Service up in the air

Brindabella services eight regional airports across the State and in March this year commenced a five-year tender to service the Moree route to Sydney.

The airline was awarded the tender over previous service provider Qantas Link by Transport for NSW, and passengers are already becoming fed up with the cancelled and delayed flights.

But Moree Mayor Katrina Hum-phries said Moree Shire Council was determined to make the new arrangement work.

“I’ve been talking to Brindabella three times a day and (we) are trying to get over this bump,” she said.

“We have a great need for a good air service in Moree, more so than any other regional town, and we will get it.”

Only last week, four of Brind-abella’s Jetstream aircrafts were pulled from the skies after they exceeded maintenance inspection dates on their engines.

Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) corporate communications manager Peter Gibson said two of the four aircrafts had been given the all-clear, with another two yet to be signed off.

He said each aircraft would also undergo a full maintenance review to make sure nothing else on the Jetstreams was overdue.

“When this is completed we will be looking at what we can do to ensure Brindabella doesn’t run over its maintenance inspections and we will also look deeper into how this came to happen.”

Moree local Louise Gall said she often flew from Moree to Sydney and said although the cost and frustration of flight cancellations, flight times and delays were an issue, safety concerns far out-weighed anything else.

“I don’t believe we should have an airline with question marks over its head when it comes to safety,” Mrs Gall said.

“I want my friends and family to fly safely.”

Narrabri Mayor Conrad Bolton said he was working with seven other regional councils to send a strong message to Brindabella that they wanted to see a lift in the company’s performance.

He said the airline, through its inconsistent service, was dictating to customers how to run their daily lives, rather than the paying customer getting the service they had paid for.

“The only other regional airport in our area is Tamworth and we’re losing passenger numbers to there and it’s having an effect on our local economy.”

He said fly-in fly-out mine workers (employed mainly at Narrabri and Boggabri) were choosing to travel to and from Tamworth airport to ensure they got to work on time.

Cr Bolton said Brindabella’s poor performance was not economically healthy for the community.

Moree Gallery owner Gig Moses described the frequent flight cancellations and delays as “diabolical”.

“When you make appointments you have to meet them,” she said.

“I’ve had two cancellations and a delay to Sydney and when you go to Sydney for work, time is precious.”

Eight members of the Gwydir Valley Cotton Growers Association missed their general meeting recently because of cancelled flights, but association president Tony Bailey said what was most frustrating was the lack of information given to stranded passengers by the airline.

“We couldn’t get any information from Brindabella and it was annoying for us and Cotton Australia because this meeting only happens twice a year.”

Mr Bailey said the eight members were from the Moree district and further afield, from Goondiwindi and Emerald, Queensland, and travelled by car to Moree for the flight.

“We never had these problems with Qantas Link,” he said.

“We understand if flights are cancelled or delayed because of bad weather, but now their reliability can’t be trusted.

“In the future we’ll book private planes.”

Member for Barwon and Moree resident Kevin Humphries said ensuring regional communities had a consistent, reliable and safe air route into Sydney was one of his top priorities, and there was no doubt the service currently offered was well below expectations.

“I have been in constant contact with Brindabella, Qantas and the Ministry since the tender (was awarded) and as a frequent flyer I know first-hand the inconvenience of a substandard service,” he said.

Brindabella Airlines could not be contacted for comment at time of press.