Three US lawmakers have written to Federal Aviation Administration chief Steve Dickson demanding more detailed answers to questions on how Boeing is being held accountable for past "transgressions" related to the 737 Max. In a 29 November letter to Dickson, the US House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure's chair Peter DeFazio, aviation subcommittee chair Rick Larsen and subcommittee member Greg Stanton call on the FAA administrator to provide "more complete responses" to questions raised during a hearing he attended last month. Specifically, the letter's authors want to know what the FAA has done to hold to account Boeing employees responsible for an "apparent violation" of the 737 Max's approved type design, and for the manufacturer's "internal plan" to downplay the significance of the aircraft's Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) to regulators. Boeing equipped the 737 Max with MCAS to counter the aircraft's tendency, in certain situations, to pitch nose-up. The system, acting in response to erroneous angle-of-attack (AOA) data, was implicated in two fatal crashes involving Max 8s operated by Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines. "We are deeply troubled by the absence of rigorous accountability for Boeing's past transgressions related to the 737 Max and the FAA's failure to hold those who violated the public's trust accountable," write the congressmen in the letter. They accuse Boeing of failing to notify regulators about a non-functioning AOA Disagree alert on more than 80% of Max aircraft until after the Lion Air crash in October 2018. To date, they add, "we are unaware of any actions the FAA has taken to hold Boeing accountable for violating the approved type design of the 737 Max, knowingly continuing to manufacture the aircraft regardless of this known defect, and failing to notify your agency – or 737 Max customers – of this non-functioning component on the aircraft until after the Lion Air crash". The second issue highlighted in the letter concerns an "explicit plan" by Boeing to downplay the significance of MCAS. "We would like to know what, if any, actions FAA has taken to evaluate and investigate the efforts by Boeing to downplay MCAS, particularly to US and foreign regulators," write the congressmen. "We are interested in any actions by the FAA to hold individuals accountable for their actions." DeFazio, Larsen and Stanton have requested a response to their letter from the FAA by 13 December.

A consortium seeking to acquire a majority stake in South African Airways has moved closer to its goal after completing due-diligence in relation to the carrier. The Takasto consortium, which includes Global Aviation Operations/Global Airways and South African investment fund Harith General Partners, conducted the process with the Department of Public Enterprises and identified "no material issues". Though it describe the transaction is a "large and complex one", the consortium says the parties are committed to concluding the deal in a timely manner. Takasto's plans to invest in SAA were disclosed in June. The investors include Gidon Novak, who co-founded South African carrier Lift. In a televised interview on 26 November, South Africa's public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan told Bloomberg that the sale of SAA was expected to conclude in early 2022. He said the transaction still had several regulatory hurdles to jump but was "moving in right direction".

The US government has restricted travel from eight countries in southern Africa to prevent transmission of Covid-19's highly infectious Omicron variant, first identified in South Africa on 24 November. US president Joe Biden said in a 26 November proclamation that entry into the country would be suspended beginning 29 November for non-US citizens who had been in Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe during the preceding 14 days. "While new information is still emerging, the profile of the Omricron variant] includes multiple mutations across the Covid-19 genome, some of which are concerning," Biden states. "According to the World Health Organization, preliminary evidence suggests an increased risk of reinfection with this variant, as compared to other variants of concern. Further, the WHO reports that the number of cases of this variant appears to be increasing in almost all provinces in the Republic of South Africa." United Airlines has been operating five flights per week between Newark and Johannesburg, and three flights per week between Washington DC and Accra, Ghana. United has so far not cancelled any flights. The Chicago-based carrier says that it is launching its Washington DC-Lagos, Nigeria route on 29 November as scheduled. Additionally, United will restart Newark-Cape Town, South Africa flights on 1 December as planned. "United continues to monitor how the new 212(f) travel restrictions to Africa may impact demand, and remains committed to maintaining a safe and vital link for essential supplies and personnel to transit between the African continent and the United States as feasible," the carrier says. "We don't have any adjustments to our schedule at this time." Delta Air Lines intends to operate 35 Atlanta-Johannesburg flights in December. "There are no planned adjustments to service at this time," the Atlanta-based carrier says.