SEPANG: The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) has launched an investigation on MYAirline Sdn Bhd by re-auditing the carrier's air operator certificate (AOC) renewal checklist following the 90-day suspension imposed on Oct 16.
CAAM chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Norazman Mahmud said the audit is targeted at specific technical areas including the airline's Continuing Airworthiness Maintenance Organisation (CAMO) and Approved Maintenance Organisation (AMO).
"The 90 days are for the investigation and audit, which include a reassessment on the financial issues faced by MYAirline," he told Business Times in an interview recently.
On Oct 16, CAAM announced the 90-day suspension of MYAirline's AOC pursuant to Regulation 193 (3) of the Civil Aviation Regulations 2016.
Norazman said the extension of the AOC suspension after the 90-day period depends on the progress that MYAirline will make in the timeline given.
MYAirline's interim accountable manager Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman had said on Oct 16 that the airline was actively looking for a new investor to pump in money into the cash-strapped carrier.
As at press time, there are no new updates on MYAirline's development.
Norazman said the two-year AOC extension given to MYAirline on Oct 1 was based on the audit that CAAM had carried out in May 2023. "The (audit) process started months before (the expiry of the AOC). It had to be done minimum four months before the expiry of the AOC."
"The audit was done following the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Document 8335 checklist but at that time there were no irregular findings," he said.
Norazman said example of the irregular findings include significant layoff or turnover of personnel, delays in meeting payroll, reduction of safe operations operating standards, and decrease in the standard of training.
It also includes withdrawal of credit by suppliers, inadequate maintenance of aircraft, and shortage of spare parts, to name a few.
Norazman added that MYAirline's high turnaround and late salary payments happened after the AOC renewal audit and the issues were supposed to be reported to CAAM by the airline.
MYAirline had made a shocking announcement in the wee hours of Oct 12 on the suspension of its flight operations leaving some 125,000 passengers stranded after it failed to secure a new investor.