MINUTES AAA Tasmanian Division Meeting
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MINUTES AAA Tasmanian Division Meeting 24th March 2016, 0900-1300 Launceston Airport Boardroom Chair: Melinda Percival Attendees: Mel Percival Hobart Airport (Chair) Paul Hodgen Launceston Airport (Deputy Chair) Matt Cocker Hobart Airport Michael Cullen Launceston Airport Peter Holmes Launceston Airport Michael Wells Burnie Wynyard Airport Peter Friel Devonport Airport Brent Mace Devonport Airport Jared Feehely AAA Rod Sullivan Burnie Wynyard Airport Kent Quigley Airservices Australia Daniel Taylor Fulton Hogan Ben Foot Flinders Island Kim Berwick Strahan/Queenstown Airports Ross Hibbins Vaisala Ken McGivern Downer Charles Kahl Fulton Hogan Michael McLeod Launceston Airport (partial) Apologies: Rod Parry Hobart Airport Caroline Wilkie AAA Raoul Harper Flinders Island Simon Chandler Launceston Airport Tony Melis King Island Airport Tom Griffiths Airports Plus Pty Ltd Marcus Stephens Downer Group Stuart Hurd Hobart Airport Bernard Smith BGPS Consulting Gary Lawther Strahan Airport Marco Mercuri BP Ross Ioakim Downer Group Nicole Stones King Island Airport Shannon Wells Airlines of Tasmania Laura McColl ADB Safegate Bridget Conroy Rehbein 1 1. Welcome and Introductions Mel Percival, Chair of AAA TAS Division opened the meeting and thanked members for attendance. The minutes from last TAS Divisional meeting held in Hobart were tabled and noted by members. Michael Wells moved their acceptance and this was seconded by Michael Cullen. Mel Percival acknowledged with sadness the recent passing of Jeff Grace, Manager Flinders Island Airport, a dear colleague and member of the AAA TAS Division who will be sorely missed by all. Paul Hodgen attended the funeral on Flinders Island on 19th March on behalf of the AAA. The recent tragic passing of Kevin Gould of CASA was also acknowledged by the members. 2. National Conference Mel Percival noted the overwhelming success of the 2015 AAA National Conference held in Hobart which attracted more than 600 attendees and thanked all for their input. It was noted that Launceston Airport had been awarded AAA Major Airport of the year for 2015 at the conference. 3. National Board Meeting Mel Percival briefed the group regarding the recent National Board meeting under the newly appointed chair, Guy Thompson of Perth Airport. A recent strategy day explored the new key pillars of the Association, including: • Membership recruitment; Retention; Mix • Events & meetings • Resourcing • Networks & Advocacy • Stakeholder Engagement • Industry leadership • Industry Development • Processes and Diversity 4. AAA National Update Jared Feehely, AAA Regional Airports Officer, provided members with a summary update of major topics and initiatives undertaken by the AAA and upcoming focus areas. This summary included: • Changes in the organisational structure including the impending maternity leave of Caroline Wilkie (CEO) commencing 5 September. Nick Lane will fulfil the role of Acting CEO with Simon Bourke assuming responsibility for policy and advocacy matters. Karla McMahon, Louise English and Denise Kingsley have also recently joined the team. 2 • Four new Practice Notes have been developed including the recently issued Airside Safety and upcoming notes addressing Wildlife Hazard Management and Considerations for Disability Access. • Major projects included: . Education: The recent departure of the AAA Education Manager was noted. Mentoring program nominations are closing imminently so any nominees should contact Jared immediately. Airport Practice Notes: Introduction to Airfield Lighting (11) and Introduction to Pavements (12) are under development. Regional Airport Infrastructure Project: determining the need and ability to fund infrastructure development at Regional ports. Small Regional Aerodrome Network Teleconferences: kick off again on April 16th 2016. MOS 139 Review: NPRM to be released Jun 2016. • Policy Focus: Security, Planning, CASA, Deregulation, Regional Infrastructure • Policy and Advocacy Submissions: More than 70 submissions have been made to government and other stakeholders, with the AAA portraying a cohesive voice for the industry. Members were reminded that individual airport feedback (from airports of all sizes) is critical in order to enable AAA to present comprehensive representative submissions (in particular for matters of interest to smaller airports). • Industry engagement in forums and meetings and 1-1 engagement with Ministers, DIRD and CASA (new Minister of Infrastructure and Transport is Hon Darren Chester M.P.) Jared outlined the committee and working group structures encouraging any members with interest in joining such groups to contact him. • Events: Airports Ops Swap Forum 25-26May BNE, Safety Week 17-21 Oct nationally, National Conference 21-25 Nov CBR (note hotac limited) Jared reminded members that speakers were still being sought for the upcoming National conference, including the Commercial Day. Reference was also made to the new “Award” categories. Members were encouraged to make use of the desks and meeting room in the new AAA offices at CBR airport when visiting. Members were encouraged to submit photos of their airports for potential inclusion in AAA publications. Kent Quigley noted that the quality of Method of Work Plans (MOWP’s) was variable and that there may be value in having a AAA Workshop or to provide a Practice Note to specifically address this. Jared highlighted that MOWP material was currently contained in the Industry Resource Library and Air Safety Airport Practice note. 3 Charles Kahl offered to share examples of recent MOWP’s from other ports with any members who required same. A second area thought merited for further training support was the skillset required for airport operators in the preparation of NOTAMs. 5. Around the Ports Hobart: (Matt Cocker) The airport continues with its terminal expansion the first phase of which is due for completion in May 16. Further phases will see delivery of a new arrivals hall and in due course the program will ultimately double the size of the departure lounge. Groundwork on the new runway extension is anticipated to commence later this year. The airport has witnessed a significant increase in Antarctic operations including C17 activity. The port has also experienced strong recent passenger growth and seen an upturn in external audit activity including CASA, OTS, the annual Technical Inspection and an external security audit in which Hobart partnered with Sydney. An active shooter training program has been rolled out with further Tas Police training scheduled for Blundstone Arena in early April (including a possible airport-specific session at the end of April) Flinders Island: (Ben Foot) A restructure of roles has occurred at the airport following Jeff Graces passing. The recent degradation of the runway (which will be the subject of a subsequent presentation) resulted in CASA alerts being issued. The airport/council are in the process of investigating options, including a possible realigned new runway. Devonport: (Peter Friel and Brent Mace) The runway overlay (last done in 1982) commences next week. The 3 week program will be undertaken by Fulton Hogan. TVASIS will be removed and replaced with PAPI. The airport has recently introduced operational management software (which will be the subject of a subsequent presentation). The airport is looking to develop a Traffic management Plan. Passenger numbers grew 10% last year but have been static this year. Burnie Wynyard: (Rod Sullivan & Michael Wells) Rod will be paring back his workload in the coming months. An SMS review is underway with a gap analysis having been conducted already. Rod drew the attention of members to the SMS guidance material incorporated on the CASA website. The airport is also in the process of conducting a risk assessment and update of its Risk Register. An LED “Smart” light replacement program has been completed with an anticipated 2-5 year payback. It is also intended to install LED in the car park. Passenger numbers for the first 3 months are up 3% and there has been a significant increase in fire-fighting related operational activity. (1,000 movements in 3 weeks) 4 Launceston: (Peter Holmes, Paul Hodgen and Michael Cullen) The PAPI exemption expires in June and will prompt an extension request, a new exemption or double sided installation. The recently completed runway overlay has now entered the defects liability period. A 5-yearly Wildlife Management Plan is being completed by Avisure. The annual emergency exercise is scheduled for April 13th and an invitation was extended to any members who might like to observe same. OTS will visit in April to conduct audits. Tenders will be issued shortly for Taxiway Delta remediation work. The annual SMS audit by SAI Global is scheduled in April. Construction will commences shortly on a hangar for a privately-owned Citation aircraft. The terminal transformation Phase II was completed in February with the opening of the Boags Upper Deck bar & restaurant and the new licenced Hudsons outlet. The 600sq metre extension offers stunning views with the restaurants boasting more than 90% use of locally sourced produce. The “Launceston Store” opened in December delivering on its brief of introducing a greater “sense of place” in the fitout and offering. Free public Wi-Fi was also delivered as part of the program. The third phase is due to complete in May with the installation of a Wilderness Expresso Coffee outlet and a refurbished Hudsons Coffee gate kiosk. The signage and wayfinding program rollout (internal