Airservices CEO, Jason Harfield, stepping down
 

Media release from the Minister: https://minister.infrastructure.gov....-australia-ceo

I thank the CEO of Airservices Australia, Jason Harfield, for his contribution to aviation and air traffic management as he prepares to leave in June, after 8 years in the role.

In his time as CEO, Jason has supported the continued high standard of safe, efficient and effective delivery of air traffic and aviation rescue firefighting services in Australia.

He oversaw Airservices’ operations throughout the pandemic, and has been actively involved in the OneSKY program which will ensure the future civil and military air traffic management needs are met.

In a career spanning more than 30 years, Mr Harfield has served in a range of important roles in the industry including serving as Australia’s Head Air Traffic Controller. He has been a core member of the Airservices Executive leadership team for nearly two decades.

Mr Harfield’s term finishes on 8 June 2024.

The Airservices Board has commenced a global search for his replacement and an acting CEO will be appointment in the interim.

It’s about TIBA time

Pass me a bucket.

What's the betting that Greg Hood gets at least a temporary gig?

No mention of TIBA or ATC redundancies?

A global search begins for a new ASA CEO, surely Brittany Higgins must be in for a chance or even Bruce Lehrmann?

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose!

,,,,,

Strong rumour here in Canberra is that Alan Joyce has been approached for the role.

And Mr SDE Man is the acting CEO…couldn’t get a better person experienced in TIBA….if this wasn’t so funny it would be serious!

Get fvcked!

Your attitude is tiresome.
Why don’t you go back to being a chippy? It fits your personality a bit better.

Joy to the world! except for the next CEO who inherits a heluva sh*t sandwich with the OneSky product design, build, transition-in resourcing and recruitment clusterf*ck! The ASA OneSky Program Director should go too! Billions of aviation industry hard-earned dollars with little so far to show for it.

Gordon, old Chap. One thinks that you could have worked out that the inverted one was quite possibly being a bit facetious!

At least I thought he/she was!

As much as I wish I was, I am unfortunately not.

Something about dealing once and for all with those stubborn controllers and that pesky union of theirs.

Ah well, once again wtf would I know!

Ptp; Retired; hurt.

Relax, it was definitely not a serious outburst. Then again, nothing surprises me anymore.

I know I had a toast this evening to this news!

Do they really need a new CEO?

We're getting by happily with great swathes of airspace NOTAM'ed TIBA and there's no smoking hole in the GAFA yet - and that's the operational aspect. Surely they can NOTAM the office of the CEO unavailable due operational restrictions for a year or three?

Hoody would have street cred re background certainly.
And he finishes up a term as board deputy chair in Sep, hmmm...
Whether he would want to inherit the scheisse sandwich (as someone else said so aptly) is another matter though!

This announcement gives me no joy or hope.

Jason was a deadman walking after Senate Estimates S***Show when Senator McKenzie ripped into him.

No, but given the Board recommended his re-appointment then this announcement places the Board on notice. Surely this is a vote of no Confidence in the Board of Airservices, a vote of no confidence in John Weber, Greg Hood, Eileen Doyle, Marlene Kanga, Anne Brown, Nicolle Connelly and Mel Hupfield. The tenures of Weber, Hood and Kanga expire this year, it is hard to see how Minister King could reappoint any of them.

There would be many who would disagree.

Airservices Australia has lost its way, there is no service excellence. Widespread change is required, cultural change and leading by example.

There are a number of hand grenades that an incoming CEO will need to deal with. Pending ATC Industrial Action (PIA), TIBA and Operational Restrictions, OneSky delays and cost blow-outs ($5 billion and counting), Mangalore Coroners Inquest, Pricing negotiations with Industry, Western Sydney Airport, Sydney TCU relocation.

Jason previously held a number of EGM roles - Service Delivery (OneSky), Air Traffic Control Group and Safety Management Group. Unlike Morrison he didn't hold these roles simultaneously.

The Greens have added a very different perspective. Basically claiming a scalp as part of the Brisbane Airport Noise Issues.

Airservices Australia CEO change vindicates community concerns, but more must be done to address systemic problems
At least the Greens called a spade a spade. Straight and clear - "will not be reappointed despite the Airservices Australia Board recommending his renewal".
Whilst I disagree that the announcement is a "clear result of pressure from the Brisbane community and the Greens", I do agree that ASA's funding structure must be reconsidered.

If the Brisbane community is expecting the incoming acting CEO to be part of the solution then I feel they will be very disappointed. Brisbane Airport's new runway and the associated flight paths commenced operations on 12 July 2020, and the incoming acting CEO was EGM Air Navigation Services from May 2019 until October 2020 and then Chief Strategy and Customer Experience Officer from October 2020. Arguably oversaw the introduction of parallel runway operations and then with a change of roles, responsible for fixing the mess.

When is the next Senate Estimates?

Expect a lot of.
Mr Curran: I'll have to take that on notice.

I’ll do a Pauline…PLEASE EXPLAIN….

Re the Greens ridiculous “Lines attributable….”

Could someone with far more intellect than I explain the inherent conflict of interest that Airservices has?