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Harfwit under seige from Airport Firies - 

Via SkyNews Oz:

Via the Oz:

Airport firefighters target morning peak for strike on December 9

By ROBYN IRONSIDE
AVIATION WRITER
@ironsider
5:49PM NOVEMBER 29, 2022

International airlines have warned the aviation firefighters’ strike next Friday will cause “enormous disruption” and called for the warring parties to resolve their dispute.

The United Firefighters Union Aviation Branch announced on Tuesday members would walk off the job at all airports for four hours on December 9, targeting the busy morning peak period of 6am to 10am.

UFU aviation branch national secretary Wes Garrett said the strike was about “public safety” and insisted industrial action was members’ only option.

He claimed about 100 more firefighters were needed, saying “every day the lives of air travellers across Australia were being put at risk” because of understaffed airport fire stations.

The UFU was also seeking a 15.5 per cent pay rise over three years for members, 4 per cent above what was on offer.

Airservices Australia said the union’s claims of understaffing were highly misleading and and the decision to strike “disappointing”.

“Airservices will continue to work with industry and safety agencies to minimise disruptions to flights as a result of the industrial action,” said a spokeswoman.

The Board of Airline Representatives Australia executive director Stephen Pearse joined airports in urging the UFU and Airservices to return to the negotiating table.

BARA represents most of the international carriers that operate to Australia including Emirates, Qatar and Singapore Airlines, and Mr Pearse said they would be reluctant to land at an airport without fire and rescue on hand.

“As international carriers, we would hope the parties resolve their dispute before action takes place,” he said.

“At the moment we can only say that it would cause enormous disruption.”

It’s understood Qantas was not anticipating any changes to its flying schedule at this point, and a Virgin Australia spokesman said they would continue to liaise with Airservices to ensure the safe operation of flights.

Australian Airports Association chief executive James Goodwin said the strike would be a setback to the industry as it tried to restore confidence in travel.

Already airports were struggling to rebuild international flights to their pre-Covid capacity, with seat numbers at just 56 per cent of 2019 levels in September.

Mr Goodwin said airport operators would encourage parties to continue to work through the issues constructively.

“Australians will be looking forward to being able to visit friends and relatives this holiday season without concerns there could be disruptions to travel because of industrial action,” Mr Goodwin said.

A Sydney Airport spokeswoman said the gateway would have extra staff on the ground next Friday to help passengers.

“We are recommending people follow the advice of their airline regarding the status of their flight,” she said.


Aviation rescue firefighters at Alice Springs airport extinguish a simulated aircraft fire during a drill. Picture: Emma Murray

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority said it was working with “all the relevant parties to understand the impact of the airport firefighters’ strike”.

Only airports with at least 350,000 passengers a year are required to have fire and rescue on site.

In fact of the 60 airports to which Qantas flies in Australia, more than half are without onsite firefirefighters.

The announcement of the strike came as Airservices Australia released data showing the lead up to Christmas would be the busiest for flights in three years.

More than 15,000 services were scheduled from December 20 to 24 at 18 airports, including over 4000 in Sydney, 3291 in Melbourne, 2552 in Brisbane and 1096 in Perth.

Qantas domestic cabin crew have also voted in favour of industrial action but have committed to minimising disruption to the travelling public.

Airport firefighters were seeking a 15.5 per cent pay rise over three years, 4 per cent more than Airservices was willing to pay, and wanted the workforce increased from 776 to 850.

It was expected contingency plans would involve using firefighters from nearby stations to handle any emergencies, in a move that could add critical minutes to response times.

A recent fire emergency at Sydney Airport involving a QantasLink Dash 8 was seized upon by the UFU as “highlighting the role firefighters played”.

Mr Garrett said a larger aircraft fire would have tested “understaffed” crews at Sydney Airport.

“Aviation fuel fires burn hot and fast and it’s critical that firefighters reach a burning aircraft to mitigate the fire with foam controlling the fire and providing the passengers with the best chance of survival,” Mr Garrett said.

“After the initial three minutes of an aircraft fire, the survivability of the passengers is drastically reduced.”

MTF...P2