Australian Aviation

The Australian Federation of Air Pilots (AFAP) has told Australian Aviation that its members have encountered “chronic” and “systemic” staffing problems at Airservices dating back to before COVID-19. It comes after reports emerged earlier this year that there were 340 instances of “uncontrolled airspace” from June to April 2023, with Airservices admitting to “staff availability issues”.

Mayor Phill Stone said the airline was “ignoring the facts of the situation” and added the business’ proposed terminal renovations would have been unfeasible.

With things seemingly going back to the bad old days of 2022, Adam, Chris and Jake ask what’s going wrong and what can be done to fix it.

The low-cost carrier confirmed in a statement that it has stopped selling direct flights between Darwin and Denpasar – which operate five times per week – from 9 October to 8 November, as Defence, which owns Darwin Airport, may have plans to upgrade the runway during this time.

The move — revealed earlier this year as part of the Defence Strategic Review (DSR) into the military — is part of a broader shake-up that will see the newly formed No. 1 Space Surveillance Unit (1SSU) assume operation of Defence’s space domain awareness capabilities.

The light plane crashed after hitting a large bird during spraying operations near Chinchilla on September 19, 2022, about eight feet above ground level. The ATSB has established that the birdstrike, which shattered the right windshield, likely caused the pilot to lose control.