There are some stories you just cannot make up and here is another that has me a little concerned. For those of you that don't know what ATNS stands for it is Air Traffic Navigation Services. This is an SOE or Government controlled entity that like most other SOE's in SA is poorly run.
The big problem with the ATNS is that South Africa now has airports that have their instrument flight approaches out of date. This is not only dangerous, but kind of tells you how these SOE's are being run. The Transport minister has told them to get their act together but also not to rush things as safety has to remain their priority. I have no idea how long this process takes and this will be for every airport in SA.
The summer holiday tourist season is around the corner and airports that do not have a flight path that can talk with the onboard flight computer systems means that no aircraft will fly and land in South Africa.
The chance of flying from Europe or anywhere else even from an internal flight and experiencing an overcast day with heavy cloud cover means flights would be flying blind. Landing an aircraft just by what the pilot can visually see is not ideal and increases the risks.
I am flying to Europe in the next few weeks and taking off is not the problem, but the possibility this will be weather permitting in case the flight has to return due to an emergency. Flying back on the return leg could be delayed as reports have suggested that you allow up to 2-3 days for delays.
Johannesburg has 3000 international flights scheduled for December being the major hub with Cape Town the second busiest with around 900 being the top tourist destination in SA. There is a risk that flights will be cancelled if this is not fixed in time because airlines cannot take the risk.
This week there were 3 of the smaller local airports that have had their flights cancelled and everyone has been quiet on the big 3 even though they know these flight instrument flight paths have expired.
The other day when I flew to Durban via Johannesburg we spent 90 minutes on the runway with no explanation besides that there were 6 flights ahead of us. Those of us that have traveled know a queue of 6 flights is normal and takes less than 10 minutes to take off.
This is a growing story that most in the country have no clue about and could either make or break the boom time Christmas tourism offers. The knock on effect for businesses that rely on foreign tourists like hotels and restaurants would be catastrophic if international flights were cancelled.
The ATNS is made up of 2 permanent programmers and 3 others who are contracted mapping flight paths and incorporating in flight programs. They are only openly talking about 3 airports affected this week, but the big news of the major airports is going to be following closely behind. They mentioned that they are trying to get most airports compliant up to full regulation by the end of November. The problem is no one believes them or why the warnings regarding serious delays
You would be asking yourself who is in control and who makes these decisions that allow their in flight instrument routes to expire. These are billed as services to every aircraft that takes off and lands so it is not as though they have a lack of funds. This is what happens when people take over positions that they are not qualified for and have no idea when you do not do your job what the implications will be. This is a massive oversight from someone and I have never head a story this bad in years.
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