[Peetwo]

The miniscule & his three Aviation Muppets...

Reference from this week's SBG...

..The miniscule’s last move came on the very last tick of the time clock; he has brought the Queens castle into the game; in the guise of a newly anointed director of aviation safety (silly name) or; boss CASA, the erstwhile Carmody. The popular ‘Australian Flying’ magazine asset ‘Hitch’ has penned another balanced, sensible comment on this appointment which is worth the time to read. Indeed, the article should, if matters aeronautical were ‘normal’, mark the end of the topic. Regrettably, this is not the case...

The miniscule has now put in place on the AOC (aviation obfuscation chessboard) what he obviously believes is an effective (smoke) screen of Muppet chess pieces - Harfwit, High viz Hoody & Comardy capers...  

Perhaps it is time to highlight what in fact 6D has now put at stake in his blind faith that his Muppet minions (2 pawns & a castle), will be able to obfuscate the potential A-word embarrassments for a further two years in the King's court...

Quoting Comardy's miniscule swearing of allegiance at Senate Estimates:

Mr Carmody : No, I do not take into account the retail sector, but the statement of expectations from my minister is very clear:

… focus on aviation safety as the highest priority …

…   …   …

… consider the economic and cost impact on individuals, businesses and the community in the development and finalisation of new— regulations and regulatory changes.

CHAIR: Yes.

Mr Carmody : And take 'a pragmatic, practical and proportionate approach to regulation as it applies' to different industry sectors. I am fulfilling that mandate.

 
Quoting further from the 6D FF decree to which CC (above) says he will comply:

4.        Key Aviation Initiatives
I expect CASA, in conducting its responsibilities as the aviation safety regulator, to have regard to the following key aviation initiatives:

(a)   changes taking place in relation to air traffic services, including Airservices Australia’s (Airservices) new operating model and the transition to a new air traffic management system under the OneSKY Project;

In other words it would seem CC is not only obliged to protect the miniscule's posterior but also one Pawn Harfwit and the OneSKY trough fund...

Which brings me to the weird & bizarre machinations of Pawn 'Arfwit and his oversight of the  the Great White elephant OneSKY and the rapidly shrinking sector of the Kingdom, County ATC...

In terms of the good book of bureaucratic obfuscation related to potential future bad press for the miniscule, perhaps Harfwit has the biggest challenges ahead of him.

For example 4 days ago P7 picked up on a Fairfax article that is still doing the rounds:

The wheels on the bus go round and round........Looking for a suitable 'bump'; the ASA bus stop is looking good. Class action for a ' no class' act.

...Airservices Australia faces a massive class action in the Federal Court following the slashing of more than 500 jobs in a controversial redundancy program.

The government entity could be stung as much as $12 million in payouts and penalties for the "systemic" use of allegedly unlawful contracts, said the Canberra law firm launching the claim.

Former staff of Airservices Australia are launching a class action against the government entity. Photo: James Morgan
 
Rory Markham, the employment litigation director for Chamberlains, said the alleged contract breaches could have affected as many as 150 former employees.

"There was a large redundancy in 2016 – the largest on Airservice's record – where 150 people alone in the Canberra market at that level were let go," Mr Markham said.

"What appears to be the case is that there were a series of contracts that came into existence that didn't meet enterprise agreement standards.

"Those contracts were effectively relied upon to make those people redundant."

Former employees who signed such contracts could be due thousands of dollars in additional redundancy payments.

So far 78 former Airservices staff had registered for the class action, which Mr Markham expected to lodge in the Federal Court next week.

"The losses can range between $70,000 up to about $130,000 per person on our modelling," Mr Markham said.

"We suspect we have only reached about 60 per cent of the group from what we know.

"If you looked at the accumulative value, it would be somewhere in the total of about $5 to $8 million just on the redundancy shortfalls alone."

In addition to the redundancy payouts, Airservices could be eligible to pay around $4 million in penalties, Mr Markham said.

"The other thing that is significant is that – if our case is right – this would be the first time that a government has engaged in a breach of an enterprise agreement on a systemic level.

"Breaches of employment agreements carry penalties of up to $52,000 per contravention. It might cost as much as $10 to $12 million with penalties on that basis."...

...Throughout 2016 Airservices offered redundancy packages to 523 employees in a bid to cut operating costs and halt shrinking profitability.

Airservices profitability fell by 90 per cent between 2013 and 2015, from $45.5 million to $4.5 million.

The entity is responsible for air traffic control, fire fighting and navigation services at a number of federally-leased airports across the country.

Critics of the redundancy program feared that the loss of frontline staff would impact safety at these airports.

Airservices chief executive Jason Harfield has previously dismissed these claims as "irresponsible"...

Couple that with the ongoing Senate inquisition - see HERE - and the future prospects of massive compensatory class actions surrounding the PFOS soil contamination on Commonwealth Airports, the miniscule is sitting on some real ticking time bombs coming out of County ATC...



MTF? - Definitely...P2