[Peetwo]

A long but required read -

The recently released ALAEA initiated & supported (also AMROBA) UNSW report is IMO one of the most comprehensive & important reports of its nature and should place a huge red flag on the lawns of Parliament House - but will it??

Courtesy the ALAEA:
  

Final Report - The Future of Aircraft Maintenance in Australia: Workforce Capability, Aviation Safety and Industry Development Details Created: Friday, 18 December 2015 13:01 Last Updated: Monday, 21 December 2015 08:39


After 4 years of intensive research and analysis the University of NSW's Business School's Industrial Relations Research Centre has released their final report into the future of aircraft maintenance in Australia.

 The project was initiated by the ALAEA in 2007 in order to properly gauge the value to Australia's economy and the safety benefits to the flying public and airline employees of a domestic based aircraft maintenance industry.

To ensure that the project produced an unbiased report with data that governments could rely on when formulating aviation industry policy a number of cross industry partners joined the project. They included partners from employers, unions and the training sector.
There has arguably been no other intensive study of this nature carried out in Australia. 
The report identifies a number of areas of opportunity for the Australian maintenance and maintenance training sector to grow and excel as global aviation continues its rapid expansion.

It also identifies some severe consequences if the actions aren't taken to address some key problems plaguing the industry at the moment.

The report is lengthy but is a worthwhile read. We encourage you to take the time to learn about the state of our industry and what the future holds.  
     
DOWNLOAD FINAL REPORT HERE

The exec summary:

Executive Summary


In a nutshell

1. By 2025, there will be an estimated 30% global workforce shortfall in aircraft maintenance capacity, with Australia and the Asia Pacific region particularly hard hit:

Australia has a both a strong need and excellent opportunity to help meet this shortfall in the region.

2. This means moving quickly to rebuild both our aircraft maintenance and maintenance training industries by 2020, to permit Australia to handle a high proportion of its own needs across the civilian airline, general aviation and Defence sectors.

3. This is also a great opportunity to capitalise on our strong safety standards and high-end maintenance capability by building a maintenance and training capacity, capable of competing aggressively in the highest-value niches of the global market.


4. We must move to establishing a system of quality control safeguards, adequate to guarantee that maintenance on Australian aircraft, whether done in Australia or elsewhere, is carried out to best international safety standards.

5. Australian maintenance qualifications must be globally integrated through complete alignment with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) training and licence standards; teething problems in the introduction of the new licensing and training system must be quickly addressed.

6. Regional and General Aviation are essential national services and so the new small aircraft maintenance licensing system must be quickly finalised, to ensure a nation-wide supply of qualified staff to perform and sign off on repairs and overhaul.

7. Developing workforce capability and career paths to meet the impending maintenance skills shortfall and develop a maintenance training export industry will require:

o The expansion of training both in the skills required to work on existing aircraft and in innovative techniques for work on next generation aircraft
o Keeping as many as possible of the present generation of aircraft maintenance
engineers productively employed, and their skills and knowledge current, until local
market demand revives
o Reforming and rebuilding MRO training to ensure that a new generation of properly
qualified engineers will be available to replace the current one as it retires
o Harmonising training and career paths across sectors (Civilian and Defence; airline
and General Aviation) and between aerospace manufacturing and aviation.

8. To help develop the training capacity required to build an innovation-oriented aircraft maintenance workforce, and to ensure that maintenance training makes a significant contribution to Australia’s education exports, a National Aerospace/Aviation College (NAAC) should be established, with nationally-networked branches in each state and territory. It would draw on the combined resources of the university and TAFE sectors, gain recognition as Part 147 category Maintenance Training Organisation, a Registered Training Organisation and a nationally registered higher education provider, and have support from aerospace and aviation industry employers for the in-depth provision of practical skills training and experience.

9. A national Aircraft Manufacturing/ Maintenance Industry Forum or Working Group needs to be established to advise on planning towards achieving these goals.

For recommendations, see pages xv to xviii.

Very damning but well done those UNSW boffins & great initiative Steve P, KC & Co...

Over to you 'Malcolm in the middle', Wazza, Murky & Co - TICK bloody TOCK...


MTF...P2