Union pushes AirAsia out of Aus skies
The Transport Workers Union is seeking to ban Indonesia AirAsia from Australian airspace following the airline’s fatal crash in December.
According to a report in the West Australian, TWU’s Tony Sheldon called upon deputy prime minister Warren Truss to suspend Indonesia AirAsia which currently operates from Denpasar to Perth and Darwin.
Sheldon called for the government to suspend services until it could guarantee Indonesia AirAsia pilot training and aircraft maintenance were of an acceptable standard to Australian authorities.
While blocking the airline could cause heated political tension between Australian and Indonesia governments, Minister Truss said the decision to ground the airline was a matter for the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), the paper reported.
“CASA is continuing to oversee and conduct surveillance of Indonesia AirAsia’s Australian international operations and works in co-operation with other overseas safety regulatory authorities,” he said, the paper reports.
The announcement comes after CASA yesterday said Indonesia AirAsia “is subject to enhanced surveillance following the accident” referring to the crash of flight QZ8501 flying from Indonesia to Singapore on December 28 which claimed 162 lives.
“As part of this enhanced surveillance, CASA conducted ramp inspections of IAA aircraft throughout January and found no safety concerns during these inspections,” CASA stated.
CASA said it “monitoring the situation closely and will take relevant action as required”.
Meanwhile, the TWU are striving to ban the airline from Australian skies until CASA is able to conduct a full audit of its operations, in particular if pilot training was a factor in the crash, with Sheldon claiming the flying public has a right to know.
“We want to see greater transparency and do not want to have to wait several months before an official report from Indonesia is made public,” Sheldon said, the paper reported.
“Passengers flying in Australia must be able to make informed choices about the airline they travel with.”
Travel Weekly contacted AirAsia representatives but was advised there were no comments to be made at this time.
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
airasia AirAsia Indonesia airline Australia Government aviation Indonesia Government Transport Workers UnionLatest News
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