Airservices CEO, Jason Harfield, stepping down

[Clare Prop]

Good lord, how much of our Airservices charges have gone into this idiot guy's salary?! Presumably there will be a fat pension as well?

[Lead Balloon]

Originally Posted by ER_BN

I’ll do a Pauline…PLEASE EXPLAIN….

Re the Greens ridiculous “Lines attributable….”

Could someone with far more intellect than I explain the inherent conflict of interest that Airservices has?

I think it's that Airservices makes money out of things that make noise and other pollution - aircraft - making noise and other pollution, while at the same time Airservices "must exercise its powers and perform its functions in a manner that ensures that, as far as is practicable, the environment is protected from:

(a) the effects of the operation and use of aircraft; and

(b) the effects associated with the operation and use of aircraft."

Of course, that phrase "so far is practicable" creates some complexities...

[ER_BN]

Lead,

White shoes. Brown paper bags…..but no

You always come up trumps with life’s moral imponderables! Thanks!

There I was assuming the controller was thinking “can I get the Connie away before the one on final”.

But no…the inherent moral and ethical issues of noise pollution, CO2 emissions, forever chemicals (PFAS) leakage and what size Louis Vuitton bag the departing CEO used to carry his millions have intruded into his/her conscious decision on whether any aircraft should ever get airborne again…

Safe, orderly and expeditious seemed problematic enough in them good ‘ole days…

Okay, maybe some brown paper bags in the Louis Vuitton…

[Gas Chamber]

Maybe make a senior controller the next CEO. Not some bird brained idiot with an MBA and nice suit.
The world really has lost its way. Greedy little management parasites now run the world…all with no regard for staff, basic morals, safety or longevity.
good riddance

[ER_BN]

Clare,

I assume quite a bit, I mean he was being paid twice as much as Anthony I AM THE PRIME MINISTER Albanese.

As stated in other posts the AsA board is an embarrassing joke with no credibility.

If they had any morals or ethics or shame they all would have resigned on the spot.

Congrats to Senator Bridget for at least kicking in the rotting edifice. However…

I’m afraid my sympathies are with Gentle ie “Plus ca change!” A lovely French saying for a French farce.

Sacre Bleu!

[Clare Prop]

The thing is that the fees they collect are supposed to pay for it all and return a dividend to government, is that still the case? I'm going back to the days when they decided to go to "user pays", thing is if there is no ATC there, either because they won't give us a clearance to do circuits or because they have an early knock off and we go to CTAF then there are no users as we don't have to pay, so presumably there is a big drop in revenue?
Maybe it wasn't such a great idea to bring that in after all?!
Not just for ASA but for the airport and of course the operators who have to send their students home with the flight cancelled yet again because "Circuits are not available" "operational restrictions" etc.
Presumably there was a big bonus for him in laying a whole lot of them off? How come he gets to stay until the end of June, we need someone who can fix this mess now, not in a few more months.

[chopper.blade]

Time to get rid of the whole board and a few of his mates at the top who have been making AsA the worst place to work for years due to the ignorant, stubborn, micro-management of a place that once had a great culture. The culture has been toxic for years. Don't blame the air traffic controllers for the poor service we get as pilots, blame the CEO and the former ATC mates he surrounded himself with at the top. It won't get better until they are all gone.
A CEO who budgeted over $100mil in 2016 to get rid of staff with his Harvard Business School Chaotic restructure that hasn't stopped. Break it first and see what needs fixing. What a moronic idea. Try that in an aircraft. His next big idea was to get rid of some more staff with the Retirement Incentive Scheme (RIS) and spending 10s of millions more to do it out of government funding that was meant to keep staff. He admitted he new he'd loose 10 percent more but had no plan to replace them. Now when the aviation economy wants to soar, there's a staff shortage that will be years away from ending. Now I'm told the company is bleeding millions on overtime just to keep airspace open. I've been told of ATCs with over 500 hours of overtime. How is that safe for us and the travelling public?
There should also be an enquiry into the CMATS system; How it was sourced and purchased. Who did AsA contract/employ to source the new system. I'm happy to stand corrected, but wasn't it a subsidiary company of Thales? The company that was awarded the contract. Where there's smoke there's fire I say.
For the next company he takes on as CEO, good luck to you.

[ER_BN]

Clare, I don’t disagree with anything you say.

Not leaving straight away probably has something to do with maximising his final departure package. Happens in AsA all the time.

The only flaw in your argument is that you assume anyone in government or Airservices cares about Australian aviation.

The only thing they care about is their snout in the trough.

Who cares about the lost two decades….OneSky is now 16 years in the “making” and counting and when it finally arrives Whoops WTD …

Thanks Jason…….

[Lead Balloon]

Turning the monopoly ANSP into a pretend commercial enterprise was not in the public interest. (Privatising the Commonwealth's airports wasn't in the public interest either.)

[Mr Proach]

[QUOTE=AnotherFSO;11646539]Media release from the Minister: https://minister.infrastructure.gov....-australia-ceo
........... In a career spanning more than 30 years, Mr Harfield has served in a range of important roles in the industry including serving as Australia’s Head Air Traffic Controller. ..............

Did JH ever have an ATC rating?

[Liklik balus]

Not soon enough.

[QUOTE=Mr Proach;11647994]

Originally Posted by AnotherFSO

Media release from the Minister: https://minister.infrastructure.gov....-australia-ceo
........... In a career spanning more than 30 years, Mr Harfield has served in a range of important roles in the industry including serving as Australia’s Head Air Traffic Controller. ..............

Did JH ever have an ATC rating?

Yes he did. but you know the old saying............those who can, do, those who cant move to Management!!!!!!!!

[10JQKA]

Jason who ?

[Pinky the pilot]

Privatising the Commonwealth's airports wasn't in the public interest either.

Leady; IMHO the procedure quoted above was, without a single doubt, one of the most stupid, dumbest, idiotic, moronic (insert your favourite description) things that any Government of Australia ever did!!

And it will still be quite some time before that message finally sinks into the grey matter of those who really were responsible for such stupidity! Assuming of course, that they are still around!

[Lead Balloon]

I have little doubt that many of “those responsible” have made a lot of money out the privatisation.

[missy]

Another couple of articles.

Government offloads Airservices boss

Board praises current CEO
ASA declined to comment on the circumstances of Mr Harfield’s departure but said he was finishing his role in line with his contract.

“The Board and I are grateful for Jason’s leadership, deep knowledge of, and passion for the organisation and the role Airservices plays in the industry,” ASA chairman John Webber said in a statement provided to Government News.

Jason Harfield to leave Airservices

He was appointed Acting CEO after the departure of Margaret Staib, and was promoted to the role full-time in 2016.

Harfield's appointment was immediately controversial as he embarked on the Accelerate program, which was designed to cut costs at Airservices. The program returned $177 million to the government, but cost 900 jobs.

Originally Posted by chopper.blade

Time to get rid of the whole board and a few of his mates at the top who have been making AsA the worst place to work for years due to the ignorant, stubborn, micro-management of a place that once had a great culture. The culture has been toxic for years. Don't blame the air traffic controllers for the poor service we get as pilots, blame the CEO and the former ATC mates he surrounded himself with at the top. It won't get better until they are all gone.
A CEO who budgeted over $100mil in 2016 to get rid of staff with his Harvard Business School Chaotic restructure that hasn't stopped. Break it first and see what needs fixing. What a moronic idea. Try that in an aircraft. His next big idea was to get rid of some more staff with the Retirement Incentive Scheme (RIS) and spending 10s of millions more to do it out of government funding that was meant to keep staff. He admitted he new he'd loose 10 percent more but had no plan to replace them. Now when the aviation economy wants to soar, there's a staff shortage that will be years away from ending. Now I'm told the company is bleeding millions on overtime just to keep airspace open. I've been told of ATCs with over 500 hours of overtime. How is that safe for us and the travelling public?
There should also be an enquiry into the CMATS system; How it was sourced and purchased. Who did AsA contract/employ to source the new system. I'm happy to stand corrected, but wasn't it a subsidiary company of Thales? The company that was awarded the contract. Where there's smoke there's fire I say.
For the next company he takes on as CEO, good luck to you.

Enquiry into CMATS? Perhaps one for the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).

[Mr Proach]

Aren't the woes attributed to inadequate ATC staffing levels related to the airlines & other sizeable operators applying pressure to AsA to reduce industry costs. The irony maybe that the collective amount of costs incurred by the operators due to the deactivation of extensive areas of controlled airspace may well exceed the savings that were accomplished through lobbying AsA to reduce fees & charges. i.e it may ultimately cost more to operate in less protected airspace, which sounds like the familiar dark art of bean counting at play.
That said, IMO there has been a evolutionary shift in the ethos of the service provider. What is the old adage about rotting fish? Sadly, if and when a big event occurs, it won't be the architects that destroyed a robust system that will be held responsible, they will continue to live in their multi million dollar houses, the study walls of which, will be hanging "Certificates of Excellence" for commitment and service to the industry.

[missy]

Interesting to reflect on this interview from 2016.
You know where the skeletons are...

Article as below (my bolding) and then commentary.

New chief executive Jason Harfield has been with Airservices since joining as a trainee air traffic controller at the age of 18, and so, as he puts it, “knows where the skeletons” are
The fact that seeing someone who has an operational background, has worked in the organisation and is part of their profession is now leading the organisation, has resonated significantly. ” Jason Harfield is the first air traffic controller to have risen through the ranks at Airservices to become chief executive of Australia’s air traffic management (ATM) and aviation rescue and firefighting (ARFF) provider.

“You know where the skeletons are,” says Harfield. “I know where to go [look] into the organisation. ” Harfield was formally appointed CEO on March 9 after acting in the role since August 2015 following the sudden resignation of his predecessor, Margaret Staib. And he takes the reins at Airservices at a particularly complex time, as it plans for the introduction of the new OneSKY air traffic management system in partnership with the ADF, awaits an Australian National Audit Office report into probity concerns over OneSKY contract negotiations, looks to reform its business practices and cuts costs in the face of slowing growth in airline traffic (and hence revenues) thanks to the end of the mining boom, and manages a host of technologically complex projects designed to increase airspace efficiency.

“But, also, it means that with the challenges we have ahead, there’s no waiting around,” Harfield says of appointing an internal candidate as CEO, rather than an outsider as has been the case historically. “No one has to spend a year trying to get their feet under the desk and understand how the organisation works.There are things that need to be dealt with now and so it gives us an advantage that we’re able to get in and move on. ” In his 25 plus year career with Airservices Harfield has shown little evidence of not moving on, rapidly rising through the ranks to become CEO at the age of a still youthful 45. Over that time he has been an operational air traffic controller, working up to be the operations manager at Melbourne Centre before taking on increasingly senior management positions, from head air traffic controller to general manager safety management, executive general manager air traffic control group and, most recently, executive general manager future service delivery, with carriage of the OneSKY program.

It’s a breadth of experience that has left Harfield with a clear vision of where he wants to lead Airservices.

“I’ve said this a number of times, you’re emotionally invested in its success. I’ve literally grown up in the organisation. I started when I was 18, and over that time it becomes a significant part of your life. ” So when he was appointed acting CEO last August, “There was no point in waiting for the outcome of the CEO selection exercise. It was about getting on and getting it done, because if we didn’t, the organisation would, ultimately, fail. ” Airservices, Harfield recognises, has its critics.

“But we seem to get a lot more critics when we don’t seem to have a really visible purpose or direction in the organisation. ” Instead, “it’s better that we have a purpose on where we’re going and doing something we’re proud of. And people might not like it, but they at least understand, if you’re not actually doing something and going somewhere, people don’t know what the hell’s going on. ” Continues Harfield, “organisations need to keep moving forward and continuing to evolve. The moment that you try and stand still, particularly in our environment, you go backwards. It can happen for a range of reasons, and if you have a look at our operating performance over the last five years, it has slowly declined, based on an operating model and a way of doing business that served ourselves and the industry well. But the changing dynamics in the operating environment and the economy means it was no longer sustainable. ” Harfield says that on any number of metrics Airservices’ operational performance is “second to none”.

But, “Where we can do significantly better, is in our what I call the back of house. The last couple of years, for example, our project delivery capital expenditure has increased, yet our delivery has actually declined, year on year. “That causes a tremendous amount of inefficiency in the organisation. Our staffing numbers have grown by 1,500 over the last 10 years, while our operational numbers have stayed relatively static. All that growth’s been in project delivery and back of the house stuff. That’s where we can be much more efficient. ” Evidence of the evolution of a more efficient Airservices under Harfield’s leadership will come in May when he announces an organisational restructure under his ‘Accelerate’ program, the result of a two-stage review.

“The first stage was a business diagnostic and efficiency review,” Harfield explained, with assistance from PricewaterhouseCoopers, which “brought in expertise to be able to review things from the outside, with a completely different lens.

“And as a result of that, there were a number of streams of work that came out. And then we had phase two that worked through from December through to the February board meeting to come up with a program to address those areas. ” Then, “Over the next 15 months there will be a number of initiatives that will get announced and underway. But the main announcement in May will be the new structure and operating model of the organisation. ” The changes, Harfield explains, are about making Airservices what he likes to call “match fit”. “I don’t think it is fair for industry to pay for the inefficiencies that are recognised in the organisation,” Harfield says in explaining his decision to delay a new five-year long-term pricing agreement for Airservices’ air traffic management services.

“This is about sorting those inefficiencies out, so when our new pricing proposal goes out, it reflects a more efficient organisation, not the organisation of where we’ve been. In my eyes the five per cent headline price increase that we’d originally proposed was just not acceptable for what industry needed. Although some of it was a recovery for fire stations that we’ve had to put in and we’ve never had cost recovered, there was still this underlying base of inefficiency that we needed to sort out. ” Part of being “match fit” is demonstrating to Airservices’ customers a value proposition.

“We started going down the path of the value proposition when we started getting into the flow management space with Metron and the like where we’re unlocking latent capacity and improving the value proposition of the airline. They’ll be able to reduce their operating costs as the result of less holding time, but we’ll be able to do that without changing our charging regime. And that’s where we need to go – the price that the airlines are willing to pay is, in their eyes, value for money to the service that they get. ” But that will be one component of broader change across Airservices.

“Ultimately where I see service delivery going is much more into the information management space, the exchange of information and data. Therefore we need an organisation that is very much suited to that type of environment. So, from where we’ve been very engineering focused, [we need to move] to a much more information management type focus. That is actually a cultural and behavioural change exercise, not a technical change exercise. And that has to be led top down. ” Harfield agrees it is ambitious change.

“Absolutely. It’s ambitious because of the size and the complexity of what we’re trying to achieve. But for me, it’s an imperative. It’s about the relevance of the organisation and the future of the organisation going forward. “I’ve got the absolute confidence that we can do it, and, going back to that earlier point, I’ve grown up in this organisation. I know not only what it’s capable of, but I know what needs to be done to move us into that position. And I’ve seen throughout my own career, from even bringing something on like TAAATS, is that TAAATS was a world leading technology; it had never been done anywhere in the world. But we were able to achieve it and reposition the organisation at that particular time. We got it in our DNA to do it; it’s about unlocking it. So I’ve got no doubt that we’ll achieve it, but for my mind, it’s an absolute imperative. ” Another absolute imperative is the efficient delivery of OneSKY, arguably the world’s most ambitious air traffic management project.

“OneSKY, once we implement it, it will be the world’s most advanced integrated air traffic management system. It does not exist anywhere in the world today. The closest thing we have to OneSKY, anywhere in the world, is our own TAAATS system. No country on earth has something of the scale and complexity and that size. We’re also doing it with the Department of Defence, so we’re bringing two very different cultures and operating models together and doing it as one for the benefit of the nation. ” Now that Harfield is CEO, leading the implementation of OneSKY is newly-retired RAAF Air Vice-Marshal Chris Deeble, known as Defence’s “Mr Fix-it” for his roles in leading the remediation of troubled acquisition programs like the Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft and the KC-30 tanker.

“With any sort of complex program like OneSKY, there’s always this element of chronic unease, because you’re never in a static environment, something is always going to crop up. But that chronic unease is a little bit more settled at the moment with someone like Chris on board. ” With OneSKY in Deeble’s capable hands, the new CEO can focus on change elsewhere in Airservices.

“I want to be the relevant leader in service provision. It’s the one the customer wants. I think that’s important in an environment that’s quite disruptive, which we’re seeing across the industry,” Harfield declares.

“I’ve made the point to the organisation that if you think that we don’t have competition, think again. And it’s not another ANSP (air navigation service provider), it’s a disruptive environment, it can come from anywhere. We’re even disrupting the air traffic management model with our flow management, where our long-range flow and management is worrying about the departure airport, where the ANSP is completely taken out of the loop. Somebody else could do that to us; and so that’s why I want to be the relevant leader.

“But to be the relevant leader, we need to be responsive, agile and flexible. And those sort of traits are literally a complete antithesis of the traits of the organisation that in some ways we still are. But they were the traits that were required of an air traffic control provider. ” Says Harfield, “We want our controllers to be the masters of the universe, for their particular area – be certain and follow the rules, there are regulations and there are requirements to keep safety and efficiency of the air traffic. But that doesn’t mean that the rest of the organisation has to act and be like that. . .

“To give you an example: The risk appetite that we have at our operational front line is sacrosanct, it’s very conservative, which it needs to be. But that doesn’t mean that in delivering a backroom IT product to process our credit cards more efficiently, for example, that we have to apply the same exact risk appetite. We can be a little bit more entrepreneurial. ” The aim, then, is “keeping the front line doing what it does best, but making sure that the rest of the organisation is right and efficient to be able to support that. ” “My focus is that part of this whole Accelerate program, and repositioning the organisation, is that, at the end of the day, we’re a service provider. And it’s aligning the whole organisation to understand that we have two businesses. We deliver air traffic management, and we deliver aviation rescue and firefighting services. Other than that, that’s not our job. ” Clearly, change is on the way.

“I don’t like to sit still. Yes, the place is probably more dynamic now, but I think that it needs to be. I think that this is the right time and place. And that’s why I honestly think that a lot of this stuff we need to do in the next 12 months because of what we have ahead. And yes, thrive on it. You could probably say that it’s some of my controller [background] coming out. But I want to make the change and make it now.”

I’ve grown up in this organisation. I know what it’s capable of.


First air traffic controller to have risen through the ranks at Airservices to become chief executive – Sounds nice. Home grown. SA boy makes good. And how would we now assess his tenure and those who selected and re-appointed him for a 2nd (but not a 3rd term).

You know where the skeletons are – perhaps a negative which preconceived ideas rather than judging things on their merit. Adelaide Flight Data and Melbourne Centre, just two sections of a complex, geographical dispersed and diverse organisation.

Australian National Audit Office report into probity concerns - 6 recommendations made by ANAO relating to systemic failures, probity, governance. The ANSO has listed Management of the OneSKY contractas a potential audit (2023-24).

“No one has to spend a year trying to get their feet under the desk and understand how the organisation works" - let's hope the Board and the Minister don't blindly follow this mantra.

End of the mining boom – the boom that keeps on giving, yet the infrastructure like radio frequencies to the ground and low-level ADSB coverage are sadly lacking in the Pilbara (and other locations).

Rapidly rising through the ranks - head air traffic controller - general manager safety management –. As above, operational experience and exposure to just one culture (Melbourne Centre) couldn’t provide the broad operational background you need to be Head ATC – Centres, Tower, Approach. As GM Safety knocked back a major safety improvement to the ATC system because it wasn’t his job.

Operational numbers have stayed relatively static – actually the operational ATCs are moving more traffic with less numbers. And recently he has stated that there isn’t a magic number. Yes, there is, it’s never anything less than 1 more than you need.

PricewaterhouseCoopers – increasing use of consultants and outsourcing such that the organisation no longer has the skills it needs to do to perform vital safety work. Lack of corporate knowledge, and career options for air traffic controllers and technicians within the organisation.

More information management type focus – failed to bring the staff along as part of this “cultural and behavioural change exercise”. Lack of staff engagement as the leadership tried to move the organisation away from an operational focus.

Another absolute imperative is the efficient delivery of OneSKY, arguably the world’s most ambitious air traffic management project – still waiting. $5b and counting. A project that lacked relevant and effective operational involvement from Day 1.

Chronic unease – a condition of unrelenting watchfulness, a persistent suspicion that all is not well, that something could go horribly wrong at any moment. Sounds more like a lack of planning, designing systems and procedures to be fail safe and a lack of planned and practiced contingencies.

We deliver air traffic management, and we deliver aviation rescue and firefighting services. Other than that, that’s not our job – indeed, however, Airservices is still in noise monitoring, airspace design, safety promotion, amongst others. The effective delivery of services requires sufficient staff – NOTAMs advising of service reductions shouldn’t be occurring.

TIBA should not be something that is routinely used within Australian airspace, nor International airspace managed by Australia. And if it is, then as CEO you should’ve known how it operates (see February Senate Estimates).

I know what it’s capable of – perhaps for others to judge.

[ER_BN]

Ummmm, thanks Missy….and your main point is…???

[Done and done]

Originally Posted by ER_BN

Ummmm, thanks Missy….and your main point is…???

Perhaps that after conducting an extensive and exhausting world wide search for a new CEO, it should not be the interim CEO.
Been there done that, its been a disaster.

[Clare Prop]

Originally Posted by Pinky the pilot

Leady; IMHO the procedure quoted above was, without a single doubt, one of the most stupid, dumbest, idiotic, moronic (insert your favourite description) things that any Government of Australia ever did!!

And it will still be quite some time before that message finally sinks into the grey matter of those who really were responsible for such stupidity! Assuming of course, that they are still around!

He's still around. His name is Paul Keating.