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The Civil Aviation Authority has commented on SAA.
Silas Stein / Picture Alliance via Getty Images
- SACAA said it was concerned about reports that it had granted SAA’s waiver request as a form of favoritism.
- The regulatory body said that the application and approval of the SAA was common practice.
- SACAA said it was also investigating SAA’s delay in reporting an alleged failure to take off on time during a flight carrying vaccines from Brussels.
The South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) says it will not be involved in “political struggles” around the embattled South African Airways (SAA), after it was accused of favoritism.
In a statement Thursday, SACAA said it was concerned about an “obsession” with SAA after it approved SAA’s waiver request. He said it was a common thing that was now being used to make it look like he was giving the airline special treatment.
An exemption request is a request that asks the regulator for permission to deviate from established legal requirements. SACAA says the process requires a lot of back and forth between him and the applicant.
READ | SA’s Civil Aviation Authority dismisses claims it gave SAA ‘special treatment’
“The recent obsession with the exemption granted to the SAA has perplexed the regulator as to the motives of those who have leaked this exemption to the public. Our conclusion can only be that this was to deliberately confuse and mislead the public in an area where they have a limited knowledge of the legislative prescriptions and requirements, as advocated in the Civil Aviation Law.
“We are convinced that this is the ultimate goal as only the exemption results letter was leaked, while the other supporting documents containing more details have not been shared with the public,” SACAA said.
Delay
Meanwhile, SACAA also addressed the delay in SAA reporting its alleged failure to take off on time during a flight carrying vaccines from Brussels. Airlines must report incidents to SACAA within 24, 48 or 72 hours, depending on the nature of the incident.
“Until the investigation is concluded, the Regulator cannot comment further on this matter since the opposite will be based solely on speculation. The Regulator takes all kinds of enforcement actions against non-compliant operators and this is duly disclosed annually in the report. Regulator’s annual … Any suggestion that the Regulator is ‘sweeping things’ under the rug is far from the truth and would go against adopted regulatory principles.
SACAA said it would not be used to fight political battles.
‘SACAA refuses to be dragged into political struggles. SACAA is not a political party and therefore has no interest in politics. Their mandate is clearly defined and politics is not one of those responsibilities.
“SACAA is entrusted with the diligence of fulfilling its mandate and this is done without fear or favoritism or political pressure and / or interference.
