Airservices Australia Chairman David Forsyth recently canvassed the issues and strategies that the ANSP is focused on for General Aviation and regional Australia.
Addressing a major gathering of the Royal Federation of Aero Clubs Australia, Forsyth said that over the next five years Airservices will invest almost one billion dollars on capital works, employment and training programs.
He went on to say that, "A significant amount of this investment is being spent on infrastructure in regional Australia and promoting employment and training initiatives for people in remote communities and for indigenous Australians.
- "In 2008, Airservices started a comprehensive workforce planning program to examine the way we train and deploy our staff to maintain and operate future generation air traffic management and aviation fire fighting facilities.
- "We recognised a need for a new generation of employees to look after our national aviation infrastructure.
- "We identified that we needed to grow our services to meet the demands of Australia’s booming mining industry; and
- "We understood the value we could provide by supporting General Aviation and industry’s leading training institutions.
Creating employment opportunities
"Our first step was to partner with TAFE NSW Riverina in Wagga Wagga to provide technical training opportunities for young people who would one day maintain our technical facilities in remote locations around the country.
"Our first intake of trainees graduated in November last year and have embarked on what I hope will be a long career with Airservices.
"In partnership with Government and Regional Express, we have installed an Instrument landing System at Wagga Wagga airport to improve training opportunities for pilots and Airservices technical trainees.
"General Aviation operating in the region can now take advantage of the ILS for flight training and safer flying, especially in bad weather.
"In 2010, Airservices partnered with the Country Education Foundation of Australia to support young Australians living in rural and remote areas to transition from high school into further education, training and employment.
"The partnership directs young Australian’s seeking employment in our industry to valuable employment opportunities and assistance programs.
"Airservices (has a) commitment to supporting grass roots aviation and providing a start for future aviators.
"While all of this is very positive, we recognise that more needs to be done to support the future growth of aviation in Australia.
Growing regional services
"Looking forward, we predict the demand for new aviation services will mirror the exponential growth in the mining industry across Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
"While growth is inevitable and we applaud the efforts of industry looking to take advantage of emerging niche markets, Airservices is actively engaged in balancing the demand for new services with existing commitments.
"We spend a lot of time consulting with industry to develop long term infrastructure planning and pricing agreements.
"To respond effectively, we make it a priority to be involved in the regulation process that results in the introduction of new services, and seek better early warning signals from industry about planned expansion and growth.
"An important element of this ongoing industry dialogue is conducted through Airservices Long Term Pricing Agreement.
Long Term Pricing Agreement
"Airservices long term pricing arrangement was set in place in 2005 to improve long term price certainty.
"The prices under the existing agreement were established to fund known new services and regulatory changes and support agreed critical capital investment requirements.
"Since the establishment of the 2005 LTPA, Airservices has undertaken extensive consultation with industry on the structure of its prices.
"This engagement with industry identified that:
* the 2005 agreement has been largely successful in providing certainty;
* the structure of prices could be improved in terms of the way weight is applied in charging formulas; and
* there was a need to simplify charging for General Aviation.
"As many of you would be aware, Airservices is currently consulting with industry on a new long term pricing proposal.
"We anticipate the proposal will continue to provide price certainty and deliver a price reduction in real terms of eight per cent over the next five years.
"Headline deliverables outlined in the plan include:
* new ARFF and ATC services in locations such as Broome and Karratha;
* the delivery of required regulatory changes such as GAAP to D and new approach services;
* critical infrastructure improvements such as replacing our radars, the back-up navigation aid network; and
* providing for the progressive replacement of our core air traffic management system.
"For GA, we anticipate the impost of administration costs for infrequent users of our services will be reduced, and charges will only be applied for an aircraft once a $500 threshold has been passed.
"To keep this simple and avoid any retrospective billing, we will base this threshold assessment on the previous year's flight activity and advise you if the aircraft will be charged before the year commences.
"In addition, we will also seek to provide a fixed annual fee option so you can have certainty over our charges for the year.
"While this provides assistance to some parts of the GA industry, for others we would like to maintain price capping at GA and regional airports so that prices will only increase by inflation each year.
"The recovery won't cover our full costs, and these will be subsidised by charges at the major capital airports and our enroute services.
"We appreciate feedback from the General Aviation community and have welcomed the constructive ongoing discussions we have had with the Royal Federation of Aero Clubs Australia.
Cooperating for the future
"I would like to conclude by examining a number of key issues that are important to the future of our industry.
"First is the issue of aircraft noise.
"The impact of aircraft noise on the community is a social and highly political issue that resonates with all industry stakeholders.
"Aero clubs and General Aviation are not immune.
"More and more major training hubs are coming under increasing pressure to move away from capital cities; and
"Regional airports are coming under greater scrutiny to adhere to community expectations when it comes to operating hours and flight paths.
"The second issue is the move towards satellite based technology.
"The transition will require changes to aircraft avionics, training and possibly new ways General Aviation will interact with air traffic control.
"Satellite based technology however represents an exciting opportunity to improve aviation safety and performance for all airspace users.
"The final issue is airport capacity and the need for greater airspace efficiency.
"Congestion at many of our major airports is starting to impact the national airspace network and some secondary city airports.
"Over time, regional aerodromes and aero clubs will be impacted and asked to play a greater role in the solution.
"Broadly, each of these issues:
* has an impact on the way we operate our business;
* drives future technology requirements; and
* can potentially change public perception around aviation’s standing as a sustainable mode of transport or recreation activity."
But he concluded by emphasising that satisfactory progress with all of the issues requires industry wide cooperation and a single purpose.
(MAC)
