Industry group slams dysfunctional Airservices Australia

By Andrew Curran.

Industry groups Airlines for Australia and New Zealand (A4ANZ) and the Australian Airports Association (AAA) have written to the CEO of Airservices Australia after more than 100 flights were delayed earlier this month due to air traffic control staffing shortages.

"We are constantly seeing an inability to staff the air traffic control towers around the country and that is leading to considerable disruptions to our airlines and passengers," A4ANZ CEO Stephen Beckett told the CAPA Asia Pacific Airline Leader Summit in Adelaide yesterday, July 28.

On July 16, flights at Australia's busiest airport, Sydney (SYD), were delayed for up to one hour (with ripple effects around the country) after the air traffic control tower there experienced a higher-than-usual rate of absenteeism – reportedly due to controllers staying up late to watch the World Cup.

"It's not just the one-off," said Beckett. "We know there are many factors why disruption occurs, but this is ongoing and persistent."

Absent air traffic controllers cause chaos

Sydney Airport air traffic controllers calling in sick caused similar disruptions in January. Air traffic control in Australia is managed by Airservices Australia, an Australian Government agency.

No Airservices Australia representatives attended the event in Adelaide yesterday, which attracted hundreds of industry delegates from around Australia and the world.

Beckett noted that the latest Airservices delivery breakdown happened just one day after Airservices announced it wanted to double fees over five years – a proposal that has drawn swift pushback from the aviation industry. Beckett called the proposal "unhelpful" and said there had to be some restraint.

"There has to be some decent service provided before you can double the air services fees," he said. "Today, we wrote to the CEO of Airservices saying, 'what is going on?'"

Airservices Australia wants to double fees over five years

A4ANZ, which is a member-funded trade group representing airlines based in Australia and New Zealand, including Qantas, Jetstar, Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand, among others, says the increase, if approved by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, would cost airlines, and ultimately passengers, around AUD150 million (USD104.6 million) annually.

Airservices says it needs the extra money to address ongoing staff shortages, upgrade critical safety and rescue equipment, and invest in modern air traffic management systems.

A4ANZ has led the charge in condemning the proposal.

"This is an extraordinary price hike from a government-owned entity that has too often failed to deliver the services airlines and travellers need and are already paying for," A4ANZ Chairperson Professor Graeme Samuel said last week. "It is simply not good enough to ask travellers to pay dramatically more for a service that is failing to meet reasonable expectations."

"This proposed increase does not land in isolation. It is part of a broader cost wave now hitting airline services."

Growing costs put the squeeze on the aviation industry

Yesterday in Adelaide, Australian Airports Association CEO Simon Westaway was less vocal in his criticism of Airservices, but he did call out the growing costs faced by the industry.

"We're seeing at every twist and turn, additional cost being added to the system," he said, citing as an example the mandatory background checks for aviation employees that rose 185% from AUD240 (USD167) to AUD480 (USD334) on July 1, ostensibly to cover the costs of conducting the checks.

"We don't want air travel to be something only the well-heeled can do," Westaway said. "We've got more than 60 airlines that compete for business in Australia… but there's just continual lead in the saddle."

"These costs keep growing, and that rubber band is being stretched further and further and something will happen."

The CAPA Asia Pacific Airline Leader Summit continues on Thursday.

Photo: Melbourne Airport.

Contact the writer: andrew@aerosouthpacific.com