Another little bit of history disappears today with the cessation of the Air Nelson Air Operating Certificate.
As from the 19th of November 2019 the Air Nelson Bombardier Q300 aircraft are operating under the Air
NZ Air Operating Certificate.
Also planned from on the 18th of November was the LINK callsign used by the Air Nelson fleet ceasing and commencing on the 19th the Bombardiers would use “NEW ZEALAND 8xxx” and be filing ATC plans as ANZ8xxx.
However it seems there were issues with this as in the comment below which I have pasted here...
An e-mail from Air NZ to Airways:
We had previously agreed that regional aircraft would adopt the callsign “New Zealand” and utilise the full 4 digit flight number for voice comms with us filing ATC plans accordingly. This would ensure rule compliance.
A subsequent risk workshop with some Airways staff has highlighted concerns with this approach and as we have not had sufficient time to completely understand the risks and available controls to ensure that situational awareness is not reduced and callsign confusion is not increased. As such I have requested an exemption form part 91.249 which will allow for a solution to be developed which provides a Low Risk solution.
I have every belief that this exemption will be granted and the current Status Quo will remain in place beyond 18 Nov when the Q300 fleet is integrated with the Air New Zealand AOC and operates as an Air New Zealand aircraft.
This will mean that we will continue to file RLK and use “Link”.
We are endeavouring to finalise a long term solution utilising alpha/numeric flight numbers which will see the use of ANZ and “New Zealand” deployed with the move of the ATR72 fleet on 10 December but digital limitations may further delay this. Once a solution is determined we will be looking for formal acceptance from Airways and Civil Aviation Authority.
Also planned from on the 18th of November was the LINK callsign used by the Air Nelson fleet ceasing and commencing on the 19th the Bombardiers would use “NEW ZEALAND 8xxx” and be filing ATC plans as ANZ8xxx.
However it seems there were issues with this as in the comment below which I have pasted here...
An e-mail from Air NZ to Airways:
We had previously agreed that regional aircraft would adopt the callsign “New Zealand” and utilise the full 4 digit flight number for voice comms with us filing ATC plans accordingly. This would ensure rule compliance.
A subsequent risk workshop with some Airways staff has highlighted concerns with this approach and as we have not had sufficient time to completely understand the risks and available controls to ensure that situational awareness is not reduced and callsign confusion is not increased. As such I have requested an exemption form part 91.249 which will allow for a solution to be developed which provides a Low Risk solution.
I have every belief that this exemption will be granted and the current Status Quo will remain in place beyond 18 Nov when the Q300 fleet is integrated with the Air New Zealand AOC and operates as an Air New Zealand aircraft.
This will mean that we will continue to file RLK and use “Link”.
We are endeavouring to finalise a long term solution utilising alpha/numeric flight numbers which will see the use of ANZ and “New Zealand” deployed with the move of the ATR72 fleet on 10 December but digital limitations may further delay this. Once a solution is determined we will be looking for formal acceptance from Airways and Civil Aviation Authority.
Check out this post that recounts the change from MOTAIR to AIRLINK and LINK callsigns...
https://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.com/2011/05/looking-back-air-new-zealand-link.html
https://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.com/2011/05/looking-back-air-new-zealand-link.html
AOC comments correct, but callsign etc not due to change for a while yet
ReplyDeleteAn e-mail from Air NZ to Airways:
ReplyDeleteWe had previously agreed that regional aircraft would adopt the callsign “New Zealand” and utilise the full 4 digit flight number for voice comms with us filing ATC plans accordingly. This would ensure rule compliance.
A subsequent risk workshop with some Airways staff has highlighted concerns with this approach and as we have not had sufficient time to completely understand the risks and available controls to ensure that situational awareness is not reduced and callsign confusion is not increased. As such I have requested an exemption form part 91.249 which will allow for a solution to be developed which provides a Low Risk solution.
I have every belief that this exemption will be granted and the current Status Quo will remain in place beyond 18 Nov when the Q300 fleet is integrated with the Air New Zealand AOC and operates as an Air New Zealand aircraft.
This will mean that we will continue to file RLK and use “Link”.
We are endeavouring to finalise a long term solution utilising alpha/numeric flight numbers which will see the use of ANZ and “New Zealand” deployed with the move of the ATR72 fleet on 10 December but digital limitations may further delay this. Once a solution is determined we will be looking for formal acceptance from Airways and Civil Aviation Authority.
Thanks for the corrections... Steve
ReplyDeleteWell, that seems to be a bit of cluster mess.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they could adopt what Qantas Link/Air Services Australia did when the Q400/DH8D entered service.
QLK950D = Qantaslink 950 Delta. ‘D’ denotes aircraft is a Q400.
ANZ884N= Q300 &. ANZ753M= AT75/76 or something similar. My two cents worth.
They're still using Link8*** as call signs with ATC
ReplyDelete