I think the only one airing their dirty laundry in this instance is AvPlan and their dummy spit. OzRunways was the target of much vitriol and threats to go to the ACCC for the commercially-sensible decision to preclude AvPlan from exhibiting at an event sponsored exclusively by them. And now they have published their reasons for withdrawing such sponsorship, which I find quite reasonable in the circumstances.What I do not find reasonable, is the leaking of the commercial-in-confidence contract by someone (pissed off SAAA member?!?) to AvPlan and their petty response "We've been blacklisted because we are AvPlan". This is only a half-truth. From what has been published by RAAus & OzRunways in an attempt to set the record straight, AvPlan were invited to sponsor the event and deemed it not commercially warranted. That is their decision, and one that is understandable, however, failing to disclose as such in their dummy spit has now led to the withdrawal of OzRunways (due to the hatred sent their way for "Banning your competitor") as major sponsor and left the event tens of thousands of dollars short of what it needs to run with only 8 weeks or so to fill the gap, to the point the SAAA is going hat-in-hand to their membership asking for funding. Now, given my past history with the SAAA, and the implication it was one of their members who is responsible for this debacle, I am not the slightest bit inclined to help them out, and I would question if any other member should contribute any funding either...
The big thing about AirVenture is its' remote location. Sure, it is handy for those that have a way to fly in, but apart from the townsfolk at Narromine, who else is going to go?!? It's a 5 hour drive from Sydney, and 9+ from Melbourne & Brisbane. That's an awful long way for not much. We are barely 2 months out and there is nothing listed in the AVA website about seminars, what is on for the 'airshow' other than the Roulettes, tucker, or even if an SAAA MPC is going to be run there (and don't get me started on that)...Not everyone can drop everything to attend should somethign pique their interest close to the event - believe it or not, plenty of people actually work weekends, and need to arrange leave in advance. Personally, I need a minimum of 10 weeks notice to get a leave request in and approved...
I would tend to disagree slightly, for as above, it is one thing to say "We've been banned because we are AvPlan" - as they did. It is another thing entirely to publish the whole truth: "We were offered the chance to sponsor the event, turned it down, our competition did, and upped their offer when they were were asked and offered exclusivity, and that's why there's no AvPlan at OzKosh." Don't go spouting half-truths in an attempt to undermine your competition, because when you're found it, it is bound to backfire, as it has here, with the withdrawal of OzRunways as major sponsor. I can't see AvPlan chipping in $60K to cover the shortfall...And other than being an OzRunways customer, I have no association or connection with either of them - I simply don't like to see gutter tactics used in our sport aviation environment.