South African Airline Comair’s Fleet Grounded Indefi nitely

Industry News South African Airline Comair’s Fleet Grounded Indefi nitely

By Wendell Roelf

South Africa’s civil aviation regulator grounded Comair’s planes indefi nitely on March 13th over unresolved safety issues, in a move that also aff ects low-cost airline Kulula and British Airways, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded.

A spokesperson for the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) said it had extended a 24-hour precautionary suspension of Comair’s operator certifi cate indefi nitely.

The suspension was meant to end on March 13th but Comair has not adequately addressed all the necessary safety issues, the SACAA said. read more

“This morning we communicated to them (Comair) that their air operator certifi cate is now indefi nitely suspended until they close all of the fi ndings,” SACAA spokesperson Phindiwe Gwebu told Reuters, eff ectively grounding the company’s fl eet of Boeing (BA.N) aircraft.

Comair said it was unable to confi rm when it would start fl ying again, after working through the night to provide documentation to SACAA following a review of certain policies, systems and procedures.

“This is a huge blow to our customers, employees and the fl ying public as it eff ectively takes 40% of the capacity out of the market,” Glenn Orsmond, Comair chief executive said in a statement.

There would be considerable implications for the aviation sector and the country should the suspension be prolonged, he added.

CHARTERED FLIGHTS

Airports Company SA (ACSA), which runs the country’s largest airports, said some of the stranded passengers were placed on chartered fl ights arranged by BA and Comair, specifi cally for commuters on the popular Johannesburg and Cape Town route.

“Priority is also given to those passengers who have onward international connecting fl ights,” Terence Delomoney, ACSA’s group executive operations manager said.

Issuing the precautionary notice on Saturday, the regulator said in the past month Comair had experienced safety problems ranging from “engine failures, engine malfunction and landing gear malfunctions,” among others.

In its investigations, SACAA said it had discovered three so-called “level 1” fi ndings “which pose an immediate risk” and must be addressed immediately.

Gwebu did not elaborate on what outstanding safety issues Comair, which fl ies local and regional routes from South Africa under the British Airways (BA) livery as part of a licence agreement, needed to address before fl ying again. Besides fl ying BA planes, Comair also operates the Kulula brand.

A notice on Kulula’s website showed that Comair had been aiming to resume its schedule by 12 p.m. (1000 GMT) on Sunday, subject to SACAA’s approval.

“We will do everything we can to accommodate customers aff ected by the suspension on other fl ights, prioritising vulnerable customers and those who most urgently needed to travel,” Comair said, adding that customers would also be kept informed via text. https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospacedefense/safricas-comair-airlines-fleet-groundedindefinitely-says-regulator-2022-03-13/

Image credit: REUTERS\Mike Hutchings/File Photo