This archive report was first published on 24 October 2019.
South African Airways (SAA) is facing a deepening crisis after 40 of the 46 airplanes grounded this week due to faults at its maintenance unit, SAA Technical, were returned to service, according to the head of the country's aviation regulator.
South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) Chief Executive Poppy Khoza revealed the findings of an audit at SAA Technical, which included inadequately qualified personnel signing off on maintenance work and incorrect maintenance checks on flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorders.
As of Wednesday evening, more than 80% of SAA's affected aircraft were back in service, according to SAA spokesman Tlali Tlali. However, the airline's long-term viability remains in question, with SAA having not made an annual profit since 2011 and not publishing financial results since 2017.
The SACAA has accepted a corrective action plan from SAA Technical, which maintains aircraft for SAA, its subsidiary Mango Airlines, and British Airways franchise partner Comair, which also operates under the kulula.com brand.
Twenty-five SAA planes, 14 Comair planes, and seven Mango Airlines planes were grounded this week, leading to domestic flight cancellations and delays on Tuesday. Disruptions had eased by Wednesday.
SACAA chairman Ernest Khosa assured South Africans that they are safe in the skies after the regulator's intervention.
Tlali dismissed an allegation that the faults were linked to SAA's perilous financial position, stating, 'None of the audit findings made at SAA Technical can reasonably be associated with the state of finances we are experiencing at the moment.'
