Staff

ACA have highly trained and experienced staff, along with specialist IT and legal advisors. Please find below an introduction to our senior personnel:

Name and Role	Previous Experience	Qualifications and Memberships	Start Date at ACA
Petra Popovac, Chief Executive Officer	Head of Slot Management, Airport Coordination Australia (Feb 2010 – Dec 2014) Senior Coordinator, Airport Coordination Australia (Apr 2006 – Jan 2010) Coordinator, Airport Coordination Australia (Dec 2003 – Mar 2006)	Master of Commerce (Postgraduate), University of New South Wales Bachelor of Human Movement (Undergraduate), University of Sydney CEO, ACA Airport Coordination, Ireland World Airport Slots Board, Member, 2020- Present World Wide Airport Coordinators Group (WWACG) Board, Vice Chair Asia Pacific Airport Coordinators Association (APACA), Chairman IATA JSAG (Joint Slot Advisory Group), Member: 2015 – 2020 IATA Training and Development Institute, Slot and Scheduling Trainer 2010-2015	Dec-03
Craig McAlister VP International Coordination	Head of Partner Airline Network Planning, Etihad (Sept 2013 – Nov2015) Manager Senior Manager Network Information, Etihad (Mar 2010 – Aug 2013) Various roles in Network Planning and IT, Qantas Airways (Feb 1997 – Mar 2010)	Bachelor of Computer Science, University of Wollongong: 1996 Member of IATA Schedules Information Standards Committee (SISC) Network Planning Systems: Sabre (Schedule, Fleet, Slot and Profit Manager and Market Intelligence) Lufthansa Systems NetLinePlan DiioMi MIDT Executive Member of Sabre Slot Management committee (2007-2015) Executive Member of IATA DDS project (2011- 2014) 2009 Qantas Excel Award	Nov-15

Claudia Guth National Operations and Relationship Manager	Resilience Advisor, Sydney Airport (Dec 2017 – Apr 2019) Schedule Planner, Qantas Airways (Oct 2015 – Nov 2017) Manager Coordination, Airport Coordination Australia (Apr 2013 – Mar 2015) Senior Coordinator, Airport Coordination Australia (Oct 2011 – Mar 2013) Slot Coordinator, Airport Coordination Australia (Oct 2007– Sep 2011)	Master of Business, University of Newcastle, 2013 IATA Training Courses: Emergency Planning and Response for Airport Network, Fleet and Scheduling Scheduling and Slot Coordination Network Planning Systems: Sabre (Schedule, Fleet, Slot and Profit Manager and Market Intelligence)	May-19
Thomas Parsons Manager of Coordination	Senior Coordinator, Airport Coordination Australia (Nov 2016 – Sep 2019) Slot Coordinator, Airport Coordination Australia (Sep 2015– Nov 2016) Research Analyst, CAPA Centre for Aviation (Feb 2013 – Sep 2015)	Master of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australia National University, 2012 Graduate Diploma in Economics, University of Sydney, 2015 Bachelor of Arts (B.A) Political Science and International Relations, 2011	Sep-15

Due to the amount of incorrect narrative about slots in the media, please find below the facts about the incorrect claims:

The Claim: Bonza couldn’t get slots at Sydney, Rod Sims, 2024

The Facts: Bonza never asked for slots in Sydney. We had many meetings with Bonza and discussed a potential schedule, and all timings were available. Therefore, slots were not a factor in Bonza’s downfall.

The Claim: Being shut out of Sydney was “making a hard execution harder” for the low-cost carrier. Tim Jordan, Australian Aviation, 2024

The Facts: Bonza was welcome to ask for slots in Sydney and slots were available with their potential schedule, but they never asked for slots. They held slots at Darwin and Melbourne, so they knew the process, but never asked for slots.

The Claim: “ Let’s not forget that it was only 12 months ago that we discovered that Qatar Airways had been blocked from additional slots” Catherine Hume. News.com.au 5th August

The Facts: Qatar had not been blocked from landing slots by ACA, Qatar cannot receive any further bilateral rights to fly to Sydney, this is the Government’s decision, not ACA’s. We only deal with slot allocation not traffic rights.

The Claim: the country’s third-largest airline has been disadvantaged by a system that required the approval of Qantas and Virgin to get access to Sydney Airport, Rod Sims, the Australian, 5th August

The Facts: Our shareholders and Board have no input on the allocation of slots. Slots are not approved by Qantas or Virgin. This is conducted separately by the staff and managed by the CEO in accordance with the Sydney Airport Demand Management Act and the World Airport Slot Guidelines. There are distinct rules on how slots are to be allocated and we follow these rules by the book. This is a legal requirement under the Act that must be adhered to. Furthermore, we are regularly audited by the Government to ensure we are allocating slots in a fair, neutral and non-discriminatory manner.

The Claim: “So when Rex – or indeed Bonza, who also wanted extra slots at Sydney Airport – want those key slots that they must have to be viable, they have to go and essentially ask for them from Qantas and Virgin. And of course, they’ve also got to put their business plans before them, Rod Sims, 2024

The Facts: This is totally incorrect, we coordinate slots in a neutral and independent manner. When an airline asked for slots, we never share this with any of our Board or Shareholders. Information about slot filings are kept strictly confidential. The Board/Shareholders are there to ensure that we can continue providing services to all users of Sydney Airport, they are not involved in any slot allocation decisions. This is handled solely by the staff and CEO of ACA, as required under the Act.

REX had all the slots they needed at Sydney, slots was not the issue, they even handed back additional jet slots they were not planning to use

ACA Fast Facts

– ACA was setup by the Government, under Hon. John Sharp the then Transport Minister.

– In 1997, the shareholders were decided by Peter Harris, the author of the 2020 Review on the Sydney Demand Management Act. Many slot coordinators globally were setup in the same way.

– The role of the Shareholders is to ensure the company is financially viable so it can remain operational.

– ACA is revenue neutral; we do not make profits from the allocation of slots at Sydney Airport; we provide a service to the aviation industry.

– In 26 years of operation, ACA has never received a complaint by any airline about the allocation of slots at any of our coordinated airports, either domestically or internationally.

– We have allocated slots in 47 airports in 7 countries in our 26 years of operation, we are experienced independent slot coordinators

Sydney Slot Fast Facts

– There are already rules that give priority to new airlines, in the last few years 4 new international airlines have received new slots in the peak period, with more planned for the future.

– 32% of slots are available at Sydney for the next season

– Peak allocations are still available

– On average, 5% of slots per season do not meet the 80/20 utilsation rate and airlines, including Qantas and Virgin, lose slots, with peak period slots also being lost. Of these lost slots, 70% were from domestic carriers.