CAAP suspends Zest Air for safety violations

[Terpe]

http://static.rappler.com/images/Zest-Air-20130802.jpg

Low-cost carrier Zest Air's license was suspended Friday, August 16 for several violations of safety regulations.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) informed Zest Air it suspended its Air Operator Certificate in a letter Friday.

"[Your company is] hereby precluded to engage in air carrier operations, which shall take effect upon receipt of this notice/letter and shall remain in effect until this Authority is assured that the necessary corrective actions and compliance with aviation safety standards [have] been undertaken by your airline," CAAP deputy general John Andrews said.

CAAP said Zest Air violated, among others, Subsection 9.2.2.2 (a) of the Philippine Civil Aviation Regulations, which states that: "Each operator shall have an accountable manager…who has corporate authority for ensuring that all flight operations and maintenance activities can be financed and carried out to the highest degree of safety standards."

Source:-
http://www.rappler.com/business/industries/171-aviation-tourism/36596-caap-suspends-zest-air-safety-violations

[Ako Si Jamie]

Statement from their website

http://www.flyzest.com/


In response to the order of suspension from CAAP, we are surprised that this was issued without giving us an opportunity to properly respond to their issues raised. The management of ZestAir have been in full cooperation with CAAP in ensuring that the maintenance programs and policies of ZestAir are in place. All findings in CAAP’s letter have already been appropriately addressed and we believe that they do not merit suspension and grounding of our operations.

We wish to highlight and reiterate that all eleven (11) aircrafts are safe and airworthy. We will never risk the safety of our passengers. The reason why management in the past weeks have decided to voluntarily stop our aircraft from flying is to proactively ensure that any issues discovered, are rectified or properly addressed before we use the aircraft for commercial operations.

With due respect to CAAP, our reports on how we addressed the incident in Kalibo reflected this and is confirmed by CAAP inspectors that no maintenance procedural lapses were committed and that the aircraft concerned is not subject to any technical problems. The incident in Tagbilaran would have been addressed sooner had we not been required to have the maintenance rectification inspected by CAAP personnel. It is unfortunate that Tagbilaran airport has only one runway and ramp, and this is the reason why the incident snowballed to have affected so many passengers.

Our accountable manager is Ambassador Alfredo M. Yao who is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Zest Air

In addition, all our mechanics have valid licenses to perform their jobs despite CAAP’s concern where one of our mechanics did not possess the license physically on him but was stored within the work area. Furthermore, none of our pilots or crew are exceeding their duty time limitations.

ZestAir will be submitting a copy of the comprehensive improvement program that is currently being implemented in ZestAir to provide our passengers an improved experience, product and services. We have been investing significantly in our operations and fleet to further raise the standards of excellence across all aspects of personnel, parts, and maintenance/technical services.

[joebloggs]

we flew with Zest Air last year from Manila to Palawan, for what ever reason we were kept waiting for nearly 1hr on the plane waiting to take off, it was boiling on the plane, and the cheeky :censored: told people who pulled the blind on the window down to put it back up, even thou we weren't moving, coming back they were late again :mad:

[irishman12]

http://business.inquirer.net/139327/zest-air-suspension-lifted

[Terpe]

From the above link


The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) lifted the suspension order on Zest Air Tuesday.

“That”s a relief and welcome news as it confirms that cooperation between CAAP and [Zest Air] is more productive,” Joy Caneba, Zest Air Director, said in a text message.

“This confirms that Zest Air has been operating following the standards required and will continue to do so,” she said.

CAAP previously suspended the license to operate of Zest Air in light of safety consideration of its airplanes.

Zest Air said that they would resume operations as soon as possible.