Division searches for overseas air workers

Press, 27 December 1985, Page 4

Division searches for overseas air workers

PA Wellington The Civil Aviation Division is hunting overseas for technical staff to plug serious gaps in the ranks of airtraffic control and aircraft inspectors. The Ministry of Transport division’s director, Air Commodore Stuart Mclntyre, said that he was shuffling resources in an attempt to cope with his department’s rapidly increasing workload.

The technical director of the Airline Pilots’ Association, Captain Peter Rhodes, said last week that unfettered growth in the industry since deregulation had put too great a demand on the infrastructure of air traffic control, regulations and division inspectors. Captain Rhodes predicted an air disaster unless the system was improved. Though he recognised that the $lOO million air traffic

control update announced this week would cure many of the problems, there were still obsolete regulators and examinations, and low manpower in the licensing and air worthiness inspection branches to resolve.

Air Commodore Mclntyre said that his division was already moving to plug the gaps.

A review of salaries would bring the division in line with the rest of the avaiation industry and solve many of its staffing problems, he said. The division was shuffling staff internally to areas of greatest need, bringing in six air-worthiness inspectors from Britain and seeking engineers from other backgrounds from overseas. “There is not a pool of them in New Zealand. Instead of wringing my hands about it I have to go out and hunt for them. They are

very eager to get here,” he said.

Aviation staff — pilots engineers — are an international commodity, but Air Commodore Mclntyre said that there would be few difficulties encouraging the right staff to New Zealand. He is seeking Australian airtraffic controllers to work under contract for two to three months in outlying airfields to allow New Zealand controllers to be trained in new technology being introduced under the $lOO million plan.

The air traffic control and flight service staff are being merged to give added flexibility. Controllers view bringing in Australians with suspicion, but Air Commodore Mclntyre said, “It is not our intention to give the best jobs to the Australians.” Air regulations were being redrafted and the

aviation industry would be involved in the review in the new year, he said.

Senior staff were consulting Massey University to establish a new aircrew training and licensing system for the next 10 years, he said.

The university has already made studies of other aviation systems, including a review that shows airtraffic control services are stretched to breaking point.

The division declared in July and August that it would scrap several commercial pilot examination sittings because it no longer had staff to set and mark them. A new computerbased system and more examiners were eliminating the problem, Air Commodore Mclntyre said. He expected that the division would be able to give examinations on demand in future.