Tiger Airways’ future in doubt

SYDNEY: The future of Australian budget airline Tiger Airways was in serious doubt yesterday after regulators sought to extend its grounding and the carrier's chief executive quit.

Tiger was barred from operating domestic flights last Saturday for a week by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) over “serious and imminent” safety risks and the regulator wants the suspension prolonged until Aug 1.

CASA said it would go to the Federal Court in Melbourne to seek the extension to give it more time to study the risks and Tiger's response to its concerns.

In reaction Tiger Airways Australia, a subsidiary of Singapore's Tiger Airways, issued a statement late Wednesday saying its Australian chief executive Crawford Rix would leave on July 31.

But it vowed to return to the skies with the grounding costing it US$1.6mil a week.

“Tiger Airways has been working constructively with CASA for the past five days to establish a plan for the resumption of our services and will not oppose the period of extension,” the airline said.

“The airline remains committed to resuming services as quickly as possible.”

It said it would refund fares to passengers holding reservations up until the end of the month.

Rix will be replaced by Tony Davis, the group president of Tiger Airways Holdings, who was sent from Singapore to lead the talks with CASA.

CASA grounded the airline after a flight approached an airport too low last week and after warning of concerns in areas including pilot proficiency, training and checking, and fatigue management.

The regulator's spokesman Peter Gibson said more questions were being thrown up as investigators went through Tiger's books.

“We have to make sure we fully understand the reasons why these problems have occurred if they are systemic problems, problems with process and problems with safety systems,” Gibson said.

“The investigation is a big task and one that could not be done within the original one-week timeframe.”

It is the first grounding of an entire airline due to safety issues in Australia's history. AFP