Royal Queensland Aero Club court case - the result that was to be kept secret

Archerfield Tower - RQAC court case secret exposed

All around Australia small aviation businesses contributed funds to a group action by the Royal Queensland Aero Club against the legality of the Airservices charging for tower services that the industry did not want and safety studies showed were unnecessary.

Eventually the case was settled between the RQAC and Airservices, however Airservices very astutely agreed to a settlement that remained secret from all the other aviation businesses which had contributed some $50,000.

I can now tell you here that the Government had a spectacular victory. The RQAC had to pay every cent of the money owed without any agreement that costs would be reduced. In other words, all the small aviation businesses (including the RQAC) were completely trodden on in this court case.

It should be remembered the legality of the issues never got to judgement, as in the end the RQAC couldnt afford the enormous costs and delaying tactics being put on by the Government.

I support good salaries for air traffic controllers
It should be noted that one air traffic controller saved through efficiencies could result in the employment of up to four flight instructors or commercial pilots in small business. I dont begrudge the air traffic controllers their very high pay, it is certainly a credit to their union and the result of the very high membership fees they pay - the ATCs certainly get value for money. However, I do believe that if we are going to pay our air traffic controllers really good money (mostly over $100,000 per annum) that we must make sure that they are as efficient as possible. This is not happening.