for the extra en-route navigation and air traffic control charges associated with any diversions.
“These suspensions also have serious harmful economic ramifications for businesses, industry, trade, essential and emergency services as well as people’s livelihoods, not only in cities such as Kimberley, George, Polokwane, Upington, Bloemfontein, Pietermaritzburg, Mthatha and Richards Bay, but also in Gauteng, Cape Town, Durban and Gqeberha, which are key economic hubs.
“The ATNS and the department of transport must eliminate and prevent these types of disruptions and deliver on their mandate of enabling safe, reliable, efficient and accessible passenger and cargo air transport.”
TimesLIVE
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