[Kharon]

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[Image: MFT_students_257079A0-0CDE-11E6-961D06B2CCB88DF3.jpg]

Students at Glen Buckley's Melbourne Flight Training. (MFT)

Innovative Idea aims to save Flying School Costs
28 Apr 2016

Moorabbin flying instructor Glen Buckley has developed an innovative idea to help flying schools cut administrative costs.

The owner and CFI of Melbourne Flight Training has proposed a consortium of flying schools to share key personnel required by CASA regulations.

If it comes to fruition, Buckley believes it could not only reduce c
osts, but could also save some schools that will find themselves unable to afford to transition to a CASR Part 142 school to offer the 150-hour CPL.

Named Australian Integrated Pilot Training (AIPT), Buckey's concept is to share the Head of Operations, Head of Aircraft Airworthiness and Maintenance Control (HAAMC), Safety Manager and Compliance and QA Manager across anything up to 20 different flying schools.

Each flying school in AIPT would contribute part of the salaries for the "super group" of administrators, and in return get high-level expertise to bring their school up to Part 142 standards at a fraction of the cost of going it alone.

Buckley developed the idea after considering the future of his own school in the current economic and regulator environment. With 90% of MFT's business coming from students doing the integrated 150-hour CPL course, Buckley was faced with a large investment simply to keep the doors open past 31 August 2018, the date by which schools must transition to the new Part 142 rules.

"I’m concerned about the future of Australian-owned businesses in the flight training sector," Buckley says, "and as my business is my superannuation, I’m concerned somewhat for my family's future.

"I consistently strive for perfection in my business but increasingly I feel like I can’t keep up anymore. I’m tired of the bureaucracy associated with simply proving that I am already doing the right thing. I get frustrated by the Fee-Help system. I need to get focused on my business at the moment, but I keep getting pulled away.

"Increasingly I have been considering how I can continue to operate my business, and operate it successfully. How can I increase its potential in a time of 'doom and gloom' for our sector?

"I’ve come up with this proposal. I want to get 20 like-minded schools that genuinely want to survive in the new environment; a range of both country and city schools, Australian-owned businesses that really have the intent to deliver on the regulator's requirements, and maintain a robust business."

Buckley says his idea is well down the track, having secured in-principle agreement from some of the key personnel to join AIPT. Buckley has also spoken with people at CASA and says the idea has been greeted with interest.

Under the proposal, each school would no longer require their senior key personnel, and even the Chief Flying Instructor could be renamed Senior Base Pilot as the CFI role would be done by a qualified instructor roving between the member organisations. Buckley also proposes each school use the Flight School Manager program to ensure compatibility of systems and procedures.

Buckley recognises there are some challenges to the AIPT concept that would need to be overcome, such as CASA's interpretation of the key personnel requirements, but understands they need to be taken on as the flight training industry itself is facing new hurdles in the next couple of years.

"A challenge immediately ahead is the transition to a 141 or a 142 organisation," he points out. "A bigger challenge will come soon after when we are audited for compliance against these complicated criteria. The transition is not the big issue. The challenge actually comes after the transition in ensuring you have the resources to maintain compliance.

"[the AIPT] approach will allow us to attend to this challenge co-operatively."
Buckley already has interest from some flying schools, and will soon be approaching others who are facing the same cost burden as MFT.

"The cost of rewriting compliant manuals alone was in excess of $100,000 for my organisation and took far too much of my attention for far too long. This was extremely challenging from a resource perspective. This approach will substantially free up both financial and time resources to allow them to focus on running their businesses."

Glen Buckley in a well constructed nutshell identifies another serious, but pointless area where the CASA fantasy meets industrial reality to achieve nothing more than that which existed, pre regulatory 'reform'.  

Is a scant 30 minutes with the Hon. Barnaby really going to be enough?

We shall see.