Air safety

Press, 25 July 1986, Page 16

Air safety

Sir, —The uneasiness which the air traffic controllers are spreading among the travelling public is not doing anything to allay our fears about air safety. I am not concerned which company flies our domestic air routes but, if the safety of passengers is at risk, I am very concerned. Commendable it may be, for Air New Zealand to have some opposition, but has the Government given any thought to whether air traffic control has the equipment to cope with further landings and take-offs? What I would like to know is who keeps a watching brief on air safety? Is the N.Z.A.T.C.A. crying wolf?—Yours, etc., WENDY RAMSAY. July 2, 1986.

[Mr Prebble, Minister of Transport, replies: "The Civil Aviation Division of the Ministry of Transport is responsible for all .aspects of aviation safety including air traffic control. I' can assure your correspondent that both the Ministry and I, as Minister, place safety considerations above all others. The Government is committed to a $lOO million-plus total upgrading of New Zealand’s air traffic control system to bring it up to the highest standards. This work is proceeding as quickly as humanly possible — in contrast to the long neglect of the previous Government which in its three terms did almost nothing to implement a decision to modernise the system taken by the Kirk Labour Government in 1974. Whether there would be any. substantial increase in the number of flights as the result of the ’ introduction of another major operator on the main trunk routes .is debatable. Any such operator would presumably use large jets and would be

ing for the existing traffic, so the net increase in flights would probably be relatively small compared to the present total number of flights. Any increase would also be likely to be small in comparison to the increase in flights by third level operators following deregulation. New Zealand has professional, dedicated air traffic controller and I am confident that they, too, will continue to put safety first.”]