Français
Financial difficulties, administrative malfunctions - the problems are piling up for Air Antilles. The latest was the decision by the French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC) on Monday December 8 to suspend the company's air transport certificate. That same evening, at midnight, all flights were prohibited. Its aircraft are therefore grounded until further notice.
The DGAC's decision follows an audit carried out between December 2 and 4. According to Air Antilles, the audit highlighted "a certain number of documentary and organizational verifications to be finalized in the near future", without "in any way calling into question the immediate safety of flights". The audit also seems to have highlighted other dysfunctions, such as the fact that strategic positions were not being filled. In addition, the DGAC said that "very significant failings in the safety processes of its passengers and staff" had been identified.
"Corrective action
The suspension of the air operator's certificate "automatically entails the suspension of the operating license, also prohibiting Air Antilles from selling tickets", says the French civil aviation authority. The company now has one month in which to implement "corrective actions" likely to restore its air operator's certificate.
The suspension imposed by the DGAC is yet another blow for the company and its employees, but also for the Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Martin, the company's majority shareholder. On October 6, the territorial council granted an exceptional loan of three million euros to Air Antilles. This additional payment brought the total investment to over twenty million euros (including 4.4 by the other shareholder, Cipim).
"A lot of paperwork
Interviewed on Monday December 8, the President of the Collectivité de Saint-Martin, Louis Mussington, referred to "some anomalies in terms of safety measures that should have been taken upstream". He added: "I blame our management for not having taken the right decisions to avoid such measures being taken. It has nothing to do with the planes themselves, it's just paperwork. "The next day, at a press conference in Saint-Martin, he added: "The malfunctions identified by the DGAC essentially concern administrative and regulatory aspects. A corrective action plan has been drawn up and will be presented on December 9. "In the face of the storm, President Mussington is disarmingly confident that Air Antilles will soon be able to resume operations. A particularly optimistic outlook in view of the recurring difficulties in which the company has been mired for months.
Yet Louis Mussington is adamant. "It's not the Air Antilles fleet that's in question, it's the paperwork (...) On Friday, Saturday, Sunday and all day Monday, flights were operational. "Therefore, according to the Chairman, it's not the condition of the aircraft that's to blame, but administrative errors. In any case, since the flights stopped, the company's passengers have been the ones experiencing difficulties. Initially, Air Antilles agents rebooked them on flights operated by other airlines. By paying their passengers for their tickets. A solution that didn't last, as it was too costly. Since Wednesday, agents, notably at the Air Antilles counter in Saint-Barthélemy, have been offering people holding a ticket for a flight to refund them or rebook them on... a future flight, once the airline has resumed operations.
A few weeks ago, the company's trade union had denounced "silent" and "inexperienced" governance, pointing to " a cascade of flight cancellations", a "deterioration in service quality" and a "critical situation" for operations. In September, Air Antilles was granted a four-month extension to its operating license. This was intended to enable the company to find a new investor, without whom its survival would be definitively compromised. However, before it can think about convincing an investor, it will now have to obtain an air transport certificate from the French civil aviation safety authority (Direction de sécurité de l'aviation civile).
