Fed: Ansett working to minimise disruption after 767 grounding

AAP General News (Australia)
04-13-2001
Fed: Ansett working to minimise disruption after 767 grounding

CANBERRA, April 13 AAP - Ansett staff will continue working round the clock today to
reorganise Easter flights after the civil aviation watchdog last night grounded one fifth
of its main passenger fleet.

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) grounded all 10 of Ansett's Boeing 767s
indefinitely and gave the airline three weeks to fix ongoing maintenance and management
problems or be closed down.

The Air New Zealand-owned Ansett said it had organised extra planes and staff were
working hard to minimise any disruption to flight schedules.

"The airline has sourced additional aircraft from within the group and will charter
other aircraft as required to ensure flights are as close to the original flight schedule
as possible," Ansett said in a statement.

The airline said it would call passengers if there were going to be any significant delays.

Acting Transport Minister Ian Macdonald said the government had contacted other airlines
to ask for their help.

"The government sincerely regrets the inconvenience to the travelling public and as
a person who travels so much myself I understand the anguish and uncertainty that many
people must be facing," he said.

CASA director of aviation safety Mick Toller said he was sick of continued problems
with Ansett planes, after 767s were grounded at Christmas and again earlier this week.

The final straw was news that one 767 made eight flights last weekend without emergency
slides in place due to poor maintenance.

"It's effectively the last straw in a series of issues that have bedeviled Ansett,"

he told reporters.

"We have grounded the 767s on two occasions already, this is the hat-trick."

Mr Toller said CASA would carry out its own audit of the planes and maintenance records
to make sure they were safe, but said he did not think passengers were in immediate danger.

Opposition transport spokesman Martin Ferguson said the government had overseen a deterioration
in aviation safety and should tell CASA to get its act together.

"In the short term, CASA must get cracking quickly and clearly tell Ansett what it
needs to do to get these aircraft operating again with the safety the Australian public
expects," he said.

AAP kmh/ge/sb 2

KEYWORD: ANSETT DAYLEAD

2001 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.