A Little Ray Of Sunshine…..

[walrus]

I note that odometer based road user charges are in vogue because electric vehicles don’t contribute directly to liquid fuel excise revenue at State or Federal levels.

 

Folks, have you ever seen a politician pass up an opportunity to increase taxation? Neither have I.

 

I can see road user charges being applied to all sorts of good causes; from paying for the pandemic to kindergartens.  So I expect these charges will not only replace lost excise revenue, they will add significantly to our overall tax burden.

 

‘’Furthermore since the greens and the left inhabit inner cities with opportunities to use bicycles and public transport, the burden will fall disproportionately on country folk.

 

So let me ask the question; doesn’t this skew transport costs in light aviation’s favour? I know light aircraft have weather related limitations, but I’m starting to think that maybe we may have a better reason to fly than just recreation.

 

https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/registration/registration-fees/zlev-road-user-charge#What-is-a-ZLEV

 

 

Edited September 3, 2021 by walrus

[turboplanner]

I did a lot of modelling to try to justify corporate use of aircraft and succeeded three times only:

• a leg from Albury to Cootamundra, making an urgent next day meeting viable from Melbourne
• Brisbane Toowoomba for three of us to meet with a bus company
• Adelaide to port Augusta to deliver a tender and have a discussion with Commonwealth Railways 

All of those got over the line because of the business income involved

The biggest impediment in VFR flying was weather; you just couldn't guarantee an arrival time on a regular basis, and you couldn't guarantee getting back to the office for a specific meeting or appointment.

You could do that with an IFR rating, but then you needed to be flying weekly for currency, and the aircraft cost became non-viable.     

 

On top of that, even using the most efficient cost per kimometre aircraft, the breakeven point was rarely justifiable.

 

I solved the problem when the internet came in and I could do immediate business around the world and anywhere in Australia, and a lot of people have discovered in this pandemic that working from home can be more productive than face to face business, so will not be using cars to the same extent (which will probably lead to an excise/ZLEV increase or less road expansion.

 

Today, although a $380,000 touring aircraft cost is proportionately the same as those days as is fuel, the hire cost has spiraled to the point where one of the favourite trips from Melbourne to Lake Eyre, Uluru, Alice Springs, Darwin, Kakadu, Thursday Island, Cape York, Cooktown, Cairns, a couple of Whitsunday islands, Melbourne will cost you more than a new car.                                                                                                                                                                                                                

[walrus]

Understood from a business use point of view although I am aware of one Cirrus pilot who flies between his network of country businesses.

 

For social use it’s one hour flying vs. four plus hours in the car ( 2 x country miles, 2 x city traffic) each way to visit a relative. That was what I was thinking.