[Peetwo]

Su_Spence bollocks November Briefing - 

Via FF media minions...

Director of Aviation Safety, Pip Spence

The general aviation sector's contributions to society, regional connectivity and the economy were key reasons behind the launch our General Aviation (GA) Workplan in 2022.

Consistent with our commitment, we've delivered on a range of initiatives but we know more is needed.

That's why we're continuing to assess and refine the workplan and why we sought your ideas in our recent consultation.

Your feedback indicated what you'd like to see addressed and we've since been working to understand some of the new issues raised as well as on initiatives identified in the original workplan.

This is helping inform our refreshed 'GA Workplan 2.0'.

Broad themes from the consultation include opportunities to streamline rules affecting carriage of passengers on non-standard transport operations, improving pilot licensing rules, simplifying medical arrangements and prioritising solutions to address skills shortages. 

The workplan's significance is recognised in the federal government's Aviation White Paper and the General Aviation Advisory Network's (GAAN) General Aviation Strategy 2024.

As articulated in the GAAN strategy, we want a better, risk-based regulatory environment that offers improved service delivery, supports innovation, facilitates new entrants and removes unnecessary requirements that act as obstacles to growth.

Our review of the workplan proposals will ensure we understand the benefit they deliver and the timeline by which we hope to achieve them.

It will include updating the 2022 initiatives we have yet to finalise, and those which have been reprioritised, to address risk, benefits and sensitivities.

The workplan has already provided benefits to the sector through initiatives such as the Class 5 medical scheme, improvements to pilot licensing rules and changes to stall speed limits for light aircraft aeroplanes under Approved Self-Administering Aviation Organisations.

Projects still underway from the 2022 agenda include the Part 43 maintenance changes for private and aerial work operators and a proposal to give sport and recreational aviation more access to Class C and Class D airspace.

Important changes aimed at improving the supply of licensed aircraft maintenance engineers (LAMEs), including last year’s introduction of modular licensing, are also progressing.

Modular licensing allows LAMEs to join the shop floor in as little as half the time it took previously by replacing the standard ‘all or nothing’ licence with a more flexible structure.

Individuals can now qualify for a licence through a series of modular training steps and progressively increase the scope of their licence and remove exclusions by taking exams and gaining experience.

This is already available through maintenance training organisations and we’re continuing to work towards allowing exclusions to be removed via a self-study pathway.

Work continues on proposals to allow foreign LAMEs to work in Australia for up to 12 months while working towards Australian qualifications and we’re also looking at recognising maintenance licences from certain foreign states.

We aim to publish GA Workplan 2.0 on our website later this year or early in 2025 and it will include timeframes for each proposal over the next 3 to 5 years.

The GA Workplan is a White Paper requirement we were already addressing; this is also true of moves to reform the administration and management of Australia’s airspace to accommodate emerging technology.

Changes in technology are rolling through aviation worldwide and airspace will need to accommodate drones and advanced air mobility aircraft as well as the legacy fleet.

The aim is to do this by 2030 through a four-stage process beginning with a whole-of-government plan for management of commercial drones and other uncrewed aircraft.

The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts is leading the first 2 stages, including an Uncrewed Aircraft System Traffic Management Action Plan outlining steps the government will take to enable new types of air traffic management systems in Australia.

CASA is responsible for preparing the Australian Future Airspace Framework, which will describe how classes of airspace will be implemented and administered, and work is progressing on this.

A technical working group has been formed and was recently refreshed with new membership.

These are exciting and interesting times and we’ll keep you posted on these and other developments when we can. 

All the best,

Pip

       

Hmm...'GAAN General Aviation Strategy 2024', must have missed that one??

Ah here it is...courtesy Betsy's webpages - 

General Aviation Strategy 2024

The GAAN published its original Strategy for the Australian General Aviation Sector in 2020. In 2024, the GAAN agreed to an updated Strategy reflecting  the evolving GA environment and the progress that has been made in recent years.

• General Aviation Strategy 2024
  

The 2024 Strategy outlines the current goals of the GAAN, which include:

• Achieving and maintaining world standard levels of safety and commensurate with sector risk.
  
• Delivering increased economic, environmental and social benefits to citizens in Australia.
  
• Achieving and maintaining sustainable economic growth within the General aviation sector.
  
• Building and developing resilience in the sector to ensure its future sustainability.
  
• Being innovative and supporting innovation by others in technology, practices and operating models that support complementary strategic goals.
  
• Working closely and collegiately with Government, community and sector stakeholders to foster shared and collaborative safety regulation to support complementary strategic goals.
  

Fill your boots but make sure you've a bucket on standby...

MTF...P2