The Government denounced that the ANAC intervention detected numerous irregularities

The Intervention in the National Civil Aviation Administration (ANAC)by Maria Julia Cordero, detected a series of irregularities following an audit and diagnosis of the situation carried out following the decision taken in July by the Government to intervene in the organisation.

Through a statement, they detailed that it was revealed ”an inadequate and oversized structure of the organismdiscretion in the application of funds and inefficiencies in the use of resources,” and that in addition “a lack of control in processes, bureaucratization in procedures and a lack of management in the area of ​​oversight and provision of services were detected, among other observations that need to be addressed.”

The irregularities that were found

In the report they described that, at the time of the intervention, the ANAC presented a debt of $3,131,700,676inherited from the previous government’s management, a debt that is being analyzed: “The deficiencies in the administration of resources are expressed mainly in the management of its assets, with its fleet being a critical point: the organization has 14 aircraft, valued in their entirety at approximately one million dollars, which are not used or have been transferred. Most have not flown for more than 5 years,” he explains. Some of these aircraft were transferred or neglected at different airports, where they suffered deterioration due to lack of maintenance.

In addition, they detailed the Lack of maintenance of fire trucks and ambulancescompromising airport security; irregular purchases of 350 computers for a total of US$1,225,000, which was later increased by 122 more computers that cost US$427,000 and which never entered the agency; unjustified rentals, such as the 84 garages for a fleet of only 18 cars; and the indiscriminate issuance of 600 fuel cards.

Finally, they mentioned an inadequate and oversized structure with 103 senior positions and 68 departments or management positions, in addition to the fact that of the 63 properties of the entity, at least 33 were illegally occupied.

”Following these findings, 40 senior positions have already been cut, fuel cards without a specific operational allocation have been cancelled and almost all garages have been returned. As has been said many times, there is no room for wasting public resources.”.

The intervention in the ANAC

On July 11th, the The Ministry of Transportation ordered the intervention of ANAC for a period of 180 days. The Government made the decision official through the decree 606/2024 published in the Official GazetteThe objective of the measure was to “raise its security and operational standards, digitize administrative processes and audit its last years of management.”

“The intervention of the National Civil Aviation Administration, a decentralized body acting within the scope of the Transportation Secretariat of the Ministry of Transportation, is provided for a period of 180 calendar days. This period may be extended for an identical period and only once by means of a reasoned resolution by the Head of the aforementioned Ministry.“, the Government resolved through the aforementioned decree, published in the Official Gazette.

Following this provision, the entity began to operate in a decentralized manner, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transportation, through the Undersecretariat of Air Transportation.

“In recent years, there were carried out External audits, the latest inspections of which have identified more than 80 findings affecting areas such as training of technical staffinformation relating to operational safety, granting of licences, certifications, authorisations, surveillance obligations or operational safety resolutions,” the Government had denounced.

“It was appropriate to adopt urgent measures and make organizational, personnel and budgetary adjustments that would allow this process to develop without compromising the fulfillment of the institutional mission established by the regulation that created the organization,” the regulation that was approved at that time stressed.

ANAC specified that, following the appointment of Julia Cordero as intervenor, “work was done on preparing a diagnosis of the organization’s situation with the aim of identifying the operational and administrative problems that limit ANAC’s actions and proceeding to its restructuring and adaptation to the guidelines established in the intervention decree.”