Tiger Airways pilots fail flying test, airline to resume services on Friday

Tigers back but with reduced schedule

Tiger Airways will return to the air on Friday with a reduced schedule, after being cleared by CASA.

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TIGER Airways' pilots were forced to prove their flying ability after the airline was grounded last month, and not all of them passed.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority yesterday gave the budget airline the all-clear to return to the skies after a five-and-a-half week suspension, the Courier-Mail reported.

CASA director John McCormick said the authority took the unprecedented step of grounding the airline in response to "slipping safety standards".

It followed a series of incidents dating to late last year including "poorly carried out or missed approaches" by aircraft and two flights that flew at below-safe altitudes.

Mr McCormick said the number of staff employed by Tiger was not sufficient.

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"We certainly didn't have confidence the (110) pilots were at a standard we required," he said.

"As a result, we had to put them all through a test, it was a normal simulator test you'd expect any airline pilot to be able to pass. There were some failures."

He said CASA was now satisfied standards were being met.

Tiger said flights would resume between Sydney and Melbourne.

"I'm happy that the pilots who fly Tiger aircraft from this day forward are qualified to the standard that they should be," said Mr McCormick.

"They are limited to 18 sectors (flights) a day for the rest of August."

A statement issued by Tiger announced the airline would resume flights from Friday but only between Sydney and Melbourne.

"The resumption of services on other Tiger Airways routes will be announced shortly," said communications manager Vanessa Regan.

"Passengers already booked to fly with Tiger Airways Australia from August 12 will be advised of any change to their travel plans and will be offered a range of options."

Some travellers impacted by the airline's grounding on July 2 are still waiting for refunds, with losses from the forced cancellations expect to top $14 million.

Tiger now faces continued surveillance by CASA, including surprise "spot checks" on pilots and maintenance procedures.

The web check-in will remain suspended over concerns the airline was not meeting the requirement of seating "able-bodied passengers over wing exits".

Mr McCormick refused to say if Tiger's "budget model" had contributed to its safety issues, but said the airline had not kept up with its own fleet expansion.

"Tiger found themselves in a position where they had grown quite largely, from four airplanes to ten and their manpower, their management and their systems didn't keep pace with that increase in airline's size," he said.

"In actual fact there was very little change in the personnel side of it."