[Peetwo]

Hitch's Wagga wrap & OP on LMH.

Via the Yaffa:

AGAA Delegates finalise Outcomes Package





Delegates to the 2018 AGAA summit form the recommendations and resolutions to be presented to the government. (Steve Hitchen)

Delegates to the Australian General Aviation Alliance (AGAA) summit in Wagga Wagga this week have collaborated on a series of conclusions and recommendations that it wants to present to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Michael McCormack.

Following a series of presentations from various associations last Monday, AGAA delegates gathered on Tuesday to decide on wording for a call to action to be presented to minister Michael McCormack and shadow minister Anthony Albanese.

The conclusions reached were:

1. general aviation wants to maintain or improve Australia’s aviation safety outcomes
   
2. the general aviation sector is of vital importance to Australia especially regional and rural Australia not only in economic terms but in social and community service provision terms
   
3. the general aviation sector, including the commercial elements of the sector, is overburdened with the complexity and cost flowing from the current Civil Aviation Act, regulations and other aviation legislation
   
4. the current regulatory regime is based on a prescriptive approach to rules and compliance. World best practice is based on outcome-based regulation which Australia should implement immediately in accordance with DAS Directive 01/2015 and the Minister’s CASA Statement of Expectations
   
5. the cost and complexity burdens placed on the general aviation sector are exacerbated by the actions of Airservices and airport operators, both privatised and local government owned, by further cost impositions, operational restrictions and inappropriate infrastructure development
   
6. the Australian economy has the opportunity to benefit from pilot and engineering training, aircraft and component maintenance and construction services flowing from the world-wide expansion of air travel and aviation activity – especially in Asia. To achieve this, we must be able to respond effectively and be liberated from over regulation
   
7. the attitude must be to adopt best regulatory practices in parallel with embracing safety and economic benefits of new technologies in Australian aircraft and operations. This will allow Australia to achieve its potential as an aviation leader, aviation service provider and exporter.
   

The summit also agreed on a series of resolutions to further the campaign for a reform of the general aviation sector and an easing of the regulatory burden that they believe will lead to industry growth. The resolutions are:

• provide a statement of value of the GA sector in Australia
  
• provide a statement of opportunity for the GA sector in Australia
  
• recommend the Civil Aviation Act and other aviation legislation is reviewed and amended to ensure outcome-based regulation is implemented during the first term of the next government
  
• recommend a small number of amendments to the Civil Aviation Act to immediately re-focus to a less prescriptive and holistic approach to regulation to be passed through parliament before the next election
  
• recommend establishment of an Office of Aviation Industry in the Department of Infrastructure and Transport to engage and assist industry to foster and develop aviation both domestically and internationally
  
• recommend prioritising and implementing a programme to identify a number of advances in aviation safety and amenity that can be made within the current regulations and responsibilities and make changes within defined time frames.
  

Both McCormack and Albanese had previously said that they welcomed the opportunity to consider the outcomes of the summit.

Changes to the Civil Aviation Act as Resolved by the AGAA Summit Delegates.

Whereas the current regulatory stance adopted by CASA is out of step with contemporary regulatory practice, as adopted by The International Civil Aviation Organization through the promulgation of Annex 19, Safety Management Systems, and is contributing to the rapid decline of Australia’s general aviation industry, and

Whereas the World is facing a growing shortage of skilled aviation personnel and Australia has the opportunity to contribute to the training of these personnel in a way that can improve safety, the Aviation Summit finds that elements of the current Civil Aviation Act are not fit for purpose.

Specifically, S9A, Performance of Functions, imposes upon CASA a limitation that impedes the development of performance-based regulation and the safety benefits that would otherwise be achieved. S9A (1) requires that, in exercising its powers and performing its functions, CASA must regard the safety of air navigation as the most important consideration and there is an urgent need to address this anomaly.

The Aviation Summit supports a review of the Civil Aviation Act, to include as a minimum, a repeal of S9A (1) and a replacement with the following language:

9A Performance of functions
(1) In exercising its powers and performing its functions, CASA must seek to achieve the highest level of safety in air navigation as well as:

(a) maintaining an efficient and sustainable Australian aviation industry, including a viable general aviation and training sector;
(b) the need for more people to benefit from civil aviation.

The Summit delegates support the need to amend, as soon as possible, the Object of the Civil Aviation Act and other aviation related Acts, without reducing the primacy of safety, to include an amended Object to support a sustainable and viable aviation industry;
The main objective of the Act is to establish a regulatory framework for maintaining, enhancing and promoting the safety of civil aviation with particular emphasis on preventing aviation accidents and incidents;

In addition to this, the objects must include;
i. a strong, efficient and sustainable aviation industry;
ii. enabling more people to benefit from aviation; and
iii. emphasis on substantially reducing the administrative and financial burden of regulatory compliance.

(Note: the final wording will be decided between both the Minister and Shadow Minister.
The summit delegates also support the inclusion of government’s Red Tape Policy to be permanently inserted in Section 98

Read more at http://www.australianflying.com.au/lates...UPVz07D.99

& this week's LMH...

– Steve Hitchen

In most situations, pessimism spreads like wildfire and optimism has the viscosity of a glacier. But, after the AGAA summit in Wagga Wagga this week, general aviation finds itself on very unfamiliar ground, infected, it seems, with rampant optimism. The summit worked so well that it put itself outside the reach of the most persistent cynicism. Credit for that must go to everyone involved, but particularly to the organisers, AOPA CEO Ben Morgan and summit chairman Geoff Breust. Of course the true measure of any summit will be what it achieves. If everything said was delivered with sincerity and doesn't fall victim to political imperative, we are about to see large leaps forward in aviation reform in this country. How can that not happen now? Minister Michael McCormack and Shadow Minister Anthony Albanese both agreed they would work with the industry and each other to get through needed changes. Possibly the most-used word at the summit was "bipartisan". But has this infectious optimism blinded us slightly to reality? McCormack said in his speech that it was always hard to get anything done when you had a lower-house majority of only one seat. Why was this relevant when bipartisan co-operation will deliver the greatest possible majority you can have, as confirmed by Albanese in his speech? McCormack also pointed out that the requirement for CASA to take into account economic factors is contained in the Statement of Expectations, and that he and Albanese both agree that safety must remain the most important consideration in regulation. As the idea of the summit was to have the primacy of safety removed from the Civil Aviation Act 1988, it seems both these men were telling us it's not going to happen. Even if we make some progress, we are facing some serious headwinds to actually get it agreed to in parliament. We are now in the gravitational pull of the next federal election, and neither side will want aviation safety to even be mentioned in passing during that period. Voters won't understand, and that will scare them. If there is any threat of frightening the voters, both the opposition and the government will likely throw aviation reform under the AOPA bus. So why this flood of optimism?

..it has the ability to make the changes that will release the GA industry's potential energy..

From my seat I saw a general aviation industry that was working together in a co-operative and respectful manner with the aim of finally doing something about the parlous state we are in. There was still some paraochialism and self-interest, but it was like even that was recognised with respect and was never used as obstacles to agreement. This, to me, is Christmas in July. I have been crying out for co-operation and unity in general aviation since, like, forever. Earlier this week I saw it for what I believe is the first time in at least 30 years. So how can this new-born unity carry GA forward? Legislation is not the only way of making change happen; there is also regulation, which is the domain of the department and doesn't have to be approved by parliament. One of the recommendations, which I will credit to Mike Smith, was to establish an Office of Aviation Industry within the current department. The responsibility of that department would be to foster the aviation industry, promote Australian capabilties to the world and keep the other regulators and administrators honest when it came to sticking to policy initiatives and agreements. There is a very good chance this might get up. If it does, and is effective, it has the ability to make the changes that will release the GA industry's potential energy that is currently bottled up by ineffective regulation and government apathy. So, our new-found optimism has some merit, even if it can't bring about the desired legislative change.

That's not to say no legislative change will happen.There are some indications that both sides of parliament will agree to changes to include the need for CASA to take economic factors into account, but the primacy of safety will remain at Number One. It seems the summit delegates have conceded that, as the final alternative wording of the Act to go back to the department no longer calls for the primacy of safety to be removed, but now states that CASA needs to maintain safety as well as taking economic factors into account. There are some indications that this has a chance of being accepted, but as Albanese pointed out, nothing in parliament happens in a hurry, and no-one will make this an election issue. Consequently, we might have a bit of a wait on our hands.

And as is the custom, the minister arrived at Wagga Wagga armed with good-news announcements pertinent to the event he is attending. This time there were four: Basic Class 2 has started, Marc de Stoop has been appointed to the General Aviation Advisory Group (GAAG), CASA is starting work on new maintenance regs and that CASA insurance has been extended to those holding a Flight Examiner Rating. This last one got the most applause. It just made sense, and it's frustrating that it took so long for this to be done. When CASA introduced Part 61, Approved Testing Officers (ATOs) were CASA delegates and therefore indemnified by CASA, but the new Flight Examiners that would replace ATOs were not delegates, and therefore not indemnified. That left Flight Examiners open to litigation should an accident or incident cause be traced back to them. Many ATOs simply failed to make the transition, causing CASA to extend the deadline to 31 August this year. According to CASA, there are 800 people who have made the transition, but a further 260 who have yet to do so. The regulator has promised to smooth the path for those who have left the move to the last minute. With the insurance issue now behind us, the whole saga should soon come to an end.

And in another piece of commonsense-loaded good news, Airservices has waived $2 million in service fees for some not-for-profit aeromedical operators. These are groups that are usually very under-funded (although the RFDS does alright in that area) and provide services that have enhanced and saved lives right around the country. It makes sense that they should not only have fees waived, but also should be permanently exempt from further fees in the future. Every little bit helps, and if we're speaking honestly, these five groups need the money more than Airservices does. And in case the irony was lost on anyone, one of the aircraft used in the announcement photo shoot was Little Wings' Piper Malibu VH-FEE. Gotta love that.

May your gauges always be in the green,

Hitch

Read more at http://www.australianflying.com.au/the-l...3OXDRzu.99

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& a comment:

Michael Dalton • 2 hours ago
It was certainly an interesting couple of days Hitch. Like you, i cant recall a time there were that many associations in the same location and essentially on the same page. I was actually surprised that there was so many groups and that's probably been a large part of our problem over the years which has enabled CASA to win by divide and conquer! 

The optimist in me hopes like heck that this will be the start of real change but the realist (maybe cynic) in me suggests that as an industry we simply don't represent enough votes for them to care about and we will get lip service at best.

MTF...P2