CASA Media Release - Monday, 3 June 2002
Air travel confidence up
Australians are increasingly confident about the safety of air travel, a new national survey has found.
Seventy five per cent of people surveyed state they are highly confident about the safety of major airline flights.
This is a five per cent rise in confidence based on the results of a similar survey held 18 months ago.
At the same time 21 per cent of people believe the safety of the major airlines has actually improved over the last 12 months.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority commissioned Roy Morgan Research to question 3033 people nationally about their views on air safety and aviation regulation.
The results show Australians have faith in the safety of air travel but continue to support a high level of monitoring and checking of air operators.
CASA’s Director of Aviation Safety, Mick Toller, says a clear majority of Australians also believe it is safer to fly in Australia than elsewhere in the world.
“When we ask people to compare Australia’s air safety with other leading aviation nations such as the United States or Canada their view is that Australia is safer,” Mr Toller says.
“At the same time the public is clearly telling us that they expect continued effective surveillance of the aviation industry by CASA.
“A total of 65 per cent of people surveyed want CASA to more closely supervise Qantas and Virgin Blue, while 22 per cent are satisfied with the current levels of oversight.
“When asked about the grounding of the Ansett 767 fleet by CASA at Easter last year, 71 per cent of people stated the aircraft should have been grounded earlier.
“Another 20 per cent felt the timing of the grounding at Easter was right, while 6 per cent stated CASA should have waited longer or not grounded the aircraft at all.
“Respondents also supported moves to increase safety – even if it leads to air fare increases. When asked should air charter standards be raised 92 per cent agreed, with only 5 per cent in opposition.
The survey found that dissatisfaction with CASA has dropped by almost half, with only 8 per cent of people stating CASA is doing a poor or very poor job. Thirty six per cent think CASA is doing a good or great job, with 44 per cent rating CASA as doing a reasonable job
The results show 30 per cent of people believe CASA improved its performance over the last year – up 12 per cent on the same figure in the last survey.
Media contact
Peter Gibson
ph 02 6217 1015
mobile 0419 296 446
Ref: MR0221