SAA can’t choose when to be ethical

There is one non-negotiable in aviation: safety. Compromise that and hundreds of lives could be at risk of joining the choir invisible or at the very least, millions of rands in damage to aircraft and other equipment could be incurred.

That’s why there is nothing funny about an airline’s chief medical officer allegedly fraudulently issuing medical certificates to cabin crew and pilots.

And, despite Dr Nhlanhla Sishaba’s vehement denials and her suggestions that the SA Civil Aviation Authority (Sacaa) and South African Airways (SAA) have somehow conspired to end her career, it doesn’t negate the shadow it casts.

Medical certification is not just a matter of course.

Can the pilot see the runway, read what the complex instrumentation indicates during critical stages of flight or, for that matter, are cabin crew appropriately well to ensure the safety of passengers in the cabin?

The overall health quotient of operating flight crew contributes to avoiding disaster.

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This is why the Sacaa had to do something about it.

The regulator said when it became aware of the irregularities, it notified all the affected operators, including Sishaba’s employer, SAA.

Interestingly, SAA only suspended the doctor hours after the Sacaa issued its media statement that warned other potentially unsuspecting crew seeking medical certification of the alleged irregularities surrounding the doctor.

SAA said the suspension of Sishaba was “in keeping with our commitment to consequence management and rooting out all unethical behaviour within our environment” and, of course, SAA”s non-negotiable stance on air safety.

All good and well, but curiously the airline seems to be selectively ethical. So, too, with its dishing out of consequence management in the business.

SAA’s wrangling a criminal complaint containing serious allegations tantamount to industrial espionage against a senior executive whom, to the best of anyone’s knowledge, have not been suspended.

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