~ WINAIR flights canceled.~
PHILIPSBURG:--- Passengers traveling from Guadeloupe and other Caribbean islands through Air Antilles and WINAIR have been faced with cancellations of their flights as the Direction Generale de Aviation Civile (DGAC) have grounded all Air Antilles fleet due to lack of compliance.
A press release has been posted on the Air Antilles website announcing the cancellations.
WINAIR who partners with Air Antilles for its regional flights also sent out a press release announcing the cancellations of several of their flights this weekend.
Reports are that the DGAC withdrew all of Air Antilles Express permits because the airline did not respect deadlines for review.
Thus, 7 ATR and 4 Twin Otter are nailed to the ground, because the DGAC affirms that "during the monitoring of your organization, since the beginning of the year 2021, we have observed 8 major non-conformities, concerning the ATR fleets. and Twin, which demonstrates that your management system does not allow monitoring of compliance with the procedures required to ensure the airworthiness of these fleets of aircraft and of the adequacy of the procedures ”.
These failures in the aircraft overhaul deadlines made it possible to justify the flight ban, and it was the OSAC (Organization for the Safety of Civil Aviation) that found that the airline had not respected the review deadlines.
All the flights that were scheduled for Saturday, August 28, 2021, between Guadeloupe, Martinique, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Saint-Martin, and the other Caribbean islands served by Air Antilles, have been purely and simply canceled.
As of Friday, August 27th none of Air Antilles planes could take off from Martinique and Guadeloupe airports.
All rotations scheduled for Saturday, August 28 between Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint-Martin, Dominica, and the Caribbean islands have been canceled. The reason: the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has indicated shortcomings concerning the maintenance of 11 aircraft of the airline. The calendar stops of the devices were not respected. It was the Civil Aviation Safety Organization (OSAC) that noted that the deadlines between aircraft overhauls were not being met. The company must review its maintenance program and have it approved by civil aviation in order to resume its activity as soon as possible
WINAIR
WINAIR have been using the Air Antilles fleet for its flights to Curacao, Aruba, Dominica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic under the WINAIR flag, questions now arise on the stance of Civil Aviation St. Maarten and what measures they have taken now that the issues with Air Antilles and its lack of compliance arise, causing its fleet to ground. So far, no information from Civil Aviation St. Maarten has been released on the matter.
Another concern for WINAIR and its shareholders, and staff is the fact Air Antilles have expressed interest in purchasing WINAIR, knowing that the airline is unsafe and now grounded by the DGAC.
