Airservices Australia CEO talks to airspace about the impact of the pandemic on air traffic management

What are the lessons learned from the pandemic?

The biggest lesson for us has been the need to respond to both short-term volatility and long-term growth at the same time.

Crisis management is core to what we do as an ANSP, so we have been able to adapt quickly to the immediate impacts of the pandemic, such as creating resilience rosters.

The biggest challenge is recovering in a way that is sustainable and appropriate to meet the needs of customers moving forward. Our industry will look different when we emerge from COVID-19, and we are preparing for that operating environment now.

In that respect, the pandemic has actually sharpened our focus and opened our eyes to a different way of doing things. We are seizing on the opportunities to prepare for the future while our skies have been quieter.

What is your outlook for the years ahead given the government’s cautious schedule for reopening the border?

Our industry’s path to recovery remains uncertain as long as Australia’s international borders stay closed and domestic borders continue to be prone to sudden closure.

But we know the health of the aviation industry is at the top of the national agenda.

The speed and breadth of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and the level of sustained consumer confidence will determine the rate of recovery for the aviation industry, both domestically and internationally.

We don’t anticipate a return to pre-pandemic revenues at Airservices until 2024 and as we move through this period our services will be funded through a combination of Government assistance, cost-saving measures and debt.

Read the full Q&A

Posted on: September 6, 2021

More news

Related topics

Airservices provides safe, secure, efficient and environmentally responsible services to the aviation industry.

Airservices Australia Releases August Australian Aviation Network Overview 

Airservices Australia has released its Australian Aviation Network Overview report for August 2024. Highlights include: About AirservicesAirservices Australia is the Federal Government-owned organisation responsible for the safety of 11 per cent of the world’s airspace and the provision of aviation rescue fire fighting services at Australia’s busiest airports. We work closely with our customers and industry to […]

Airservices Australia invites community feedback on proposed Bankstown airspace changes

Airservices Australia is seeking community feedback on the proposed light aircraft corridor to the southeast of Bankstown Airport’s controlled airspace. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority’s (CASA) proposal, made in conjunction with Airservices, is to reclassify a portion of airspace that would see general aviation pilots offered a more direct route to the south-east of Bankstown […]

Airservices Australia Signs Up to New Simulator Training Tech for Air Traffic Controllers

Australia’s air traffic controllers will soon have their training capability augmented through the introduction of a new cloud-based simulator service. Airservices Australia has signed a three-year service agreement with Airways International Limited (AIL) for their tower simulation product called TotalControl ATC Simulation. Under this trans-Tasman partnership, operators in New Zealand will remotely create and operate […]

Airservices Australia calls for community feedback on new Brisbane flightpath options to reduce aircraft noise

Airservices Australia is today launching five new sets of flightpath options developed by specialist airspace design consultants Trax International which may change where aircraft operate over Brisbane. The proposed flightpath concepts, which form part of Airservices’ Noise Action Plan for Brisbane, have been designed to reduce the concentration of flights over several Brisbane communities. The Plan […]