iscover
The TWU’s national assistant secretary, Emily McMillan, will outline the union’s hopes for the future of the industry at the upcoming Australian Aviation Summit.
This content is available exclusively to Australian Aviation members.
A monthly membership is only $5.99 or save with our annual plans.
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
- Access to the Australian Aviation app
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
- Daily news updates via our email bulletin
- Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
- Access to the Australian Aviation app
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
- Daily news updates via our email bulletin
McMillan will appear alongside a host of other industry big-hitters at the event, including Western Sydney International’s CEO Simon Hickey, Boeing’s Dr Kimberly Camrass, Virgin Australia’s Daniel Dott and Airservices interim chief executive Rob Sharp.
The Australian Aviation Summit, supported by Principal Partner Leidos, will be held on Thursday, 29 August, at The Star in Sydney.
To find out more and buy tickets, click here.
Speaking ahead of the Summit, McMillan said the aviation white paper presents a chance to unite the industry and prioritise workers after “15 years of fragmentation”.
“We’re really excited that the whole white paper process is happening as lots of issues need to be addressed,” she said.
“It’s an indication that this government is a lot more consultative than the previous government about talking widely to different stakeholders in the aviation industry. There’s lots of issues in the aviation industry that need to be addressed and fixed.
“We think there’s unbalanced power where you’ve got privately run and owned airports and airlines who have had a major impact on what services and working conditions look like.”
Noting the collapse of airlines like Bonza and Rex in the recent past, McMillan said this cycle of airlines struggling to survive is not sustainable.
“We’ve seen this boom or bust cycle for the last couple of decades, with airlines going to the government for bailouts or support packages,” she added.
“The monies that were paid upon us during COVID were one of the largest corporate bailouts that were provided to any corporation in Australia.”
Aside from this, the aviation industry is vulnerable to black swan events like the COVID-19 pandemic, SARS, volcanic ash clouds, and climate-based emergencies.
“We’ve got this boom-and-bust cycle where airlines make huge profits but then massively rely on the government to support them, which is not sustainable,” McMillan said.
To hear more from Emily McMillan about how the aviation white paper could align with the government’s vision and industry’s goals, come along to the Australian Aviation Summit 2024.
It will be held on Thursday, 29 August at The Star, Sydney. Click here to book your tickets.
For more information, including agenda and speakers, click here.
This summit is produced by Captivate Events. If you need help planning your next event, email director Jim Hall at [email protected].
