The suspension of certain flight approaches at some smaller airports in SA raises serious questions about the ability of the SA Air Traffic Navigation Service (ATNS) to maintain the hardware and procedural infrastructure in its care.
A number of industry insiders shared their concerns with Business Day on condition of anonymity due to the nature of their positions in the aviation industry.
Last week, the ATNS suspended procedures for all instrument-navigation flight approaches indefinitely while it continued to conduct a related maintenance programme.
Under the suspension, pilots may fly visual approaches in favourable weather conditions. However, at night or during cloudy, misty or rainy weather, such approaches may not always be permissible.
According to the ATNS, airports affected are George, Kimberley, Upington, East London, Mthatha and Polokwane.
“Safety is the top priority, but avoidable suspensions and associated disruptions like these — which can only be attributed to poor planning and failure to address a known skills and capacity gap — have harmful financial and economic consequences; not only for airlines, but for businesses and livelihoods in those towns and cities with affected airports,” commented one such informed industry source.
“The ATNS, which is currently pushing for a tariff increase, has failed to timeously ensure its infrastructure remains fit for purpose and has not met a deadline to complete and submit the paperwork confirming those approaches are compliant.”
Another reliable source in the airline industry says that over the last few years, disruptions have been increasing. “Regulated calibration and maintenance deadlines are missed or equipment is unserviceable. It’s happening more and more frequently. There’s also a staffing issue where there simply aren’t enough air traffic controllers to service the country properly and those that are there are more junior than what we’ve known in the past,” they said.
While the source is of the opinion that there is not yet a safety issue, another said there was “a thin line between inefficiency and lack of safety”. For example, he is aware of a recording made by a pilot that is circulating on social media and apparently demonstrates the “incompetence of the air traffic controller involved”.
“It means that we can’t do things as efficiently as we could, which adds costs and inconvenience. For example, we get long, conservative routings for departures and approaches when a more sophisticated controller would be able to advise a more economical routing. They also impose restrictions on the number of movements, which can result in aircraft having to hold, and in departure delays,” explained the source.
The industry knows what the problems are at the ATNS, such as a staff shortage and loss of expertise to places such as Australia and the Middle East. But role players are scared to say anything because of fear of retribution by the agency, another industry insider says.
In his view, ATNS needs “outside help” to get the job done.
The ATNS, which was founded in the early 1990s, used to be a shining example of how an SOE could be commercialised when it consisted of knowledgeable people with skills and experience in the industry, according to another industry insider.
“To run a sophisticated operation like moving planes through the sky, you need people with knowledge, and it should not be about political agendas. It is unbelievable and unacceptable that the ATNS could recently send out notices to airmen saying that it is not providing services in certain air space due to a shortage of staff. This is an essential service,” the source said.
While the latest suspension of certain approach procedures is of concern for yet another airline insider, he feels it would be appropriate to look at the overall health of the ATNS.
“The ATNS is, as a whole, short-staffed and short-skilled and the airline industry is paying the price. Congestion and infrastructure issues are a frequent constraint and there is no apparent improvement in process,” he said.
The ATNS was approached for comment on the various allegations made by industry players. It responded that instrument flight procedures were reviewed every five years as per the criteria of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
“It is not true that we missed a deadline as the maturity dates for reviews come at different times for different procedures,” the ATNS said.
The current review started in April 2023 and civil aviation regulations allow for the process to take a maximum of 320 days.
“With the number of the procedures [that were] to be reviewed, this period was not adequate and, in terms of our safety management system, procedures that do not meet the requirements should be suspended unless such non-compliances are mitigated,” the ATNS said.
It is busy completing the maintenance of the suspended procedures as quickly as possible.
“Since the suspension of the flight procedures, the ATNS has not yet received any reports of flights that may have been suspended or cancelled. We are continuously engaging with all our stakeholders affected, informing them of mitigations in place to minimise any disruptions and impact to industry.”
The ATNS acknowledged that it was concerned about the loss of expertise due to retirement or resignation, but added that “the entire African region is having the same challenge”.
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