Threatened ban on night flights

Press, 11 September 1986, Page 3

Threatened ban on night flights

A staffing crisis among air traffic controllers at Auckland Airport has prompted them to threaten a ban on controlling domestic flights after 7 p.m. and before 7 a.m.

The ban would come into effect on September 22 and would mean in effect that no domestic flight could depart or land at Auckland Airport between those hours. This would halve the amount of air cargo that Air New Zealand could carry, because half its freight is carried at night. It would also mean that more than 1000 passengers a day would be inconvenienced. Air traffic controllers in Christchurch do not have the same staffing problems and have no plans to curtail their service, according to the Christchurch regional director of air operations in the Civil Aviation Division of the Ministry of Transport, Mr J. Best.

A spokesman for Air New Zealand said from

Auckland that he was confident the division and the Auckland controllers would resolve the staffing problem, and that the ban would not be imposed. He said that if the ban were imposed it would affect up to 20 flights a week involving Christchurch. The spokesman would not be drawn on whether Air New Zealand would reschedule flights to avoid the ban.

The secretary of the Auckland branch of the Air Traffic Controllers’ Association, Mr Paul Robinson, said that he hoped the curfew would be a short-term measure, as it would cause a lot of inconvenience to a lot of people.

“It has been done reluctantly,” he said. "Management had no other solution to the problem at Auckland Airport.”

Mr Robinson said the move would reduce workloads on those on duty in the airport’s control tower. He said staff levels had

fallen from an ideal 72 to only 46. Included in the losses were four on medical grounds, five on medical suspension, and five who had “just had enough.” “The stress of the job is the catalyst in the medical cases,” he said. “Only one controller in eight can expect to serve out his full 40-year career in the job.”

Mr Robinson said the number of shifts at Auckland had been cut from 28 to 22 so that controllers could take some of the 6>/ 2 years aggregate leave owed to them.

The cut would slow down the system, causing delays during the day, he said.

The curfew would not affect international flights.

Air New Zealand said yesterday the curfew would severely affect passengers. It hoped a solution could be found before September 22.