Road toll fear over cuts to flights

Albany’s fly-in, fly-out workforce is concerned the cutting of flights from Perth to Albany will lead to more fatalities on Albany Highway with an increasing number of workers “running the gauntlet” and driving tired to avoid spending more time away from their families.

With the reduced Virgin Australia timetable from 20 flights to 15 having come into effect last Friday, Albany FIFO workers believe the move could also jeopardise the local workforce and leave families with the potentially difficult decision to pack up and move to Perth.

Chris Harrop, who has been a FIFO worker for more than four years, said reduced flights would result in more workers making the dangerous decision to drive after spending more than 20 hours awake.

“One of my mates wrote his car off after he fell asleep behind the wheel … I’ve done it before, you get to Albany and can’t even remember the drive,” he said.

“I’ve had a couple of close calls and had to pull over and have a sleep on the side of the road.”

Mr Harrop, who works a two weeks on, one week off roster, said by staying another night in Perth, he would spend only five days with his young family.

“You just lose so much time,” he said. “I’m buggered, (and) I basically have to sit around and waste another day.”

Fellow FIFO worker Michael Cook, who also has a young family, said he had relied on the Friday afternoon flight via Busselton to get home, which was one of the five flights cut.

“I spend enough time away from my family as it is,” he said.

Albany MP Peter Watson, who directed a grievance on the matter to Transport Minister Dean Nalder in September, said he continued to hear from concerned FIFO workers.

“They drive tired, I’ve seen the ones who come back and everyone sleeps on the plane,” he said.

“They are important to our town, they go up north and earn good money and spend it locally.

“We want to keep people off the roads but when you have a major company dictating to the State Government, that’s not on.”

Great Southern Traffic Sergeant Peter May said fatigue was a contributing factor in 30 per cent of the 13 fatalities in the district from January to September this year.

He said driving tired and “running the gauntlet” was not condoned by police, but understood the lifestyle pressures involved.

“Any move that pressures people to drive tired is not a good one,” he said.