Submission to the Minister for Transport

[Guest StRaNgEdAyS]

I got this from Sandy Reith yesterday and was encouraged to send it out to interested parties, so I figured I'd put it up here for you all to see.

 

Submission to the Minister for Transport

 

The Hon. Warren Truss

 

17th February 2006

 

Presented by:-

 

A.C (Sandy) Reith, Commercial Pilot's Licence.

 

Former Chief Flying Instructor and Chief Pilot of own flying business and airport operating Company.

 

Commenced operations at Phillip Island in 1968, retired 2002.

 

Operated scheduled services, charter, training.

 

Owner of more than 20 aircraft. Currently owner of two aircraft for private operations.

 

Do not derive income from flying.

 

Concerned that a potentially large Australian industry is in rapid decline, needs growth policies and leadership from government.

 

Supported by:-

 

Christopher Heazlewood. Licenced Aircraft Maintenance Engineer, Principal,

 

South Gippsland Aviation.

 

Robert Courtenay, Airline Transport Pilot Licence. Credentials attached.

 

Thanks to:-

 

The Minister and the Hon. Peter McGauran for this opportunity.

 

Peter Reith, Janet Baird, Dick Smith, Ken Cannane, Bill Hamilton, Paul Phelan and many others for direct assistance and encouragement.

 

Purpose of the delegation

 

To request government to prepare, in conjunction with the general aviation

 

(GA) industry, a growth plan to counter the obvious declining activity which

 

is having a detrimental effect on the lives of many individuals and

 

businesses and reducing national prosperity and loss of export money. The

 

problems are evident in many areas including flying training, aircraft

 

maintenance, airports and regulation.

 

Roadblocks in Flying Training

 

1. Excessive delays in licence issue, ratings, and approvals of all kinds. This is leading to loss of jobs and contributing to a general decline.

 

Fewer students means less hours flown, means less work for maintenance organisations, higher prices.

 

Examples, attached letters from operators.

 

Bad for safety, see Tony Smith letter.

 

2. Free up the regulations for training and allow individual instructors to

 

teach without air operators certificates (AOC's), as in USA, where some 70% of pilots learn from individual instructors. This would bring back many very experienced instructors, increasing safety and would reduce costs of training.

 

3. Operations manuals are an enormous headache and are so time consuming and costly that this detracts from time and money that would be spent on safety issues and growing one's business. CASA could devise standard manuals, but not an ever-changing re-write of all the rules.

 

4. CASA must reduce 'user pays' fees and CASA staffing levels.

 

5. CASA to have a Ministerial instruction that approvals must be made in a timely manner, standard issue times to be promulgated and sanctions applied if not met, i.e.refunded fees and reduction in staff bonuses.

 

Initiatives for the re-vitalisation of the Aircraft Maintenance Sector

 

1. The industry is suffering from an exodus of approved organisations, from approx.1200 some 10 years ago, to about 300 now and action must be taken to stem this outflow of 'the difficult to replace' personnel by stimulating growth.

 

2. Employ job specific training for CASA inspectors. Encourage existing

 

organisations by rewarding good points as well as looking for negatives, especially encourage apprentice training. A plus points system for a balanced approach. More responsibility for licenced aircraft maintenance engineers (LAME), flexible rules, and easy ways for owners to become qualified for certain LAME approved maintenance tasks.

 

3. Simplify the registration of aircraft, there are far too many forms and delays are endemic. See K. Cannane's papers.

 

Suggested Growth Policy for Capital City Secondary Airports

 

The problems :

 

1. Taking Moorabbin as an example, we have lost around half the flying schools and many maintenance organisations.

 

The common reasons, according to the operators are:

 

? rent increases to very high levels,

 

? inability to plan for investment owing to the downturn in

 

activity

 

? the uncertainty of short term leases.

 

The capital city secondary airports are at the heart of General Aviation, where all the specialist services naturally will congregate. Further degradation will accelerate the decline of GA.

 

Archerfield and Bankstown have similar problems.

 

2. At Moorabbin factories are being built on what was landing area. It is very short sighted to lose airport land where it will be increasingly difficult to replace.

 

In generations to come, flying will become more important to the

 

Australian community, not less important.

 

3. Already airlines are employing less fundamentally experienced pilots because we don't have the pool of experienced GA pilots available.

 

The solutions :-

 

1. Re-negotiate the current overall airport leases. Put the

 

runways and taxiways and parking areas back into public ownership, They should be treated in same way as other major forms of infrastructure, e.g. roads.

 

2. Subdivide and sell the remainder as freehold. Pay out the existing

 

lessees with part of the profit from land sales. Have provisos that this

 

land sold should be for airport related uses. This would overcome the

 

present monopoly landlord situation and allow natural growth.

 

Longer Term Considerations for Growth and Regulation

 

1. The general feeling in the industry is that CASA is far too heavy handed.

 

From an industry service point of view CASA has become practically

 

dysfunctional. See letters.

 

The industry pays significant fees for a regulatory regime that is too often antagonistic to the bona fide interests of the industry.

 

We certainly support safety regulations and a system that promotes a good industry, but all too often the attitude and culture within CASA lacks a common sense pro-industry approach.

 

2. A stronger industry is in every one's interest.

 

3. Do we need a CASA controlled environment for most, or all, of GA?

 

Recreational Aircraft Australia (RAA) is self-governing in a similar way to the Gliding Federation of Australia. GFA has had a very successful history of self-government for many years.

 

4. Perhaps the time has come for Government to come to a view that it is not possible to micro-manage GA and that too much control is counter-productive to safety and efficiency.

 

5. The Australian Federal Police could look after the policing issues.

 

In order to control perceived wrongdoers, all too often CASA uses administrative measures which have put people out of work without being able to have their cases read in court.

 

CASA has a reputation of being policeman, judge and jury, against the principals of natural justice.

 

A comprehensive case by case report by Paul Phelan is available to illustrate this point, exec. summary here included.

 

6. We are training pilots in the Recreational (formerly named "ultralight")

 

system, a system that trains pilots in some cases in exactly the same

 

aircraft that may be employed in either category (RAA or CASA).

 

So where is the sense in the one having to do expensive medicals and obtain special security clearances for a CASA licence, when one may fly in the RAA system with no security checks or medical ?

 

Could there be a simplified system for the CASA licence?

 

What are the statistical benefits, if any, of the medical approval system?

 

7. Why is New Zealand going ahead in leaps and bounds? Are we losing work to NZ? See Bill Hamilton's information.

 

8. We are a growing population, we should have plans for more airports.

 

9. Government could implement the Trans Tasman Mutual Recognition Treaty. If this treaty included all aircraft, not just the heavy aircraft, we could have a very beneficial competitive situation between both NZ and Australian

 

regulators. See Bill Hamilton's paper.

 

A Biennial Statement of Commonwealth General Aviation Policy

 

These and many other questions should be examined by Government and the way forward could be incorporated in a biennial statement of Government about the state of GA. A statement of this nature would ensure that the practises of CASA reflect the will of Government and would help to provide a stable and predictable environment for GA to flourish.

 

Summary

 

CASA controlled GA is in decline and needs leadership and action by a

 

committed Government.

 

We see a huge future for Australian aviation. A country such as ours is

 

uniquely placed to benefit from advances that we cannot comprehend at present. The march of technology is making flying safer, more

 

efficient and potentially more affordable. It can take people off the

 

roads, bringing great benefits to regional communities, providing

 

educational opportunities, rewarding jobs and export income.

 

We thank Minister Truss for the opportunity to present our case for the

 

re-vitalisation of General Aviation and hope that we may assist in any

 

follow-up.

 

A. C. (Sandy) Reith,

 

The Pilot's Lodge

 

85 Churchill Road

 

Newhaven 3925

 

Victoria

 

Tel 03 59567959

 

0428 858820

 

Supported by: - Chris.Heazlewood and Robert Courtenay

Here is a seperate report of the meeting as posted by Sandy elsewhere. (reposted here with his permission)

 

Report of MeetingOn last Friday, the 17th of February, Minister for Transport the Hon. Warren Truss met with three general aviation (GA) representatives in Melbourne. The purpose of the meeting was for the delegates to put a detailed submission about the decline in that sector of GA controlled by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, and the deterioration of secondary airports like Moorabbin and Bankstown. The delegation suggested growth policies, where a resurgent GA could be of great benefit to Australia by creating innovative research and educational opportunities, manufacturing and regional services.

 

Commercial pilot 64yo Sandy Reith, retired Phillip Island air service operator and brother of former government minister Peter Reith, led the delegation. He was accompanied by airline pilot licensed 55yo Robert Courtenay, and licensed aircraft maintenance engineer, 51yo Christopher Heazlewood.

 

The trio put to the Minister the various ways in which the industry has fallen back and some of the negative ramifications for jobs, safety and national growth. Minister Truss agreed about the decline in the sector, and acknowledged some serious delays in license issue due to security checks lagging behind demand. He believes that security checking will be under control soon having made more resources available to overcome the problem. The Minister spoke about the growth in the ultralight sector, now known as Recreational Aircraft of Australia (RAA) which is a self-regulating body. He said that this growth somewhat balanced the loss in the other sector. Sandy Reith countered that some RAA flyers would be better of in more appropriate conventional aircraft, and that CASA aviation was over-controlled and too expensive. The idea of more self-regulation in GA was canvassed, but the Minister believed that the press would be critical of moves in that direction. The Minister also spoke of a new policy to incorporate an ombudsman into CASA .

 

The meeting lasted over one hour and the delegation felt they had had a good hearing and expressed their thanks to the Minister.

[TAA Student Pilot]

So no changes then? full steam ahead with more red tape/overregulation/discouraging newcomers/charge what they like/stuff you attitude and onward. They used to call it SNAFU.

 

 

[Guest StRaNgEdAyS]

Something like that...

 

The idea of more self-regulation in GA was canvassed, but the Minister believed that the press would be critical of moves in that direction.

That statement sums it up entirely. Typical scared to stick my neck out and must keep my shiny arse in a job attitude. (can I say that?) :?

 

 

[Guest Glenn]

That statement sums it up entirely. Typical scared to stick my neck out and must keep my shiny arse in a job attitude. (can I say that?)

What, attitude? :P Without attitude planes wouldn't go anywhere 8)

 

Moved this to General Aviation too

 

 

[Guest StRaNgEdAyS]

heh I almost put it in there too, I was tossing up between news and GA, I tossed a coin and it ended up as news..;)