I am inclined to agree with Desert Duck's jaded view of AirNorth press releases.
The last time AirNorth withdrew the last/only RPT service to a community was when they cancelled the legally dubious single-engine piston RPT we called the 'mail runs' to the stations and communities all over the NT, these runs being a legacy of Eddie Connellan's pioneering communications links once considered essential to the development of the centre and north.
ANR made a decision to split their AOC in two, one for EMB120, M23, C208 and C402 RPT, mostly ex-Darwin, and the second to cover all piston singles and multi piston charter and airwork, mostly Alice plus the Katherine singles and the Tennant aeromed, rebirthed as Chartair.
The reasons behind this were quite cynical. Splitting the AOC resulted in quite significant cost savings for the group. It also meant that the lucrative turbine and top end RPT was not at risk should an inexperienced and poorly supervised boggie C210 night freighter or mail run pilot draw the attention of CASA next time their was a forced landing, failure (or gross navigation error leaving a pilot stranded on the WA/SA border instead of delivering papers to YTNK).
When it was discovered by the outback community that the charter only AOC held by chartair now meant that station and other outback folk could not hitch a ride on the weekly mail plane, there was a great hue and cry. AirNorth unashamedly put the blame on CASA - John Mitchell of Chartair made statements in the Centralian Advocate that placed the blame on tough regulations. No mention was made of the fact that AirNorth had made a commercial decision, and knew full well the effect of going to a charter only AOC would have on their mail runs. The CASA regs were the same as they had always been.
AirNorth management is very good at making up excuses and pointing fingers at other organisations and agencies when they don't want to take the heat for their own decisions.
It is a shame that AirNorth are dropping this on Dr Chris Burn's lap as Minister for Transport. The Member for Johnston is an excellent hardworking local member, and for a pollie he could teach the AirNorth management team a thing or two about personal integrity, and working smarter not harder.
Its also a shame to see TNK left high and dry. My memories of running into and out of TNK on TL154 and TL155 on some very long, hot days include a great deal of respect for Paul Ruger and his workmates, with excellent turnaround support and efficiency. We never had to wait for fuel, nothing was too much trouble, the place ran like clockwork. It was the best port in the network, because the people there valued their link with the other major territory towns.
In 1997/1998 the "Centre Run" was worth protecting, and even worth buying a couple of Brasilia's for it, well before Timor and Ansett subcontracts were on the horizon! Hell, the Conquest wasn't big enough in the early nineties, the Metros were not big enough for it in the late nineties, Embraer came to pitch the Jungle Jet 145 to ANR for the Centre Run in 1997.... Now its a loss maker.... the town has not changed THAT much. AirNorth has changed, not the towns. My guess is that AirNorth think they have bigger fish to fry.
Whichever operator takes up the gap left into and out of TNK, they can be assured of excellent local support.
Last edited by ITCZ; 18th Nov 2004 at 07:57.