Airservices Australia - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Airservices Australia is an Australian Government agency, responsible for providing safe and environmentally sound air traffic control

Air traffic control

Air traffic control is a service provided by ground-based controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and in the air. The primary purpose of ATC systems worldwide is to separate aircraft to prevent collisions, to organize and expedite the flow of traffic, and to provide information and other...

management and related airside services to the aviation industry (e.g. air traffic control, airways navigation and communication facilities, and airport rescue and fire-fighting services) within the Australian Flight Information Region (FIR). Airservices Australia is a full member of CANSO

Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation

CANSO – The Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation – is the global voice of the companies that provide air traffic control, and represents the interests of Air Navigation Service Providers worldwide...

Responsibilities

The Australian FIR covers 11 percent of the earth’s surface; it includes the airspace over continental Australia, and also international airspace over the Pacific and Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

s. Airservices Australia also manages upper-level airspace (above 30,000 ft) under contract to the neighbouring Pacific Island Flight Information Regions of the Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...

and Nauru

Nauru

Nauru , officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country in Micronesia in the South Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Kiribati, to the east. Nauru is the world's smallest republic, covering just...

, and lower–level airspace in the Pacific Ocean region at five airports for the United States Federal Aviation Administration.

Each year, Airservices Australia manages air traffic operations for more than three million domestic and international flights carrying some 75 million passengers. The aviation industry also relies on Airservices Australia for aeronautical data, telecommunications and navigation services. Airservices Australia also provides Aviation Rescue and Fire Fighting services at 21 of the nation’s busiest airports where there are more than 350,000 passenger movements a year.

The agency has some 1100 sites and about 3500 employees, including 1000 air traffic controllers working from two major centres at Melbourne and Brisbane Airports, and 28 air traffic control towers at capital city and regional airports. In 1999 the agency commenced using The Australian Advanced Air Traffic System

The Australian Advanced Air Traffic System

TAAATS is the hardware and software system used by Airservices Australia for Air Traffic Control services. It is a computer based system, which serves as an aid to Air Traffic Controllers. It does not control aircraft, but gives the user a display of information about an aircraft's position and...

(TAAATS), a computerised air traffic control system covering all sectors of Australian air space.

Organisation

The agency's headquarters are located in the Alan Woods Building in central Canberra

Canberra

Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...

, which is named in honour of the late Alan Woods, a Chairman of the agency's predecessor organisation, the Civil Aviation Authority.

The agency is controlled by a Board of Directors, accountable to the Australian Parliament, through the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, The Honourable Anthony Albanese MP

Anthony Albanese

Anthony Norman Albanese , Australian politician, who serves as Leader of the House of Representatives and Minister for Infrastructure and Transport in the Gillard Ministry...

. The Chairman of the agency's Board is David Forsyth

David Forsyth

David Forsyth may refer to:*David Forsyth *David Forsyth *David Forsyth , American computer scientist*David Forsyth , late Canadian soccer executive, see Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame...

. The Chief Executive Officer of Airservices Australia is Greg Russell.

Air Traffic Control centres

Airservices Australia has two Air Traffic Control Centres based in Brisbane and Melbourne. Australia has two Flight Information Regions which are managed by these centres. All airspace to the north of the dividing boundary (YBBB) is controlled by Brisbane Centre and all airspace to the south of the boundary (YMMM) is controlled by Melbourne Centre. These centres cover the whole of Australia except for the Terminal Control Units and towers at major cities.

Aerodrome controllers are airport tower controllers, airport approach controllers, airport departure controllers and ground controllers.

History

The Civil Aviation Branch of the Department of Defence

Department of Defence (Australia)

The Australian Department of Defence is a Federal Government Department. It forms part of the Australian Defence Organisation along with the Australian Defence Force . The Defence mission is to defend Australia and its national interests...

was established on 28 March 1921, after Parliament passed the Air Navigation Act 1920 in December 1920. The organisation was reformed as a separate Government Department, the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA), on 14 November 1938 after the enquiry into the 1938 Kyeema Crash

1938 Kyeema Crash

The Kyeema airline crash took place on the 25 October 1938 when the Australian National Airways Douglas DC-2 Kyeema, tail number VH-UYC, flying from Adelaide to Melbourne, Australia, commenced final approach to Essendon Airport through heavy fog and crashed into the western slopes of Mount...

. Arthur Brownlow Corbett was appointed Director-General of Civil Aviation in April 1939, serving until his retirement in August 1944. From June 1946 to December 1955 the Director-General was Richard Williams, formerly RAAF

Royal Australian Air Force

The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...

Chief of the Air Staff. Donald George Anderson held the position of Director-General from January 1956 until September 1973.

On 30 November 1973 the DCA merged with the Department of Shipping and Transport and became the Department of Transport, Air Transport Group. This group was again reformed as its own Department on 7 May 1982, the Department of Aviation (DOA). Another merger took place on 24 July 1987 when the DOA was absorbed by the Department of Transport and Communications. On 1 July 1988 the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) was formed to control aviation safety regulation and provide air traffic services.

CAA was split into two separate government organisations in July 1995: Airservices Australia and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority

Civil Aviation Safety Authority

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority is the Australian national aviation authority , the government statutory authority responsible for the regulation of civil aviation.-History:...

(CASA). Airservices Australia took responsibility for airspace management, aeronautical information, communications, radio navigation aids, airport rescue and fire fighting services, and aviation search and rescue, while CASA assumed control of safety regulations, licensing of pilots and aviation engineers, and certification of aircraft and operators. The role of aviation search and rescue was transferred from Airservices Australia to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority

Australian Maritime Safety Authority

Australian Maritime Safety Authority is responsible, on behalf of the Commonwealth Government of Australia, for the regulation and safety oversight of Australia's shipping fleet and management of Australia's international maritime obligations...

in 1997.

2009 ATC Industrial Dispute and Staff Shortages

Airservices Australia entered negotiations with the Air Traffic Control union Civil Air

Civil Air Operations Officers' Association of Australia

The Civil Air Operations Officers' Association of Australia , known as Civil Air, is a trade union in Australia. it was founded in 1949 and represents over 1100 air traffic controllers, System Support 0fficers SSOs, Flight Data Coordinators FDCs and other support specialists.Civil Air is affiliated...

in early 2008 to form a new collective agreement. As negotiations continued, ATC staff shortages were said to contribute to what was the worst year on record for flight delays and cancellations, but had been earlier defended by Airservices CEO Greg Russell as having been caused by a group of "renegade air traffic controllers" who had been responsible for airspace closures in a form of covert industrial action. Complaints by airline Virgin Blue culminated in a demand for $500,000 compensation in October 2008. An attempt by Airservices to define obligatory reasonable overtime for its controllers failed in the AIRC

Australian Industrial Relations Commission

The Australian Industrial Relations Commission, or AIRC , was a tribunal with powers under the Workplace Relations Act 1996. It was the central institution of Australian labour law...

in late December 2008.

Remaining differences in position regarding wages and sick leave resulted in threatened industrial action by late January 2009. High-level intervention of CEO Greg Russell and ACTU

Australian Council of Trade Unions

The Australian Council of Trade Unions is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a national trade union centre of 46 affiliated unions.-History:The ACTU was formed in 1927 as the "Australian Council of Trade Unions"...

President Sharan Burrow

Sharan Burrow

Sharan Burrow is the General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation and a former President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions...

in the negotiations produced an offer which averted industrial action and was endorsed almost unanimously by the Air Traffic Controllers.

As of September 2009, Air Traffic Control staffing problems continued to disrupt the ability of Airservices Australia to provide its core function, precipitating an unprecedented cancellation of leave for the entire Sydney approach control unit for three months.

2010 Alleged Sexual Harassment and Bullying Court Action

On 28 July 2010 a Federal Court action was brought against Airservices Australia by two air traffic controllers employed by the agency for alleged bullying and sexual harassment within the workplace.

Awards

1999 - Eagle Award - IATA named Airservices Australia "Best air traffic services provider in the world"
2005 - Eagle Award - IATA
2010 - Asset Management Award from the Asset Management Council (a technical society of Engineers Australia)