Airservices Australia CEO Jason Harfield has credited the Accelerate Program with improving the organisation's performance, enabling it to report a $59 million profit for the 2016-17 financial year.
The profit result was contained in the Airservices Australia Annual Report distributed today.
The controversial Accelerate Program changed the structure of Airservices Australia and resulted in 900 redundancies.
“The results speak for themselves," Harfield said. "In just 18 months we have transitioned to a far more customer-focused organisation with a strong foundation for our role in managing the safety of Australian skies.
“In making the difficult decisions and investing the time and resources it demanded, Airservices has become a stronger, more agile and efficient organisation.”
The program saved Airservices $177 million in 2016-17 and returned the organisation into the black. Operating costs for the year have been reported at 15% lower than the previous year.
"The 2016–17 year was a period of intense and accelerated change, designed to lay these important foundations for us to discharge our purpose successfully and sustainably over the longer term," said Airservices Chairman Sir Angus Houston. "The outcomes achieved have positioned Airservices extremely well for the future.
"The business is in excellent shape, our operational safety performance remains outstanding, and we are far better prepared to deliver future services safely and efficiently."
After the Accelerate program, Airservices now employs a total of 3711 people, of which 1037 are Air Traffic Controllers and a further 877 Aviation Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) personnel.
According to Harfileld, Airservices' major focus for the year was preparing for the launch of OneSKY, the combined civil and military air traffic control system. Airservices also signed a contract for the CMATS Voice Communication System (VCS) Phase One.
“The VCS Phase One is a key milestone for delivery of OneSKY which will create a more resilient, sustainable and efficient communications system in the short term and enable more benefits to be realised with the delivery of OneSKY,” Harfield said.
“With the foundations laid during 2016-17, Airservices is in great shape to take on the challenges ahead, to evolve our business and processes to adapt to changing customer needs, and to continue playing a key role in keeping our skies safe.”
The full 2016-17 annual report is on the Airservices Australia website.