The Work Together, Stay Apart safety campaign has come to an end after two years. Please continue to use and share the resources to keep the campaign’s purpose alive.
The Work Together Stay Apart (WTSA) campaign evaluation captures feedback from 634 pilots on how the campaign influenced safety at New Zealand’s unattended aerodromes. Most were male pilots of fixed-wing aircraft, with an average flying experience of 24 years.
Seventy-six percent of respondents perceived unattended aerodromes as safer since the WTSA campaign started, and seventy-eight percent said their behaviours at these aerodromes will now be safer.
Pilots highlighted positive behavioural changes across the sector, including more overhead joins, better radio calls, stronger circuit etiquette, and greater attention to the lookout. Overall, eighty-five percent of respondents engaged with the campaign in some way, and seventy-seven percent said it increased their knowledge of safe operations around unattended aerodromes.
The evaluation also explores areas where perceptions of risk don’t always match reality, particularly among highly experienced pilots who tended to view themselves as less vulnerable to mistakes than others.
More than 3,500 people took part in WTSA seminars and workshops nationwide, and the findings show that continued education and reinforcement will be essential to maintain the campaign’s positive impact. The full report outlines what worked, what changed, and what’s needed next to keep strengthening safety at unattended aerodromes.
Thank you for taking part in the survey and engaging with the campaign’s messaging.
WTSA evaluation report [PDF 1 MB]
The videos and other education materials are still available on the CAA website for anyone who missed them during the campaign or wants to refresh their memory. That would contribute to consistent, compliant, standardised, predictable activity around the airfield and make it safer.
The onus now, as it has always been, is on the general aviation community to pick up and run with the principles raised in WTSA to keep the ethos of the campaign alive.
We all need to keep working towards safety at unattended aerodromes to reduce the likelihood of a mid-air event occurring in the future.
And, although Work Together, Stay Apart has come to an end, our message to pilots still stands — use standardised procedures and best practice.
