Fort Fumble under siege -
From 'that man', via the Oz...
Dick Smith, Shane Carmody at odds over CASA management
![[Image: 7471dc484e6abd3eec617765e2e38fac?width=650]](https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/7471dc484e6abd3eec617765e2e38fac?width=650)
Aviation pioneer Dick Smith. Picture: Emma Murray.
The Australian
12:00AM January 26, 2018
EAN HIGGINS
![[Image: ean_higgins.png]](https://media.theaustralian.com.au/authors/images/bio/ean_higgins.png)
Reporter
Sydney
@EanHiggins
Businessman and aviator Dick Smith has said Civil Aviation Safety Authority head Shane Carmody effectively told him to “get lost”, despite encouragement from then transport minister Darren Chester for Mr Smith to talk to the watchdog about airspace management.
The snub has put Mr Smith on the attack against Mr Carmody, describing him as “just a career bureaucrat” who though extremely highly paid had “done nothing” and was protecting an “iron ring” of senior CASA officials who, he says, resist change.
Mr Carmody would not reveal his remuneration, but Mr Smith noted it is in the band of up to $622,580 a year plus “performance bonuses”.
The band potentially means Mr Carmody is better paid than the Prime Minister, on $527,854, and the High Court chief justice, on $584,511.
But Mr Carmody has fired back, telling The Australian he has done a lot and achieved results, adding: “Mr Smith’s views are not always shared by the majority and often differ from others in the aviation community.”
Mr Smith, a former chairman of CASA and also its predecessor, the Civil Aviation Authority, has championed aviation reform and in 2015 was awarded a Companion of the Order of Australia for services to the industry.
He has advocated various changes that would transform airspace management towards the US model.
Mr Smith said he raised the possibility of talking to CASA about the issue with Mr Chester last year.
Mr Chester told The Australian: “Dick is an enthusiastic advocate for the aviation sector and I valued his input on the challenges facing some sections of the industry.
“I would’ve certainly encouraged him to raise any specific concerns over airspace directly with CASA.”
But after Mr Smith offered to talk to senior CASA staff about airspace, Mr Carmody wrote to him late last year.
“I’d also like to thank you for your recent offer to consult for CASA in some capacity,” Mr Carmody wrote.
“Unfortunately, there is no readily identifiable opportunity to do this but I will most definitely keep your offer in mind,” he wrote.
Mr Smith characterised Mr Carmody’s letter as “to say, in effect, get lost”.
“All they had to do was get someone to lift the phone and talk to me, and they could say, ‘yes, we talked to Dick Smith’,” he said.
Mr Carmody declined to discuss the “iron ring”.
“Mr Smith is a well-known aviation enthusiast and I value his contributions” Mr Carmody said. “None of us is a single source of expertise and knowledge within aviation.”
Mr Carmody listed a number of what he said were achievements on his watch over the past 15 months.
“Only late last year the International Civil Aviation Organisation completed an audit of Australia’s aviation safety system and the preliminary results from that audit have Australia with a top six world aviation safety ranking … a significant improvement,” Mr Carmody said.
- Ok CC money where your mouth is - let's get the FAA back to go over your books & bollocks... 
&..more from the Oz...
Regulatory compliance a constant burden on general aviation
TRENT BROWN
The Australian
12:00AM January 26, 2018
I started my aviation business seven years ago, at the age of 21, operating just one aircraft in a small country town. I now operate 15 aircraft, in two regional locations, employing 40 staff.
My business is one of the largest employers of newly qualified commercial pilots in the country, normally employing about a dozen new pilots each year For most of my pilots, it is their first job in the industry, and I’m proud to be giving pilots the important first steps in their career.
Despite the success of my business, which is mostly due to a combination of young foolhardiness and good luck, many aviation businesses are struggling to operate at a profit, facing declining profits, or cannot fund growth. The general aviation sector has historically been the training ground for Australian airline pilots, with hands-on flying being the basis for their professionalism and reputation on the world stage.
Most look back on this experience fondly, and credit flying skills to their ‘‘time in the bush’’. As the state of general aviation declines, and airlines demand more pilots, this background of grassroots flying is disappearing. Without decisive action from the federal government, general aviation will continue to lose the entrepreneurial spirit that has driven this industry for the better part of a century.
In case anyone outside of the industry has forgotten, aircraft are expensive and small or medium businesses in aviation are struggling to find capital Banks are not particularly interested in funding aircraft, which is becoming worse as the lending climate leans towards lower risk. In the scheme of things, my business has been quite successful, yet I’ve sought finance from non-bank lenders in order to purchase aircraft.
Aside from the initial purchase, there’s expensive overhaul costs associated with engines, propellers, and airframe components. Once businesses pay their expenses, staff, and taxes, there’s very little capital left over, particularly when a new aircraft could be worth an entire year’s turnover. Capital restrictions are the very reason Australia has an ageing fleet of general aviation aircraft.
Regulatory compliance, as I’m sure I’m not the first to preach, is a constant burden on general aviation. The operator has the most to lose in the event of an accident or incident, and no one is more motivated to ensure operational safety than those in the firing line.
The most common cause of accidents in small aircraft is human error, and operators should be focusing mostly on their pilot training, rather than regulatory hurdles and desktop compliance. I’m yet to see an accident caused by a spelling mistake in the company’s operations manual. CASA’s role should be to support operators, and in my opinion this would best be achieved by providing operators with access to quality operational and airworthiness consultants. Instead we are seeing the opposite, where dozens of skilled testing officers will hang up their hat as a result of changes to liability protection. My business relies on one such testing officer, who genuinely improves the safety of our operation with each and every engagement. The revision of aviation law has taken too long, it is too complicated, and the industry isn’t going to be any safer because of it. A more simplistic approach would give operators more freedom, reduce costs, and support growth.
The question then remains, how do we reverse the decline of general aviation in Australia?
Aviation has long been an essential industry in Australia for passenger and freight transport, but the costs have mostly restricted viability to the major airline routes. Small and medium business just can’t offer transport and freight services at a rate that is marketable to anyone other than big business or government.
The federal government has a number of tools available to support the industry, including tax reform, subsidies, reduction of red tape, and provision of services. Subsidised schemes are in place already, but they’re too specific, and don’t promote competition or innovation. The measures below would provide stimulus for the entire general aviation industry, without becoming a burden on taxpayers:
• Allow aviation operators to immediately expense assets, which would encourage faster fleet expansion and/or upgrading to more modern aircraft;
• Government-backed loans to enable operators to secure capital, with funds being repaid on commercial terms;
• Fuel subsidies to reduce operational costs, and enable more competitive services;
• Reform regulatory compliance, and reduce the burden on small and medium business; and
• Provide training support via CASA.
The combination of these changes would instantly provide employment opportunities for young commercial pilots, support local training schools, use regional airport infrastructure, and secure the grassroots foundation of our professional airline pilots.
More jobs for pilots in Australia will keep tax dollars onshore, and more business opportunities will increase GST and company tax collection from operators. Australians are wary of government subsidised industries (and for good reason), and this is far from a request to make aviation just another one. It’s a means of enabling aviation to continue its tradition in this country. The focus on general aviation has been ignored for too long, and now that it’s been brought into the light, let’s do something about it.
Trent Brown is a director of GSL Aviation Group.
Plus...
Dogfight over pilot broadcast zone heats up
![[Image: 3854e7c13b09d716181b8a3fc5acb200?width=650]](https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/3854e7c13b09d716181b8a3fc5acb200?width=650)
Regional airlines support the proposal to expand the CTAF.
The Australian
12:00AM January 26, 2018
ANNABEL HEPWORTH
![[Image: annabel_hepworth.png]](https://media.theaustralian.com.au/authors/images/bio/annabel_hepworth.png)
Aviation Editor
Sydney
@HepworthAnnabel
The split within the aviation sector over proposals to expand the size of common traffic advisory frequency broadcast areas near non-towered aerodromes has widened as critics raise fears of the potential for “serious” costs to some operators.
CASA has proposed to increase the radius for the CTAF — which is used by pilots for broadcasting their position and plans — to 20 nautical miles and 5000 feet in altitude at non-controlled airfields.
According to CASA, the proposals are aimed at improving safety for passenger-carrying air transport operations.
They are contained in the draft that would see pilots at low level “class G” airspace such as uncharted dirt landing strips using the “multicom” radio frequency when there was no discrete CTAF frequency or broadcast area.
But in a submission to CASA obtained by The Australian, the Regional Airspace and Procedures Advisory Committee says CASA is considering “only one aspect of aviation”, regular passenger transport operations, “at the expense of everyone else”.
The RAPAC submission warns the changes could have “serious cost impacts” to those in private visual flight rules operations, particularly recreational flyers, because the proposal “is seen as bringing with it the impost of compulsory radio to operate in a number of areas”.
“Around southeast Queensland, for example, this has the potential to give pilots a barrier of approximately 140nm where they cannot transit if they don’t have radio,” the submission says.
“These serious restrictions for non-radio-equipped aircraft will force them into big diversions over very unfriendly mountainous terrain that is regularly subject to extremely bad weather.”
But a CASA spokeswoman said that responses to a recent survey indicated that about 90 per cent of all aircraft, including sports aircraft, are already radio-equipped.
The RAPAC paper was based on input from various RAPAC conveners and participants.
Meanwhile, Recreational Aviation Australia chairman Michael Monck said that, assuming pilots needed to make radio broadcasts when entering the now much larger CTAF, this could result “in a raft of radio calls, increased workload for the pilot and decreased situational awareness”.
“I think there is a likelihood that pilots operating under the current ‘no radio’ requirements will not see the perceived benefits of the new requirements and will continue operating as though nothing had changed,” Mr Monck said.
“Alternatively, there may be wilful non-compliance due to the cost.”
The Hang Gliding Federation of Australia has also flagged its opposition to the plan to expand the size of the CTAFs, as it will see certain areas start to fall inside CTAF areas, arguing that the plan fails to take into account the needs of recreational flyers.
The federation has warned that pilots could “wilfully disregard” using airband radio in the areas and the multicom could be clogged up with “unnecessary” transmissions.
The CASA spokeswoman said: “Pilots are reminded to act safety and responsibly and to follow the existing set of rules.”
Regional airlines support the proposal to expand the CTAF.
Regional Aviation Association of Australia chief executive Mike Higgins has told CASA that “the only way to ensure safe and effective implementation” of the radio frequency changes is for all CTAF areas to be expanded.
A CASA spokeswoman said that more than 1000 submissions were received.
The popcorn's ordered and beers are on ice..err - TICK..TOCK Barnaby!
MTF...P2
From 'that man', via the Oz...
Dick Smith, Shane Carmody at odds over CASA management
Aviation pioneer Dick Smith. Picture: Emma Murray.
The Australian
12:00AM January 26, 2018
EAN HIGGINS
Reporter
Sydney
@EanHiggins
Businessman and aviator Dick Smith has said Civil Aviation Safety Authority head Shane Carmody effectively told him to “get lost”, despite encouragement from then transport minister Darren Chester for Mr Smith to talk to the watchdog about airspace management.
The snub has put Mr Smith on the attack against Mr Carmody, describing him as “just a career bureaucrat” who though extremely highly paid had “done nothing” and was protecting an “iron ring” of senior CASA officials who, he says, resist change.
Mr Carmody would not reveal his remuneration, but Mr Smith noted it is in the band of up to $622,580 a year plus “performance bonuses”.
The band potentially means Mr Carmody is better paid than the Prime Minister, on $527,854, and the High Court chief justice, on $584,511.
But Mr Carmody has fired back, telling The Australian he has done a lot and achieved results, adding: “Mr Smith’s views are not always shared by the majority and often differ from others in the aviation community.”
Mr Smith, a former chairman of CASA and also its predecessor, the Civil Aviation Authority, has championed aviation reform and in 2015 was awarded a Companion of the Order of Australia for services to the industry.
He has advocated various changes that would transform airspace management towards the US model.
Mr Smith said he raised the possibility of talking to CASA about the issue with Mr Chester last year.
Mr Chester told The Australian: “Dick is an enthusiastic advocate for the aviation sector and I valued his input on the challenges facing some sections of the industry.
“I would’ve certainly encouraged him to raise any specific concerns over airspace directly with CASA.”
But after Mr Smith offered to talk to senior CASA staff about airspace, Mr Carmody wrote to him late last year.
“I’d also like to thank you for your recent offer to consult for CASA in some capacity,” Mr Carmody wrote.
“Unfortunately, there is no readily identifiable opportunity to do this but I will most definitely keep your offer in mind,” he wrote.
Mr Smith characterised Mr Carmody’s letter as “to say, in effect, get lost”.
“All they had to do was get someone to lift the phone and talk to me, and they could say, ‘yes, we talked to Dick Smith’,” he said.
Mr Carmody declined to discuss the “iron ring”.
“Mr Smith is a well-known aviation enthusiast and I value his contributions” Mr Carmody said. “None of us is a single source of expertise and knowledge within aviation.”
Mr Carmody listed a number of what he said were achievements on his watch over the past 15 months.
“Only late last year the International Civil Aviation Organisation completed an audit of Australia’s aviation safety system and the preliminary results from that audit have Australia with a top six world aviation safety ranking … a significant improvement,” Mr Carmody said.
- Ok CC money where your mouth is - let's get the FAA back to go over your books & bollocks... &..more from the Oz...
Regulatory compliance a constant burden on general aviation
TRENT BROWN
The Australian
12:00AM January 26, 2018
I started my aviation business seven years ago, at the age of 21, operating just one aircraft in a small country town. I now operate 15 aircraft, in two regional locations, employing 40 staff.
My business is one of the largest employers of newly qualified commercial pilots in the country, normally employing about a dozen new pilots each year For most of my pilots, it is their first job in the industry, and I’m proud to be giving pilots the important first steps in their career.
Despite the success of my business, which is mostly due to a combination of young foolhardiness and good luck, many aviation businesses are struggling to operate at a profit, facing declining profits, or cannot fund growth. The general aviation sector has historically been the training ground for Australian airline pilots, with hands-on flying being the basis for their professionalism and reputation on the world stage.
Most look back on this experience fondly, and credit flying skills to their ‘‘time in the bush’’. As the state of general aviation declines, and airlines demand more pilots, this background of grassroots flying is disappearing. Without decisive action from the federal government, general aviation will continue to lose the entrepreneurial spirit that has driven this industry for the better part of a century.
In case anyone outside of the industry has forgotten, aircraft are expensive and small or medium businesses in aviation are struggling to find capital Banks are not particularly interested in funding aircraft, which is becoming worse as the lending climate leans towards lower risk. In the scheme of things, my business has been quite successful, yet I’ve sought finance from non-bank lenders in order to purchase aircraft.
Aside from the initial purchase, there’s expensive overhaul costs associated with engines, propellers, and airframe components. Once businesses pay their expenses, staff, and taxes, there’s very little capital left over, particularly when a new aircraft could be worth an entire year’s turnover. Capital restrictions are the very reason Australia has an ageing fleet of general aviation aircraft.
Regulatory compliance, as I’m sure I’m not the first to preach, is a constant burden on general aviation. The operator has the most to lose in the event of an accident or incident, and no one is more motivated to ensure operational safety than those in the firing line.
The most common cause of accidents in small aircraft is human error, and operators should be focusing mostly on their pilot training, rather than regulatory hurdles and desktop compliance. I’m yet to see an accident caused by a spelling mistake in the company’s operations manual. CASA’s role should be to support operators, and in my opinion this would best be achieved by providing operators with access to quality operational and airworthiness consultants. Instead we are seeing the opposite, where dozens of skilled testing officers will hang up their hat as a result of changes to liability protection. My business relies on one such testing officer, who genuinely improves the safety of our operation with each and every engagement. The revision of aviation law has taken too long, it is too complicated, and the industry isn’t going to be any safer because of it. A more simplistic approach would give operators more freedom, reduce costs, and support growth.
The question then remains, how do we reverse the decline of general aviation in Australia?
Aviation has long been an essential industry in Australia for passenger and freight transport, but the costs have mostly restricted viability to the major airline routes. Small and medium business just can’t offer transport and freight services at a rate that is marketable to anyone other than big business or government.
The federal government has a number of tools available to support the industry, including tax reform, subsidies, reduction of red tape, and provision of services. Subsidised schemes are in place already, but they’re too specific, and don’t promote competition or innovation. The measures below would provide stimulus for the entire general aviation industry, without becoming a burden on taxpayers:
• Allow aviation operators to immediately expense assets, which would encourage faster fleet expansion and/or upgrading to more modern aircraft;
• Government-backed loans to enable operators to secure capital, with funds being repaid on commercial terms;
• Fuel subsidies to reduce operational costs, and enable more competitive services;
• Reform regulatory compliance, and reduce the burden on small and medium business; and
• Provide training support via CASA.
The combination of these changes would instantly provide employment opportunities for young commercial pilots, support local training schools, use regional airport infrastructure, and secure the grassroots foundation of our professional airline pilots.
More jobs for pilots in Australia will keep tax dollars onshore, and more business opportunities will increase GST and company tax collection from operators. Australians are wary of government subsidised industries (and for good reason), and this is far from a request to make aviation just another one. It’s a means of enabling aviation to continue its tradition in this country. The focus on general aviation has been ignored for too long, and now that it’s been brought into the light, let’s do something about it.
Trent Brown is a director of GSL Aviation Group.
Plus...
Dogfight over pilot broadcast zone heats up
Regional airlines support the proposal to expand the CTAF.
The Australian
12:00AM January 26, 2018
ANNABEL HEPWORTH
Aviation Editor
Sydney
@HepworthAnnabel
The split within the aviation sector over proposals to expand the size of common traffic advisory frequency broadcast areas near non-towered aerodromes has widened as critics raise fears of the potential for “serious” costs to some operators.
CASA has proposed to increase the radius for the CTAF — which is used by pilots for broadcasting their position and plans — to 20 nautical miles and 5000 feet in altitude at non-controlled airfields.
According to CASA, the proposals are aimed at improving safety for passenger-carrying air transport operations.
They are contained in the draft that would see pilots at low level “class G” airspace such as uncharted dirt landing strips using the “multicom” radio frequency when there was no discrete CTAF frequency or broadcast area.
But in a submission to CASA obtained by The Australian, the Regional Airspace and Procedures Advisory Committee says CASA is considering “only one aspect of aviation”, regular passenger transport operations, “at the expense of everyone else”.
The RAPAC submission warns the changes could have “serious cost impacts” to those in private visual flight rules operations, particularly recreational flyers, because the proposal “is seen as bringing with it the impost of compulsory radio to operate in a number of areas”.
“Around southeast Queensland, for example, this has the potential to give pilots a barrier of approximately 140nm where they cannot transit if they don’t have radio,” the submission says.
“These serious restrictions for non-radio-equipped aircraft will force them into big diversions over very unfriendly mountainous terrain that is regularly subject to extremely bad weather.”
But a CASA spokeswoman said that responses to a recent survey indicated that about 90 per cent of all aircraft, including sports aircraft, are already radio-equipped.
The RAPAC paper was based on input from various RAPAC conveners and participants.
Meanwhile, Recreational Aviation Australia chairman Michael Monck said that, assuming pilots needed to make radio broadcasts when entering the now much larger CTAF, this could result “in a raft of radio calls, increased workload for the pilot and decreased situational awareness”.
“I think there is a likelihood that pilots operating under the current ‘no radio’ requirements will not see the perceived benefits of the new requirements and will continue operating as though nothing had changed,” Mr Monck said.
“Alternatively, there may be wilful non-compliance due to the cost.”
The Hang Gliding Federation of Australia has also flagged its opposition to the plan to expand the size of the CTAFs, as it will see certain areas start to fall inside CTAF areas, arguing that the plan fails to take into account the needs of recreational flyers.
The federation has warned that pilots could “wilfully disregard” using airband radio in the areas and the multicom could be clogged up with “unnecessary” transmissions.
The CASA spokeswoman said: “Pilots are reminded to act safety and responsibly and to follow the existing set of rules.”
Regional airlines support the proposal to expand the CTAF.
Regional Aviation Association of Australia chief executive Mike Higgins has told CASA that “the only way to ensure safe and effective implementation” of the radio frequency changes is for all CTAF areas to be expanded.
A CASA spokeswoman said that more than 1000 submissions were received.
The popcorn's ordered and beers are on ice..err - TICK..TOCK Barnaby!
MTF...P2