[Peetwo]

Day 13 - Unions in bed with Angus & Frau Staib.

'Four in the bed and the little one said.."roll over, roll over"---  

From that man again...

Airport unions back Houston on fireys talking to pilots

• by: EAN HIGGINS
  
• From: The Australian
  
• July 23, 2015 12:00AM
  

Reporter
Sydney

The unions covering Airservices Australia’s air traffic controllers and airport firefighters have formally backed Airservices chairman Angus Houston’s opposition to having fire crews deliver air traffic and weather information to pilots over the radio.  

The controllers’ union, Civil Air, has also rejected assertions that the US air traffic control system is safer than Australia’s, and has shown no immediate support for new Civil Aviation Safety Authority chairman Jeff Boyd’s announced campaign to embrace it.

Many aviation experts have argued the practice in the US and Canada, where commercial aircraft are always under the direction of controllers, who maintain separation, is safer than the Australian system where at many airports, including some with substantial air traffic, airline and light aircraft pilots flying in cloud have to talk to each other over the radio to negotiate how they will each manoeuvre to avoid a collision.

“The inference in the position that the Australian system is less safe in comparison with the American system is not sup­ported by any benchmark to draw such a conclusion,” Civil Air executive secretary Peter McGuane said. “Regarding the comments from Jeff Boyd on the airspace issue, until Civil Air is provided with a concrete proposal for change we are unable to assess the ramifications for our members.”

Mr McGuane added that he would be seeking a meeting on the issue.

Businessman and aviator Dick Smith has claimed Airservices, the government-owned body which runs the nation’s air traffic control and navigation system and airport fire services, is disinclined to take on the ­unions to enforce a campaign of reform.

The Airservices media unit yesterday refused to supply any information or comment, but in earlier correspondence vigorously rejected such claims, saying the organisation made its decisions with safety first in mind.

Mr Smith, former CASA head John McCormick, and the chief executive of Gladstone airport in Queensland, Phillip Cash, have called on Airservices to have the fire crews it employs at regional airports which do not have control towers man the Unicom radio to provide pilots with basic weather and air traffic information, as they do in the US.

Sir Angus has said the priority for the fire and rescue teams was to be in a high level of readiness to respond, not handle the radio.

At present, CASA regulations stipulate only individuals who have held an air traffic controller’s licence in the past 10 years can provide such a service, although exemptions are available and Mr Boyd has initiated a review to see if the restrictive rules might be freed up.

Mr McGuane said: “It is imperative that any individuals providing a service be appropriately trained and qualified.”

The secretary of the aviation branch of the United Firefighters Union of Australia, Henry Lawrence, said the union had been in contact with Airservices and been told there was no request for its members to provide the radio service.

“In the absence of any request ... the union policy remains that our members do not perform this function; they are employed for other functions,” Mr Lawrence said.

{Comment: Considering the state of the polls, here's a thought for the Mad Monk's Govt?? Why not call these 2 unions before the #turc & have them explain why they are putting the air travelling public at risk at a number of significant Regional Airports??}
FCOL what a load of BOLLOCKS---

MTF...P2