No ATC for Bankstown
Frustrated Bankstown flying schools probably thought things had got as bad as they could get. An apparently disinterested government is ignoring the rental rip-offs imposed by the unregulated monopoly it sold, and the government, the safety regulator and the ATSB are all turning a blind eye to the safety issues surrounding the demolition of runways, taxiways and ramp space in favour of commercial real estate.
The operators were overly optimistic. Last Friday things did get worse. Bankstown’s flying schools were outraged when a NOTAM (notice to airmen) bluntly announced that circuit training would be unavailable from 9.30 to 10.30 am, and from 3.30 to 4.30 pm local time every day. That’s right, about 20% of their average working day.
Circuit training is a major component of the basic training of all pilots, and the closure of Hoxton Park airfield, endorsed by the government in the interests of commercial land developers, had put extra pressure on Bankstown’s dwindling facilities.
A letter circulated by Airservices tower manager Mike O’Keeffe explained that the move was forced by controller shortages and the need for rest breaks, in part resulting from extra circuit traffic which he said was increased by the recent government-approved closure of Hoxton Park aerodrome by the owners of all three Sydney GA airports.
The first voice of protest to be heard was Aminta Hennessy of Clamback & Hennessy, which pays Airservices about $600 a week for tower services, with a brief lesson in aviation economics for Mike O’Keeffe: “Dear Mike – we here at Clamback and Hennessy find any restrictions on circuit traffic training totally unacceptable. If Airservices cannot adequately look after you, that is fine but [it is] no reason to restrict our activities.”
Ms Hennessy protests that the restriction will halve her company’s profits, obviously limiting its ability to meet is financial obligations to Airservices, Bankstown Airport Limited, and CASA. School operators report that these artificial bottlenecks are already increasing traffic congestion and risk at either end of the one-hour closures.
Ms Hennessy says one solution during the closures is to transition the circuit training side of Bankstown airport to CTAF (common traffic advisory frequency) status, a procedure widely used at busy Australian general aviation airports such as nearby Camden (5½ days a week) and numerous regional airports throughout the country.
Agreement to this had been close 2000, following negotiations between Airservices and the Bankstown operators, in relation to having the training circuit run as a CTAF, says Ms Hennessy: “It was agreed to but then the management personnel changed en masse and the whole idea of a CTAF was put under review. During the process of these negotiations, Airservices undertook to operate the tower regardless of any manpower problems.”
Another option, she believes, is to close Bankstown tower altogether and to designate the airfield as a permanent CTAF: “We had numerous meetings and negotiations with Airservices, they agreed that we didn’t need a tower here all the time, and we wanted it closed down firstly at 6pm, then we wanted the training circuit to be a CTAF, and even the controllers said the bank runners and the evening traffic didn’t need a tower, which is correct; we organise ourselves perfectly well.”
Although it hasn’t been proposed by Bankstown operators, a third option may also exist. It is to oust Airservices Australia, and to invite tenders from suitable companies to provide air traffic control services using trained and licenced controllers.
The third option might be consistent with Airservices’ successful competitive bid (in competition with the FAA) for the operation of five control towers in United States airspace: three in the Hawaiian islands, one in Guam, and one in Saipan. Some Bankstown operators believe a little more competition may inspire Airservices to develop solutions that are more in accord with its own competitive spirit and its safety and regulatory commitments.
SAFETY RISK: Out of space, Bankstown Airport – Overcrowding
The rape of the industry continues. Government to government – and in the times to come it will be the country and individuals who suffer the most.
If our leaders think the industry can be wasted then try to remember its importance during the 1989 AFAP fiasco and the shutdown of US airspace after Sep 11.
Nothing of value moved!!!
Mr Rudd. Do something !!!!!
I am an ex air traffic conontroller, laid off during the Dick Smith inspired staff cuts. I worked in Bankstown Tower during its first shift in the present building. There is no reason I could not be brought back to front line duty quickly in SMC and Coordinator roles for the problem times, allowing these poor fellows to have their break.
Its great how the government is throwing billions of our dollars in SUBSIDIES and loans to the car and financial industries due to the GFC, but when you say to them that GA is under threat due to price gouging airport monopolies, inept regulation by CASA and understaffed AIRSERVICES, their response is that Airports were subsidised prior to privatisation and that they will not consider taking over again to SAVE and PROTECT a vital Australian Industry.
Albanese has no balls for the portfolio he is in, why doesn’t he piss off so someone who cares can do something about saving GA JOBS?
Thank you very much Macquarie Bank. It would appear that this “outstanding” corporate citizen continues to have to make big bucks at all costs to feed bonuses to pay their overpaid executives. Tragically, there is not much of an alternative to this dysfunctional and incompetent Labor State Government.
Perhaps some of those recently laid-off Macquarie Bankers could be called upon to provide air traffic control services during the NOTAM period? Then again, with those guys steering the show, I’d rather just land!
I have flown a light twin out of Bankstown since 1983 It used to be fun and the traffic movements in the late 80′s seemed to me to be far in excess of the what it is today. Do anyone recall the the length of ‘fairweather flying’ queues taxying for take off ? There used to be approx 850 aircraft based at Bankstown before parking charges in the blazing sun became to expensive for the majority of light aircraft. It was hard to find a parking spot when arriving back after dark. I believe there are now about 150. the rest have gone to out-lying poorly sealed and serviced airfields generally with with no navigational aids. This is Safety ?!!!
Gosh, huge country, small population, General Aviation is the domain of rich kids and their toys RIGHT???? WRONG!!!! It’s time government realized the next generation of RFDS pilots, airline pilots and instructors for both are coming from places like Bankstown.
It’s shameful that we now have to import foreign trained Doctors due to a lack of foresight, in both training places and demand for medical services, 25 years ago…Now we have to endure a Govt indifference to General Aviation that will lead to the same shortages.
We are a country that requires comprehensive numbers of trained professionals in all levels of General Aviation. The travesty and injustice occurring at Bankstown give little hope for the present Labour Govts attitude towards GA being any different from the previous regime.
I wish my passion was submarining…At least the Govt would leave me alone.
Bankstown tower could halve its staffing requirements if it reverted to the pre 1977(approx) procedures in which all circuits were left hand. Such a system requires only one Tower crew instead of the two teams required to manage contra circuits.
In the days prior to 1977 there were three parallel runways and heavier traffic than exists currently at Bankstown.
Aircraft on down wind nominated at the base turn “ABC base Left,…. PQR base Centre,… XYX base Right” and the next one nominated base left again.
The system was inherently safe because the relative speeds between aircraft approaching the base turn was less than 10 to 15kt allowing ample time for pilots to see and avoid.
The contra circuit is by contrast inherently dangerous.
This system places aircraft on Left and Right base on a head-on collision course at a closing speed approaching 200kt (360kph). Collisions are avoided only by the dilligence of Tower Controllers and good luck.
Further, the controllers and aircraft on one contra circuit communicate on a different channel from those on the other circuit, which makes it nearly impossible to warn an aircraft on (say) the Left Base of the presence of an aircraft on a Right Base which has over-shot its turn on to final and thus penetrated into the path of the aircraft on Left Base. Add that to the matter of the pilot turning Final directing all his attention to the Rwy ahead and you have almost set the stage for a collision.
Regrettably Tower Controllers are only human, and luck eventually runs out, resulting in catastrophic collisions. (Canberra, Gold Coast, Moorabbin, and Bankstown come to mind).
It is a fundamental principle of control systems (particularly those involving humans) that failures will occur, and a good control system is one that can not fail dangerous.
The writer has managed a GA airport containing parallel runways for over 30yrs which routinely operates with up to 5 aircraft in the circuit all using the same circuit direction.
There has never been a hazardous situation between aircraft on Downwind, Base or Final using the parallel runways. All aircraft using the airport broadcast their intentions on the same channnel, and there has never been a Tower.
Here we go again. Were are the current governments taking us? I dont care which Government you talk about, Labour, Liberal, Federal or State. Why is this country falling apart at the seams? I used to love this counrtry with all of my heart and felt so privaledged to live hear. Now I am disgusted at it’s deterioration. Now all I see is destruction and ruin caused by governments that are so self interested in party politics that they have all forgotten why they are there. This country should be improving on a daily, monthly, yearly basis. Yet the destruction of basic services for us all continues at an alarming rate through appallingly bad management. This debarcle at Bankstown is just another example of Minister Albanese total indifference to GA aviation. His lack of willingness to get involved in GA and support small businesses that are struggling is another shining example of how arrogant government has become.
Money, Money, Money! But will shoppers spend at Bankstown when aeroplanes come in through the roof? I had a (successful) emergency landing on 18 but it’s not there any more.
We love you, Tower Guys, but we land at many busy airports without towers. CTAF training at Bankstown could start immediately. There was no-one manning the Bankstown tower when I did my (country-based) night training.
Government attitudes to aviation remind me of the ‘banana republic’ category. Tenders from suitable companies to provide air traffic control is an option that should be investigated.
If they spent a bit more time and resources actually operating AND supporting the Local GA industry properly instead of chasing more PROFIT, then maybe they could really EARN the title of ‘AIRSERVICES’.
It’s just not acceptable that Airservices Australia are not providing the REQUIRED manpower to operate BK.
If you can’ t do the job ‘THAT YOU ARE PAID TO DO’ move out and the GA operators will get in there and do it properly ! Or on the basis of ‘KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID’ make it a CTAF ( Believe-it-or-not it works great a hundreds of other airports )
Maybe the TOWER MANAGER of AIRSERVICES @ BANKSTOWN should ring the briefing office and listen to the bullshit about how good a job they are doing while they keep you on hold for 5 minutes.
The Office of Airspace Regulation tells us that at the moment the Act allows just for two air traffic service providers – Airservices Australia and the Australian Defence Force. What is therefore needed, is an amendment to the Act so that any organisation with appropriately qualified and licensed controllers can provide tower services. This is not a new concept, it’s been happening all over the USA for as long as anyone can remember. One organisation that provides tower control in the USA is Airservices Australia – at six separate locations – in copetition with other service providers.
Why is it that so many in the aviation wish for aviation to be immune to market forces? After all, we’re the first to take advantage of mass production, cheaper labour in third world countries (Cessna’s production of the Skycatcher in China springs to mind), new materials, new technologies.
We can’t have it both ways: aviation benefits incredibly from free markets (although they could be a lot freer), but the fact is that (fixed wing) aviation operations take up a lot of land, which if it’s located in proximity to a city is often more valuable when sold for purposes other than aviation.
A significant step the Government could take would be deregulation of land; if people were free to develop anywhere they wished (subject to common-law nuisance restrictions), then there’d be a lot less pressure on developers to develop airports into commercial or residential blocks. See http://pc.blogspot.com/2007/07/housing-inflation-its-regulation-stupid.html for more details.
Ultimately though aviation is an industry like any other. If it operates in disregard of market realities, it will eventually collapse despite Government intervention.
Interesting to note that Airservices run a number of FAA towers, but they run them under US rules not Australian rules. What is their answer to that? – if our rules are so wonderful why are they not running the towers in the USA under our rules. The answer is of course that the US aviation world would grind to a halt, like it is almost doing here. Airservices is immune to market forces, CASA is immune to market forces but we are governed by CASA, Airservices, BAL and WE PAY THEM ALL. USER PAY BUT HAVE NO SAY!
It is a shame that the upper echelons of management didn’t plan for the staff shortages. It is also sad that the GAAP and regional towers are the first to suffer when there are staff shortages. It would be great to have more controllers out there at Bankstown, but there are none. When they do come, they will go to the capital cities first to make up their numbers.
It is unfortunate, but no controller, nor the boss at Bankstown Tower can do anything about it. The local tower manager can only ask for more staff, they do not employ them directly.
I hate to admit but GA aviation is dying on the east coast and it is starting with sydney and spreading south. but hey there is light at the end of the tunnel for those PPL/CPL/ATPL students, come and learn to fly in WA the weather is great, no problems with airspace and with the the big commercials airlines fighting to have you fly with them (i regularly pay $400 rtn to perth) come for a week and fly your bum off.and once quailified then fly from either wollongong, Goulburn, warnervale, and RAAF Richmond that way you arn’t reliant on sydney aerospace with all it’s problems.