Comair was forced to suspend operations for 24 hours due to safety concerns. Not all issues have been addressed in that period, so the suspension has now been made permanent.
The Air Operator Certificate for Comair, including its Kulula.com subsidiary, was suspended on Saturday by the South African Civil Aviation Authority. Comair is the British Airways franchise in South Africa. The airline flies domestically as well as to nearby countries with a fleet of Boeing 737s. My review of a Comair business class flight can be found here.
An investigation into a recent flurry of safety incidents at the airline led to the suspension of Comair's AOC. Comair was supposed to demonstrate that the risk and safety management systems at the airline are effective during the initial 24 hours of the precautionary suspension. The airline wasn't able to do that, so operations have been suspended indefinitely.
In the past month alone, Comair has experienced a variety of issues, from an engine failure to a landing gear malfunction.
What caused Comair to be suspended? Regulators met with Comair management to determine if the airline is in compliance with the Civil Aviation Regulations. Comair's quality control management systems and safety management systems were reviewed by regulators to establish compliance with reporting, analysis, follow-up of incidents, and corrective action plans to prevent recurrence.
The result of the investigation.
Comair has been able to address one of the concerns in the first 24 hours.
Comair was forced to suspend operations due to the revocation of its Air Operator Certificate. Regulators are not happy with management's systems in place for avoiding safety incidents.
Comair's AOC was only suspended for 24 hours, but the suspension has now become indefinite, as management hasn't been able to address some of the concerns of regulators by today. Comair planes feature the British Airways livery, so this isn't a good look for British Airways.
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