The Minister of Transport, Ms. Barbara Creecy's Committee of Aviation Experts established to scrutinize challenges at Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS) has concluded its first preliminary diagnostic report, which was adopted by the Minister and the ATNS Board this week for immediate implementation. The committee was established on the 12th of December 2024 and given up to the end of January 2025 to finalize its preliminary report.
Committee recommendations

Work on implementing the recommendations to stabilise the organisation will begin immediately. Rebuilding the organisation to fully implement its mandate will however take time.

Immediate interventions will focus on improving staffing, ensuring the reliability of critical systems, maintaining instrument flight procedures, as well as governance improvements to improve single point accountability.

1. Accelerate the recruitment of critical staff, including air traffic service staff, flight procedure designers, surveyors, technical support staff, engineers and training instructors. This process will take a period of 18 months up to 3 years to be fully implemented. 
2. Undertake an urgent upgrade of communication, navigation and surveillance (CNS) systems. This will include enhancements of the Air Traffic Management System, Air Traffic Flow Management System and Communication systems. 
3. Take steps to ensure the maintenance of instrument flight procedures which were the root cause of the most recent flight delays.
4. Prioritize and improve governance processes to enable a single point accountability to allow efficient implementation.

Creecy’s reaction
Minister Creecy has emphasized that, “These recommendations will be implemented immediately by the ATNS Board and management, with the advice of the Intervention Committee. My office will monitor progress closely.”

She  further stated that, “I am meeting the captains of the aviation industry on Friday to secure their support and co-operation. “I am confident that these actions will ensure that South Africa continues to provide safe and efficient operations in its airspace.” Creecy concluded.

Background
The Minister established the committee to investigate the root cause of problems that have affected the Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS) in recent times regarding flight instrument procedures. The Minister believed that ATNS required  a deeper diagnosis of its problems following months of working with  the ATNS and the aviation industry to deal with the submission of revised flight procedures to the South African Civil Aviation Authority. A process that saw numerous flight procedures returned to the ATNS for improvement. The ATNS has also lost part of its technical capacity due to resignation of air traffic controllers and brain-drain.

Findings of the committee
In its investigation, the Committee made the following  diagnostic findings related to safety and service delivery:

• Critical staffing shortages particularly Air Traffic Service.
• Critical CNS systems are not as reliable as they should be.
• Flight procedures suspended as a result of not being maintained.

The committee will function for a period of six months. It will advise the ATNS Board and the executive management on the implementation of the committee’s recommendations.

The Committee of Experts comprises the following aviation experts: Ms. Wrenelle Stander, Mr. Sibusiso Nkabinde and Mr. Peter Marais  

Media Contact:
Collen Msibi
National Spokesperson
Cell: 066 476 9015