Flights to and from SA airports over the peak summer season will experience delays and cancellations due to the Air Traffic Navigation Services’ (ATNS’) suspension of hundreds of flight procedures after the agency missed a July 19 deadline to review and amend any flight procedures that needed updating.
The ATNS suspended hundreds of navigation procedures at airports nationwide on July 19 after they failed to meet a deadline to check whether their procedures were still accurate, and to amend any that were not.
Despite ATNS trying to complete the work as quickly as possible, a representative told delegates at the Airline Association of Southern Africa (Aasa) AGM at the weekend they would only clear the backlog by December next year.
Aaron Munetsi, CEO of Aasa, alluded to ATNS challenges in his opening address.
“There are instances where our service providers let us down and make it impossible for airlines to maintain their schedules, creating the devastating impact we felt,” he said.
“For example, one local airline had almost 3,400 flights delayed, 77 cancelled and 12 diverted between July 19, when ATNS suspensions started, and October 19. The cumulative delay time for the airline amounted to the equivalent of about 63 days. This situation is unacceptable, and all parties should work together to urgently find a solution,” said Munetsi.
While none of the airlines approached by Business Day quantified the effect of delays and cancellations, LIFT airline reported a 5% drop in on-time performance, due partly to ATNS issues. Airlink estimated more than 10% of its flight delays from July 20 to October 9 were related to ATNS.
FlySafair noted ATNS issues caused 13% of delayed departures in 2022, rising to 19% in 2023 and 24% so far this year. FlySafair chief marketing officer Kirby Gordon highlighted two main issues: increased air space congestion due to airlines not sticking to their preapproved slots, and limited control tower capacity. This forced aircraft to hold or take longer routes, wasting time and fuel, with similar delays for departures.
“The bigger challenge is the number of procedures that had to be suspended by ATNS. Going into peak season, we are working with ATNS to try to avoid delays. Our understanding is that sufficient capacity will be in place to safely operate at the optimum levels during peak periods,” said Gordon.
As for the potential effect of flight delays and cancellations on ticket prices, aviation expert Linden Birns of Plane Talking said if the ATNS procedures crisis was prolonged and resulted in persistently higher operating costs for airlines, it was conceivable that some of the burden would translate into higher fares.
Airlines are legally obliged to pay statutory fees for using ATNS-managed airspace and its traffic co-ordination service with no compensation or credits for delays. Local airlines have not reported ticket price effects yet. SAA said ticket prices were based on a variety of factors, including operating costs.
Gordon said delays and cancellations could increase operating costs, potentially affecting fares, but market demand ultimately set prices.
Birns doubted the ATNS issues would lead to an increase in ticket prices as they did not relate to demand. The ATNS suspensions were not a safety issue but the body was not meeting deadlines for paperwork compliance, he said.
Better co-ordination between the Civil Aviation Authority and ATNS was needed while keeping the industry informed, he said.
- This article was first published in BusinessLIVE
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