Zest Air Grounded-Safety Violations

[Jollygoodfellow]

 

:bash:

 

 

CAAP suspends Zest Air over safety violations

 

MANILA, Philippines - The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) on Friday ordered the suspension of air operations of Zest Airways, a joint venture of businessman Alfredo Yao and Philippines' AirAsia, over various safety violations. 

 

In a letter to Zest Air owner Yao dated August 16, CAAP officer-in-charge Capt. John Andrews said it is "alarmed" by Zest Air's series of "serious deviations and infractions" of the rules and standards under the Philippine Civil Aviation Regulations. 

 

"It is informed that your Air Operator Certificate is suspended and hereby precluded to engage in air carrier operations," he said. 

 

The suspension will only be lifted once the CAAP is "assured" of the necessary corrective actions and compliance with aviation safety standards. 

 

The CAAP's decision was based on a report conducted by a group of airworthiness inspectors, who were tasked to monitor Zest Air operations last July 31.

 

In the August 16 report, the airworthiness inspectors said it found continuing safety violations made by ZestAir and recommended the immediate suspension of its operations. 

 

Among the violations were: Zest Air's lack of qualified accountable manager; failure of the flight crew to check aircraft logs, flight manifest and weather and failure to present the airman license to the CAAP during ramp inspection. 

 

Zest Air was also cited for various "occurrences that affected flight operations", such as a fuel overflow in Kalibo on July 22 and August 9. 

 

Another safety violation was the airline's refueling with passengers on board last August 14. 

 

Zest Air was also cited for excessive flight duty time. The report noted that since January 2012, several pilots have exceeded the 100 hours flight time limit per month due to rise in flight operations and flight crew shortage. 

 

"Zest Air lacks procedures in monitoring the flight time limit of pilots and procedures ... In 2012, 24 pilots have exceeded the flying time limitations," it said. 

 

Zest Air flies to 9 domestic destinations and 5 international routes via the Ninoy Aquino International Airport as well as hubs in Kalibo and Cebu.

 

Last May, Malaysia's AirAsia Berhad through local unit Philippines’ AirAsia Inc. completed a deal with Zest Air. 

 

AirAsia, which controls 40% of Philippines’ AirAsia, acquired an 85% economic interest and 49% voting rights in ZestAir as well as a 100 percent interest in Yao’s Asiawide Airways Inc.

 

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/08/16/13/caap-orders-suspension-zestair-operations

[OldUgly&Cranky]

Another safety violation was the airline's refueling with passengers on board

 

thats not a big deal ( of course im being sarcastic lol ) but it did happen to me with a big airline Cathay Pacific in Alaska they wouldnt let us off the plane while they refueled & cleaned the plane and changed crew , felt like the longest flight of my life actually 19 hours sitting in a airplane , needless to say when i got to hong kong i was a just a little happy to be able to walk around , now Cathay doesnt need to stop in alaska so they dont do that anymore !! 

 

O-U-C :thumbsup:

[Dave Hounddriver]

I am reminded of similar Philippine government interventions in businesses where the result has always been business as usual but the price goes up and someone gets more kickbacks.

[Malcolm Graham]

Its probably just a way to show the FAA and CAA that they are doing the job of checking the airlines.  Having just got the routes back to Europe

[Old55]

Malcolm and Dave sadly I think you guys nailed it.

Maybe this  grounding will cause Zest and the others could wake up and maintain those aircraft just a bit better.

[Papa Carl]

You would have thought, now that Air Asia own 49% of Zest Air that they would have sorted this kind of thing out, as Tony Fernandez of Air Asia is very strict on safety related issues with his Airline.

 

 

Papa Carl

[Markham]

You would have thought, now that Air Asia own 49% of Zest Air that they would have sorted this kind of thing out, as Tony Fernandez of Air Asia is very strict on safety related issues with his Airline.

 

 

Papa Carl

I think you've got the nub of it. This isn't about safety at all, it's about competition and someone - mentioning no names but I'm sure you'll guess correctly - is getting a bit upset by Air Asia's increasing presence. If this were about safety and non-compliance of CAAP rules, then Cebu Pacific would have been grounded - particularly after two of its aircraft smashed runway lights on landing and the airline failed to report those incidents. Not forgetting, of course, its "mishap" in Davao where pilot fatigue was partly to blame.