Australian Federation of Air Pilots v Flight Crew Officers Industrial Tribunal [1968] HCA 22

High Court of Australia Barwick C.J. McTiernan, Kitto, Taylor and Owen JJ. Australian Federation of Air Pilots v Flight Crew Officers Industrial Tribunal [1968] HCA 22

ORDER Rule absolute for writ of prohibition to restrain respondents from proceeding further upon the award of the Flight Crew Officers Industrial Tribunal made on the first of March 1968 and known as the Air Pilots Interim Award 1968. Order that respondents Australian National Airlines Commission and Ansett Transport Industries (Operations) Pty. Limited pay the prosecutors' costs of the application.

Cur. adv. vult.

The following written judgments were delivered:—

May 10 Barwick C.J.

Prior to the commencement of the year 1966 the respondents, The Australian National Airlines Commission (T.A.A.) and Ansett Transport Industries (Operations) Pty. Limited of which Ansett-A.N.A. is a division, which respondents I shall refer to as the operators, proposed to introduce into use on the domestic airline routes of Australia, a type of jet aircraft known as DC-9 aircraft. Apparently these aircraft were designed for flight operation by a crew of two pilots. The Australian Federation of Air Pilots (the Federation), which is one of the prosecutors, thereupon objected to what has conveniently been called in these proceedings "the two-crew concept" for the operation of these aircraft stating that there should be a crew of three comprised of three pilots or two pilots and a flight engineer. Responding to this objection, which was claimed to be based upon general safety considerations relating to the aircraft, its passengers and crew, the Director-General of Civil Aviation (the Director-General) undertook an investigation of the two-crew concept and, as well, of the experience of its operation in America whence the aircraft originated and where a considerable number of them was then and still is in regular use with a crew complement of two pilots. There is no need to detail the nature and extent of the Director-General's investigation in which the Federation participated. Suffice it to say that on 14th July 1966 the Director-General notified to the operators and to the Federation his conclusion, arrived at as the result of the investigation, that "there is no justification on safety grounds for requiring the DC-9 aircraft to be operated by other than a two-pilot crew for which it has been carefully and specifically designed".