Bloggs, here is a quote from
The Weekend Australian July 11-12, 2015, by Jeff Griffith:
“In the US, one of the most successful safety improvements is the UNICOM radio operator at small airports. This is a no-cost system using someone who is at the airport. It could be airport operations personnel, the flying school, a fixed base operator or the firefighting service. This option is not at present viable in Australia because regulations prevent such an operator from providing important traffic and weather information. If Australia moved to the US system, safety could substantially be improved at no measurable cost.”
So who is Jeff Griffith? An Australian aviation journalist? No, he is the former Assistant Director of Air Traffic Control at the FAA.
Another article in
The Australian on 22 July 2015 mentions that the former CASA Director of Aviation Safety, John McCormick supported this:
“Mr McCormick said he supported calls from businessman and aviator Dick Smith and others for Airservices to have its fire and rescue crews at regional airports without control towers to provide pilots with a basic local air traffic and weather information via radio, as do their counterparts in the US.”