DECEMBER 2017 AUSTRALIAN AVIATION 17For the latest news visit australianaviation.com.au
Remembering
Ben SandilandsTributes have flowed for
veteran aviation journalist Ben
Sandilands, who died in late
October after battling cancer.
Fellow journalists and
“adversaries” from the world
of PR said Sandilands’ deep
knowledge of and passion for
aviation shone brightly in a
career that spanned close to 60
years.
While his peers read his work
with much admiration, the public
relations staff at the airlines
and companies Sandilands
had in the crosshairs faced a
persistent, determined journalist
unrelenting in his pursuit to get
to the bottom of every story.
And he was never shy
in expressing his opinions,
regardless of whether it was in
casual conversation or when
questioning an airline chief
executive at a media conference.
As Justin Dubon from the
Airbus media team explained
in a message of tribute on the
Australian Aviation website:
“Ben’s passion for aviation was
infectious and his 24hrs a daycoverage was legendary. Never
one to shy away from an opinion,
he kept us PRs dancing on our
toes. He was always available
at all hours and grew to become
a dear friend and sparring
partner. Dear Ben – one of the
great aviation journalists – we
remember you fondly and will
miss you. Your friends at Airbus.”
Heather Jeffery, who led the
PR team at Virgin Blue for many
years, recalled in her tribute
on Australian Aviation
meeting Sandilands
for the first time.
“Ben was terrifying- an encyclopaedic
font of aviation
knowledge waiting to
be aired. But quickly and
over the years I understood
him to be irrepressibly
passionate about the industry,
extremely fond of his family,
colleagues and competitors, a
gentleman (even when he was
almost yelling at me – probably
deserved) and above all a truly
kind human being.”
And former Australian and
International Pilots Association
president Captain Barry
Jackson, noted Sandilands “did
not mind ruffling a few feathers”
and always went “beyond the
spin”.
Sandilands covered
aviation at Fairfax Media’s The
Australian Financial Review
and The Sydney Morning Herald
mastheads through a period
where Australian Airlines and
Qantas became one, Ansett
folded, Virgin Blue emerged
and then morphed into Virgin
Australia, as well as the arrival
on the local scene of low-cost
carriers in the form of
Jetstar and Tigerair
Australia.
For the past
decade, Sandilands
wrote on aviation for
the Crikey online blog
Plane Talking, where
his combination of analysis,
opinion and news often provoked
much comment from readers.
Even Qantas chief executive
Alan Joyce was prompted to
respond to one of Sandilands’
Plane Talking posts in June 2011.
Most recently, Sandilands
had written extensively on the
search for missing Malaysia
Airlines flight MH370.
He had also written for The
Bulletin, Guardian Australia and
the ABC.This body of work was
recognised with a lifetime
achievement award in 2015 from
the National Aviation Press Club.
Aviation journalists and
industry figures also took to
Twitter to pay tribute to their
colleague.
Long-time aviation editor at
The Australian and now editor/
Asia Pacific bureau chief for
Airline Ratings Steve Creedy
said Sandilands was a larger-
than-life colleague whose sharp
observations would be sorely
missed.
Reuters Asia aviation and
defence correspondent Jamie
Freed, who previously covered
aviation for Fairfax Media in
Australia, said Sandilands was
an “industry legend”.
Qantas pilot Captain Richard
de Crespigny expressed similar
sentiments in farewelling a
“legendary aviation journalist
and friend”.
Australian Aviation
contributor John Walton perhaps
put it best, saying “how fortunate
we truly are to have known Ben
and to have read his work”.
Australian Aviation extends
its deepest condolences to the
Sandilands family.Revised OneSky tender price under evaluation
D
efence has revealed that
a new tender price for
Australia’s ambitious OneSky
program to acquire a joint
civil and military air traffic
management system is currently
under evaluation.
Thales was announced as
the successful supplier for the
Airservices Australia-led OneSky
project at the Avalon Airshow
in February 2015. However,
negotiations between Airservices
and the French-headquartered
aerospace and defence company
have become increasingly
protracted, and an Australian
National Audit Office (ANAO)
report published in April questioned
OneSky’s value for money,
suggesting Australia could end up
paying too much for the project.
“In June last year they [Thales]
submitted an offer based on theiroriginal tendered offer that had
gone through a further negotiation
phase,” Rear Admiral Tony Dalton
told the Senate’s Foreign Affairs,
Defence and Trade committee on
October 25.
“The assessment of that offer in
June last year was it didn’t represent
value for money.
“There has been a degree of
work done on that offer with Thales
in the intervening period that
culminated with a revised price
being offered by Thales last month.
That is currently under assessment.”
RADM Dalton is now general
manager ships at Defence’s
Capability Acquisition and
Sustainment Group (CASG), but
retains responsibility for Defence’s
portion of the OneSky program.
Defence’s share of the OneSky
program is known as “Project AIR
5431 Phase 3 Civil Military AirTraffic Management System”, and
was added to the government’s
Projects of Concern list of Defence
acquisition programs requiring
special remediation in August, a
near unprecedented move for a
program yet to be contracted.
RADM Dalton explained that
the delay in signing contracts was
one reason OneSky was added to
the Projects of Concern list, and
that further delays might force
Defence to seek an alternative
supplier to replace its existing
Australian Defence Air Traffic
System (ADATS).
“Well certainly the timeframe
has slipped. That’s been part of
the issue and that’s why it’s been
elevated to a Project of Concern,”
RADM Dalton said.
“But inside our budget, we
have some allowances to cater
for the obsolescence emerging inthe current defence system. That
clearly is a concern for us and there
is a finite amount of time that the
process can go on before we have to
look at alternatives.”
Further, RADM Dalton
confirmed the cost of Defence’s
share of the program could be
higher than first expected.
“Our contribution to the
overall OneSky program may
need to increase. We have made
some allowances in the revised
Integrated Investment Program to
accommodate for that increase. Our
negotiations with Airservices have
said that there’s a finite amount
of money that we’re prepared to
increase,” he said.
“Part of the discussions that
we’ve had with Thales, through
the Projects of Concern process,
has made that abundantly clear to
Thales.”