Slugfest,
My airline management try to blow us off with the "there are more issues that you can't possibly understand" BS too.
This is corporate speak for "we don't give a s***". I, and other Ppruners, don't doubt there are other issues at play in the background. But that is no excuse for the absolute shambles which occurred during the rollout.
Claiming there are other factors as play is just a cop out. It allows managers to acknowledge end-user errors, yet avoid blame or responsibility. Corporate hand washing at its finest.
The only factor at play here seems to be ICAO timeframes. Please tell us all about all the other hidden considerations, because we are dying to know.
If ICAO timeframe was the real agenda, why didn't ASA have the balls to tell ICAO the deadline could not be reached without a safety compromise and to stick it up their jumper?
Have ASA not learned the lessons of Norfolk? There is no better example than this of the degradation to safety where pilots are unable to obtain a preflight briefing. The recently released report should have been a big red flashing warning light to Australian Aviation that holes in the ability to obtain information both preflight and in flight can have dire consequences. I can guarantee the pressure felt by the Norfolk pilot at the preflight stage was felt by hundreds of pilots around the nation on the day you roles out a white whale. What will it take for the lessons of the past to be learnt?
The system problems and lack of awevice during the rollout might have been acceptable to you, or ASA management, but that doesn't mean it is acceptable to everyone. Would you hav dealt with the time pressure of operating a service on time for your paying passengers? Had you been a passenger, would you have accepted missing an international connecting flight due to domestic delays? Will ASA reimburse my company the tens of thousands of dollars in STD calls to operations trying to get weather read out to them over the phone?
What might be acceptable to ASA was most definitely NOT acceptable to the majority of pilots who were affected.
And lastly, this site is called PPrune. If you don't want to listen to pilots having a whinge about ASAs mess, then perhaps you need to rethink visiting a "pilot rumour network". And just because we have a cry on here, don't assume we haven't taken formal steps either. My FOM, CP, ASA and the ATSB have already heard from me.
End rant.