Our government cannot continue to keep pulling the rubber band of safety in this country and not expect it to eventually snap. The notion of 'affordable safety' is a misnomer and something government flunkies roll out to a public who don't really want to know how their airfares stay so low. The model is not sustainable and is only held together by the dedicated men and woman staffing the towers and radar screens, flying the planes and maintaining the ageing equipment. Sadly there are other individuals who will seek to exploit and profit from this dedication to safety. This must end.
A lot of confused concepts and responsibilities in there.
Can you quote a single “government flunky” who’s used the phrase “affordable safety”?
In any event, the inescapable fact is that we get the level of safety we are willing to pay for, and there is no such thing as limitless money or perfectly safe.
When an organisation expects more and more to be done by fewer and fewer people whose dedication and professionalism is being exploited, that’s not a consequence of the concept of “affordable safety”. That’s just the bog-standard combination of managerial short-termism, opportunism, greed, incompetence etc. I do not intend to be offensive to all the dedicated and professional ATC and support staff out there but - sadly - they are part of the problem. While ever they allow themselves to be exploited, they will be.
Unfortunately the Australian ATC system is heavily reliant on individual giving up their day off to cover short term and long term absences (and in some cases, training and projects).
If it is indeed their day off, individuals don’t have to and shouldn’t be giving it up. They need to learn to use a very important word: NO.