Employees of Romaero SA claim in a letter published by Economica.net that the company “no longer meets the conditions of EASA approval” (European Union Aviation Safety Agency) due to the “almost total” loss of qualified personnel, both management and execution, but also lack of financial opportunities, News.ro cites.

They claim that at Romaero, “the execution of work on civil passenger aircraft continues without meeting the minimum conditions to ensure the compliance of the work and the safety of the release of the aircraft into flight”, noting that there is currently no person with the necessary authority to manage the work in the company’s Technical Activity. They also criticize the “lack of action” by the Civil Aviation Authority “regarding the situation of serious violations” of Romaero, which “endangers air traffic and the lives of passengers traveling on these commercial aircraft.”

“We are concerned about the extremely dangerous situation in which Societatea Romaero SA operates, which could lead to human casualties. The serious deterioration of the company’s operating conditions in recent months forces the Civil Aviation Authority to take the necessary measures to prevent the dangers to which civil aviation is exposed by continuing the maintenance activities of Romaero aircraft. The company operates under the guidance of the Ministry of Economy, but the AACR is responsible for auditing and ensuring that approved organizations adhere to all compliance and security standards,” said a letter from Romaero employees published by Economica.net.

They claim that due to the loss of “nearly all qualified personnel” in both management and executive positions, as well as a complete lack of financial capacity, the company “no longer meets the conditions for EASA approval”, noting that Romaero has lost half employees in the period from February to October 2022.

“The aircraft maintenance and repair station (EASA Part 145 and FAA authorized) in Romaero continues to perform work on civilian passenger aircraft without meeting the minimum conditions to ensure compliance of the work and the safety of the release of the aircraft. before the flight,” the signed employees of the letter claim.

They also state that, under EASA regulations, line, base and component maintenance management positions are filled by AACR-authorized qualified personnel after testing their knowledge and ensuring that they meet the specific conditions for holding such a position. met

“At the moment, while the aircraft is being worked on, no site is manned by people who meet these basic criteria. “No person authorized by Form 4 (authorization required to manage maintenance activities) is currently working for the company anymore,” the document says.

Staff say that after all office staff have been laid off, the quality function (a mandatory EASA regulation) “to date is completely absent, Romaero has neither a dedicated unit of 145 auditors to check compliance nor quality assurance staff to ensure that requirements are updated and implemented.”

“In addition, the head of the quality department does not have the necessary experience and knowledge, as required by the current legislation, to perform this function. In the absence of these inspection tools, the company cannot guarantee the conformity of the work, issuing certificates for returning the aircraft to service is illegal,” they add.

According to them, currently the Civil Aircraft Maintenance and Repair Office does not have access to the updated repair documentation (My Boeing Fleet). According to EASA regulations, aircraft maintenance and repair organizations must have their own access to the manufacturer’s current documentation related to the specific activity. The absence of a paid access subscription both violates the letter of the law that imposes the obligation and creates a real danger by forcing staff to perform work according to outdated editions, thereby rendering the work inappropriate.

“In addition, in the absence of financial resources and control mechanisms, there is a threat of non-compliance of materials, equipment, tools and parts used in the repair process. At the moment, the company does not demonstrate the ability to provide basic materials, the use of expired materials and substances that pose a serious threat to the safety of the premises,” the letter also states.

Romaero employees also complain about violations in the work of personnel.

“The danger caused by insufficient numbers and unqualified personnel is doubled by a serious violation of all the principles of human factors necessary for aviation safety. A four-month salary delay, unprofessionalism of management in interaction with executors create an atmosphere of stress, frustration and anxiety among employees who perform jobs that require special attention, concentration and responsibility. In these circumstances, which have been made public in various ways by Romaero employees, who have expressed their concerns, including to company management and aviation authority representatives, AACR has not yet taken any action to address the discrepancies. AACR’s lack of action on the situation of serious violations of Part 145 of the Romaero Regulations puts air traffic and the lives of passengers traveling on these commercial aircraft at risk,” they said.

According to them, it is AACR’s responsibility to intervene to prevent a serious accident, “given the failure of the company’s management at all levels to take the necessary steps to ensure compliance (the management is currently in a situation that involves criminal liability for counterfeiting with very serious consequences) , due to the lack of serious management training and ignorance of the law and rules specific to aviation.”

“Given the immediate danger and repeated communications from management and AACR that have gone unanswered, as well as the conflict of interest that AACR officials may find themselves in (both current COO Romaero and the head of quality worked at AACR until a few months ago, previous positions were frozen during the period they were active in Romaero), notification of this extremely dangerous situation will also be sent to EASA. Out of respect for human lives and Romania’s place in the world of European aviation, we hope that the authorities of our country will take the necessary legal measures,” the document also states.

Romaero, a joint-stock company with majority state capital, is the largest company in the Romanian aerospace and defense industry by asset value and customer portfolio, and one of the most important suppliers of products and services to the Romanian Air Force.

In Romaero, the Ministry of Economy owns 57% of shares, SIF Muntenia – 23%, and Fondul Proprietatea – 19%. Romaero cooperates with Boeing, Airbus, Bae Systems, Bombardier (currently Viking), for which it performs design and production, aerostructures, main assemblies, subassemblies and main parts, as well as design and manufacture of devices and implementation of special technological processes.

In the area of ​​aircraft maintenance, Romaero performs inspection and maintenance of the Ministry of National Defense’s Hercules C-130B/H, Antonov AN-26/AN-30 and Spartan aircraft, as well as periodic inspections and general maintenance of commercial aircraft. aircraft, including Boeing 737 NG and Airbus A.320, for a number of domestic (e.g. Blue Air) and international (e.g. Ryanair) civil airlines.

At the moment, according to Profit.ro, Romaero is in a state of permanent decline in economic activity due to difficulties in carrying out production and technical activities within the contractual parameters, a situation caused mainly by the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, events that negatively affected on the company’s activities, as well as the main difficulties with providing short- and medium-term business financing.

In this context, the company faced: a sharp drop in turnover – from 84.4 million lei in 2018 to 51.9 million lei in 2021; increasing the volume of losses from 35.3 million lei in 2018 to 62,972,896 lei in 2021; constant deterioration of all performance indicators.

In recent years, Romaero has faced downsizing due to the emergence and aggressive nature of the SARS-COV-2 pandemic, which has severely affected the entire aerospace industry due to the restrictions imposed. Thus, the company, whose main activity is directly related to the commercial aviation market, recorded a significant decrease in revenues and, as a result, the average number of employees decreased by more than 24% from an average number of 908 employees in 2019. , to the average registered number of 690 people in December 2021.