Our Performance

Safety Performance

We are committed to keeping our skies and our people safe as the aviation industry faces ongoing disruption and increasing complexity. In 2019-20 we continued to provide Australia’s aviation industry with world-class standards of safety.

KPI Results

2017-18 Result2018-19 Result2019-20 Target2019-20 Result
Significant Attributable Safety Occurrences - Air Navigation Services (ANS)
Any loss of separation or runway incursion where the Risk Assessment Tool score is Category A.
0000
Significant Attributable Safety Occurrences - Aviation Rescue Fire Fighting Services (ARFFS)
Any aircraft incident on a runway in which the response did not meet the regulated response time of three minutes.
0000
Lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR)
A lost time injury is an occurrence that resulted in time lost from work as one day or shift, permanent disability or fatality. The rate measures the number of lost time injuries per million hours worked.
4.64.01.52.3

 

Analysis

Results for both the median and 75th percentile arrival airborne delay were higher than target, at 18 seconds and 1 minute respectively. This result reflects challenging environmental conditions at various times throughout the year, including significant weather events and smoke from the bushfires reducing visibility, leading to delays and flight diversions. Ongoing infrastructure works at major airports at times compounded delays during busy periods.

Given the intense disruption across the industry caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have deferred the annual customer satisfaction survey as we focus on working with our customers to ensure their needs are met during the recovery period and beyond.

Our performance against these indicators demonstrates we continue to strive to be valued and accountable.

 

Achievements

  • Introduced price reduction of 2 per cent for airways service charges on 1 July 2019.
  • Supported the commissioning of two new runways at Brisbane and Sunshine Coast Airports through airspace design and other infrastructure requirements, including the completion of a new fire station at Brisbane Airport. These are critical projects to support South-East Queensland’s long-term economic growth.
  • As part of our Airspace Modernisation Program, two airspace change proposals came into effect on 21 May 2020. The changes include lowering Class E airspace nationally and approval to conduct a twelve month trial of Class E steps at Ayers Rock. These changes will help to facilitate safer access to our airspace for all users.
  • Completed contingency operation trials and the national deployment roadmap for the Digital Aerodrome Service which will enhance service delivery and resilience and improve safety outcomes.

Case Study

An agile approach to managing the COVID-19 pandemic disruption

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Q3 of this year, and the resulting decrease in air traffic as a result of efforts to contain the spread of the virus, has substantially disrupted the global aviation ecosystem.

The disruption to air travel, domestically and globally, resulted in Airservices revenue falling by 24 per cent in 2019-20. The initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the April-June quarter resulted in an 80 per cent decrease in revenue year-on-year. Overall, traffic for 2019-20 decreased by 13.5 per cent year-on-year, with the greatest impact in Q4, when customer traffic reduced by 58.5 per cent.

Our foremost priority in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been to protect both the continuity and integrity of our operations and the health and safety of our people. We moved quickly to adopt a suite of measures to achieve both, including restricting access to operational areas, transitioning over 1000 employees to work remotely, and moving our operational staff to flexible resilience rosters.

We have also been proactive in managing the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our organisation, reviewing our operating costs and refocusing our investment program to prioritise the delivery of OneSKY and its enabling projects. These activities yielded savings of $30m in the final quarter and are expected to deliver $100m in savings in 2020-21.

Our proactive response to the COVID-19 pandemic is positioning us to continue to do what we do best, supporting our industry and providing continued safe access to those who use our skies. We are cognisant that the path to recovery for our customers is highly uncertain, so it is essential we provide an optimal level of support as the industry faces this ambiguous recovery phase.