The report shows the number of category changes which have affected aircraft landing across Australia’s airports has grown from zero to more than 200 since the retirement scheme started in October 2021. The number of instances has not been below 100 since before April.

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The international aviation industry requires fire and rescue personnel to be present for the operation of all international flights. Aircraft are not allowed to land at international airports if there are no firefighters present and many domestic carriers choose to avoid flying without sufficient emergency services.

“In recent months, an inability to meet the staff requirements for the category have been the
primary driver for category changes and these category reductions are increasingly impacting
aircraft protection,” an excerpt from the report said.

The union said it has asked for a pay increase of 15 per cent over a four-year period, following a one per cent increase in 2020 and a 0 per cent increase in 2021, but was primarily concerned about safety.

“If you have a safety incident as an air traveller it’s our responsibility to make sure there’s adequate emergency services waiting after your trip. Airservices has failed to meet regulatory standards and for the first time in history there are category non-compliance incidents happening daily,” secretary of the United Firefighters Union of Australia’s aviation branch Wesley Garrett said.

“Forget about ‘he said, she said’. Just look at the data which shows we’re having compliance incidents for the first time in history,” Garrett said.

Airservices Australia has denied there is a shortage of aviation rescue firefighters at Sydney or any other airport and would take “all steps necessary” to prevent disruptions to flights as a result of industrial action.

“Airservices continues to negotiate in good faith with the union to finalise a new enterprise agreement. A pay rise could be obtained instantly if the union chose to advocate in the interests of their members and to protect the safety of the Australian public.”

“The union’s staffing and redundancy claims are misleading and designed to justify unnecessary industrial action to support an excessive wage claim,” it said.