Vale Frank Baldwin
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Vale Frank Baldwin
Former Managing Director of the Civil Aviation Authority of Australia – Frank Baldwin – died peacefully in Nelson, New Zealand, on 13 March 2013 at the age of 81.
Frank was founding chief executive of the New Zealand Airways Corporation from 1987 to 1990, then managing director of CAA Australia from 1991 to 1993.
He pioneered major change in both organisations.
From an off-shoot from the New Zealand Ministry of Transport, Frank built the Airways Corporation from the ground up. Most significantly, he led a process to modernise New Zealand’s air traffic control system, which was achieved on-time and under-budget – a first in the world of civil aviation.
In 1991, Dick Smith recruited Frank to be managing director of the Australian CAA. Smith had studied Frank’s record as chief executive of New Zealand Airways and wanted him to repeat the exercise in Australia .
When Frank started at the CAA, it had 7300 staff, 23 unions, 12 levels of management, “spend the budget thinking”, capital projects very poorly coordinated and bespoked, a cost-plus approach to pricing, and no relationship between costs of service and charges. CAA costs per aircraft were A$49,000 compared to Canada A$13,500. Australia’s unique air-space management was based on 1960s practices.
Deputy Chairman of CAA at the time, Henry Bosch, explained that “the Board of CAA asked Frank to commercialise a large sluggish bureaucratic organisation, which had been part of the public service establishment, and agreed that major and rapid change was necessary”.
The downturn in tourism, deregulation of the airlines and the recession all put pressure on the aviation industry to reduce its costs and achieve real savings. In addition, the CAA had a responsibility to respond in a very positive way to the Government’s philosophy and need for real micro-economic reform. The CAA was to be a successful “Government Business Enterprise” .
Under Frank’s leadership, the CAA as a whole was restructured. Staff was reduced from 7,400 to 5,100, with agreed plans for further reductions to 3,500 within 2½ years. Services were benchmarked against commercial organisations. A five year strategic plan was established. Pricing was reviewed, with a plan to make it progressively reflect efficient costs.
Frank and his team also reviewed all capital expenditure projects, and cancelled those that would not achieve real benefits for customers or were not part of a realistic strategic plan.
These greater efficiency gains enabled the CAA to improve its profit while reducing its charges to customers by $96m pa. CAA passed these savings directly to airlines – equivalent to reducing the price of long-distance flights by $15 a ticket. This represented a cut of about 20% (as a weighted average) in the total burden of regulatory charges on the airline industry, or 1.5% of the industry’s total costs .
A CAA staff member described it as “the mother of all purges” . Frank was nicknamed “Frank the Frightening”. He “destroyed accumulated perks and lurks of three decades of inefficiency”. CAA’ annual revenue reduced from A$719m to A$628m as the cuts took effect.
As The Bulletin put it: “By early 1991, after more than three decades of mutual loathing, labour and management in the CAA or its Department of Civil Aviation predecessor were united on one point: Baldwin was a bastard”.
Frank also set out to put in place at the Australian CAA a new fully integrated off-the-shelf air traffic control system for Australia on a turn-key contract at a fixed price, as he had successfully achieved in New Zealand.
The new-look CAA wanted proven, low-risk system purchased under a contract that would avoid the massive costs overruns that had plagued Australia and other countries in upgrading their air traffic control systems .
Thomson-CSF was selected as preferred tenderer. However, an unsuccessful tenderer campaigned to change the CAA’s choice of contractor. The Sydney Morning Herald reported , “both Frank Baldwin and Rob Edwards were accused of Machiavellian deception to stop the US giant Hughes from getting the $170m contract to replace Australia’s air traffic control system”. The architect of this campaign was Canberra lobbyist Colin Parkes, former political adviser to Bob Hawke when he was prime minister.
However, virtually the entire former CAA board denied the key charges against the two men. Deputy Chairman of CAA at the time, Henry Bosch, said that Frank “demonstrated to a very high degree that qualities of courage and dynamism as an agent of change for which he was appointed”. CAA chairman, Ted Butcher, said “I consider that Frank Baldwin carried out the task for which he was employed by the CAA in an exemplary manner”.
Frank resigned from the CAA, together with Dr Rob Edwards, who was the other New Zealander in the CAA working on the system upgrade.
Following the inquiry and re-tendering, Thomson-CSF was still contracted to provide an integrated system on a turn-key basis, and it was delivered successfully. By contrasted, Hughes Aircraft (the disappointed competitor) was more than two years behind schedule and more than 100% over-budget on its contract to replace the Canadian air traffic control system – exactly the outcome Frank wished to avoid for Australia .
Before his departure, Frank had also proposed that the CAA should be split into two separate organisations – one responsible for regulating aviation, the other responsible for air traffic control. This recommendation was also implemented after Frank left.
Before taking the New Zealand Airways and Australian CAA positions, Frank was chief executive of the Nelson and Wellington Harbour Boards, which he also overhauled with the same extraordinary energy.
After leaving the Australian CAA, Frank became chief executive of Landcorp New Zealand, and then executive chairman of Government Property Services Limited, both of which involved significant restructuring.
In the late 1990s, Frank was also a director of Timberlands West Coast Limited, Crown Forestry Management Limited, Nelson Marlborough Health Services Limited, and the Kaiteriteri Recreation Reserve Board.
During the 1970s, Frank served extensively on a range of civic bodies, including the Nelson City Council, Nelson Colleges Council of Governors (chairman), the Nelson School of Music Board of Trustees (chairman), Nelson Area Health Board (deputy chair), and the group that established the Nelson Trafalgar Centre.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Frank represented New Zealand in basketball as a player, referee and manager. He also represented the Nelson province in rugby, athletics and basketball. He was the founding President of the Nelson Basketball Association – the first in New Zealand to build its own dedicated basket stadium, largely with voluntary labour.
Frank loved to serve. He was compelled to apply his maximum effort and talent to whatever he did. Lew Hunter, a prominent businessman in Nelson, hit the nail on the head at an early stage in Frank’s career: “Mr Baldwin is not a ‘yes’ man, but has an incisive mind which is prepared to conciliate and mediate...In my opinion, the greatest attribute Mr Baldwin brings is his tremendous drive and tenacious application to work. I know of no-one who would supply more drive and tenacity than Mr Baldwin”.
In everything Frank took on, he brought about major change – new facilities, new systems, new people. As Richard Prebble said, “Frank was a leader – quite fear¬less” . He was driven to try to make things better.
Frank believed and lived the truth that “far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing”.
Any messages of condolence to [email protected]. Further information on Frank’s life is at www.baldwin.org.nz/Frank.pdf
Frank was founding chief executive of the New Zealand Airways Corporation from 1987 to 1990, then managing director of CAA Australia from 1991 to 1993.
He pioneered major change in both organisations.
From an off-shoot from the New Zealand Ministry of Transport, Frank built the Airways Corporation from the ground up. Most significantly, he led a process to modernise New Zealand’s air traffic control system, which was achieved on-time and under-budget – a first in the world of civil aviation.
In 1991, Dick Smith recruited Frank to be managing director of the Australian CAA. Smith had studied Frank’s record as chief executive of New Zealand Airways and wanted him to repeat the exercise in Australia .
When Frank started at the CAA, it had 7300 staff, 23 unions, 12 levels of management, “spend the budget thinking”, capital projects very poorly coordinated and bespoked, a cost-plus approach to pricing, and no relationship between costs of service and charges. CAA costs per aircraft were A$49,000 compared to Canada A$13,500. Australia’s unique air-space management was based on 1960s practices.
Deputy Chairman of CAA at the time, Henry Bosch, explained that “the Board of CAA asked Frank to commercialise a large sluggish bureaucratic organisation, which had been part of the public service establishment, and agreed that major and rapid change was necessary”.
The downturn in tourism, deregulation of the airlines and the recession all put pressure on the aviation industry to reduce its costs and achieve real savings. In addition, the CAA had a responsibility to respond in a very positive way to the Government’s philosophy and need for real micro-economic reform. The CAA was to be a successful “Government Business Enterprise” .
Under Frank’s leadership, the CAA as a whole was restructured. Staff was reduced from 7,400 to 5,100, with agreed plans for further reductions to 3,500 within 2½ years. Services were benchmarked against commercial organisations. A five year strategic plan was established. Pricing was reviewed, with a plan to make it progressively reflect efficient costs.
Frank and his team also reviewed all capital expenditure projects, and cancelled those that would not achieve real benefits for customers or were not part of a realistic strategic plan.
These greater efficiency gains enabled the CAA to improve its profit while reducing its charges to customers by $96m pa. CAA passed these savings directly to airlines – equivalent to reducing the price of long-distance flights by $15 a ticket. This represented a cut of about 20% (as a weighted average) in the total burden of regulatory charges on the airline industry, or 1.5% of the industry’s total costs .
A CAA staff member described it as “the mother of all purges” . Frank was nicknamed “Frank the Frightening”. He “destroyed accumulated perks and lurks of three decades of inefficiency”. CAA’ annual revenue reduced from A$719m to A$628m as the cuts took effect.
As The Bulletin put it: “By early 1991, after more than three decades of mutual loathing, labour and management in the CAA or its Department of Civil Aviation predecessor were united on one point: Baldwin was a bastard”.
Frank also set out to put in place at the Australian CAA a new fully integrated off-the-shelf air traffic control system for Australia on a turn-key contract at a fixed price, as he had successfully achieved in New Zealand.
The new-look CAA wanted proven, low-risk system purchased under a contract that would avoid the massive costs overruns that had plagued Australia and other countries in upgrading their air traffic control systems .
Thomson-CSF was selected as preferred tenderer. However, an unsuccessful tenderer campaigned to change the CAA’s choice of contractor. The Sydney Morning Herald reported , “both Frank Baldwin and Rob Edwards were accused of Machiavellian deception to stop the US giant Hughes from getting the $170m contract to replace Australia’s air traffic control system”. The architect of this campaign was Canberra lobbyist Colin Parkes, former political adviser to Bob Hawke when he was prime minister.
However, virtually the entire former CAA board denied the key charges against the two men. Deputy Chairman of CAA at the time, Henry Bosch, said that Frank “demonstrated to a very high degree that qualities of courage and dynamism as an agent of change for which he was appointed”. CAA chairman, Ted Butcher, said “I consider that Frank Baldwin carried out the task for which he was employed by the CAA in an exemplary manner”.
Frank resigned from the CAA, together with Dr Rob Edwards, who was the other New Zealander in the CAA working on the system upgrade.
Following the inquiry and re-tendering, Thomson-CSF was still contracted to provide an integrated system on a turn-key basis, and it was delivered successfully. By contrasted, Hughes Aircraft (the disappointed competitor) was more than two years behind schedule and more than 100% over-budget on its contract to replace the Canadian air traffic control system – exactly the outcome Frank wished to avoid for Australia .
Before his departure, Frank had also proposed that the CAA should be split into two separate organisations – one responsible for regulating aviation, the other responsible for air traffic control. This recommendation was also implemented after Frank left.
Before taking the New Zealand Airways and Australian CAA positions, Frank was chief executive of the Nelson and Wellington Harbour Boards, which he also overhauled with the same extraordinary energy.
After leaving the Australian CAA, Frank became chief executive of Landcorp New Zealand, and then executive chairman of Government Property Services Limited, both of which involved significant restructuring.
In the late 1990s, Frank was also a director of Timberlands West Coast Limited, Crown Forestry Management Limited, Nelson Marlborough Health Services Limited, and the Kaiteriteri Recreation Reserve Board.
During the 1970s, Frank served extensively on a range of civic bodies, including the Nelson City Council, Nelson Colleges Council of Governors (chairman), the Nelson School of Music Board of Trustees (chairman), Nelson Area Health Board (deputy chair), and the group that established the Nelson Trafalgar Centre.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Frank represented New Zealand in basketball as a player, referee and manager. He also represented the Nelson province in rugby, athletics and basketball. He was the founding President of the Nelson Basketball Association – the first in New Zealand to build its own dedicated basket stadium, largely with voluntary labour.
Frank loved to serve. He was compelled to apply his maximum effort and talent to whatever he did. Lew Hunter, a prominent businessman in Nelson, hit the nail on the head at an early stage in Frank’s career: “Mr Baldwin is not a ‘yes’ man, but has an incisive mind which is prepared to conciliate and mediate...In my opinion, the greatest attribute Mr Baldwin brings is his tremendous drive and tenacious application to work. I know of no-one who would supply more drive and tenacity than Mr Baldwin”.
In everything Frank took on, he brought about major change – new facilities, new systems, new people. As Richard Prebble said, “Frank was a leader – quite fear¬less” . He was driven to try to make things better.
Frank believed and lived the truth that “far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing”.
Any messages of condolence to [email protected]. Further information on Frank’s life is at www.baldwin.org.nz/Frank.pdf
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As an employee of CAA when Baldwin was CEO I never heard of him referred to as Frank the Frightening. He certainly wasn't popular but that never concerned me. I doubt that TAAATS was implemented at a cost of $170 million dollars though? Maybe that was the raw cost of the hardware/software?
When I was employed at the CAA in 1990, I was fresh from the private sector, had never been employed as a 'public servant' it certainly was an eye opener
Maybe ASA needs another review of the type Frank conducted? Staff numbers and the departments they are employed in & the benefits to the organisation would make for interesting reading.
When I was employed at the CAA in 1990, I was fresh from the private sector, had never been employed as a 'public servant' it certainly was an eye opener
Maybe ASA needs another review of the type Frank conducted? Staff numbers and the departments they are employed in & the benefits to the organisation would make for interesting reading.
