The reporter provided the following comment upon reviewing the final report: The main concern seems to go unanswered. Both Airservices and CASA address what happens when the service is not available (a NOTAM is issued) but not the process used to get to that point. In other words, when staff providing the service are sick or otherwise not available, why are they not replaced by calling out replacement staff – i.e., what is the process used to determine if the service is provided. If a NOTAM is issued, is it based on any safety work for not replacing the absent controller? Airservices provided…

In response to the report above, the following comments were received from the reporter: We are still getting group text before 1300. For this month, January, we've had 11 group texts.

The reporter provided the following comments: I’m deflated by the response from both the operator and the regulator. Disappointingly, these scenarios have now significantly increased in the past month. We are trying hard to encourage fatigue reporting from our crew who operate these arduous duties in the hope that these duties will be red flagged.

The ATSB notes that [operator] has not been provided with information within the REPCON that would enable them to identify an instance where signallers may have been treated punitively for raising concerns regarding procedures. The ATSB accepts that it is difficult to respond to these claims without being provided any examples. However, a primary element of the TSI (Voluntary and Confidential Reporting Scheme) Regulation 2012 (REPCON) is the protection of any individual referred to in the report. As such, specific incidents claiming a punitive culture would not be permitted in a REPCON. The…