Job cuts pose ‘huge risk’ to flights

Employees of Australia’s government-owned air traffic control organization have warned that recent job cuts could lead to a “major aviation accident”, with one executive saying it is “only a matter of time” before an incident occurs.

Following the implementation of a cost-cutting venture called Accelerate, Airservices Australia slashed more than 700 jobs, leaving some employees concerned about the “huge risk to public safety”.

One anonymous employee told the Australian Broadcasting Corp on Wednesday that some airports were critically understaffed; on the night of one major storm event in December, passenger flights near Melbourne were forced to remain in holding patterns for an hour as just two controllers attempted to land flights among testing conditions.

“It’s only a matter of time beforewehaveamajoraviation incident,” the employee said.

The ABC also obtained emails being sent between Airservices employees following thatnight,withonedescribing the air traffic control system as being at “breaking point”.

“There is a culture of coverup and deceit which means problems are ignored and fingers are pointed,” the email said.

“Attempting a night like tonight with only two on shift is sheer lunacy. What happens when there are only two staff. Do we need to wait for a midair collision or can we deal with this proactively?”

South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon said the revelations were a “mayday” for air traffic control in Australia and urged the government to take action.

“When those on the inside say that there’s a very real risk to public safety, that we are looking at a catastrophic event unless these matters are dealt with then that has to be dealt with as a matter of absolute urgency,” Xenophon said.

Meanwhile, Airservices chief executive Jason Harfield refuted the claims, saying “any suggestion that Airservices is compromising on safety is totally incorrect”.