[Peetwo]

Division in the Alphabets? -  


In the Oz today there is more feedback on 6D's recently released 'wet lettuce' SOE, where AIPA suggest favouritism to the Regionals. Hopefully this is just normal banter between advocacy groups representing different vested interests on behalf of their members and not some typical bureaucratic 'divide & conquer' political campaign to try and wedge the miniscule...

Courtesy the Oz:

Regionals have too much influence


Transport Minister Darren Chester released a very strange statement this week on the future of air safety regulation.

Transport Minister Darren Chester released a curious statement this week with ominous implications for air safety regulation.

Chester unveiled a new operating model for the Civil Aviation Safety Authority which says the cost of regulation is just as important as air safety, and appointed a new board member who is an ex-­Coalition staffer with no aviation experience.

The statement included a ringing endorsement from just one stakeholder group, the Regional Aviation Association of Australia, which represents the small airlines and charter companies. One of its key members is the troubled Regional Express.

Unlike every other industry stakeholder, the RAAA had the inside running on the new policy. So air safety policy is being unduly influenced by just one interest group.

The Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA), which represents pilots from the major airlines, is concerned about the influence regional operators are having on safety policy.

AIPA told The Australian that while they welcomed the new approach, they were now seeing “a much looser and discretionary application of aviation safety regulation, particularly given the apparent rise in influence of certain industry sectors”.

AIPA said it hoped CASA would uphold its statutory public interest responsibilities in regard to air safety, but noted that the inclusion of a comment from one industry group, which was given access to the policy prior to its public release, “means that our hopes may be somewhat misplaced”.

“It has been disappointing but far too common for government agencies to consider stakeholders as only the corporations and commercial entities conducting aviation activities, while steadfastly ignoring the valuable input of those of us who are the last line of defence in aviation safety. Australia’s pilots look forward to ensuring that the government gets far more balanced aviation industry advice than has previously been the case,” AIPA added.

Including the RAAA’s comment in a ministerial press release is extraordinary.

It really does confirm that one stakeholder group is effectively writing government policy. Perhaps this should come as no surprise, as Chester is a National MP from country Victoria who has made a string of decisions strongly influenced by the concerns of regional operators.

The board of CASA is strongly influenced by regional interests. Chairman Jeff Boyd is an aircraft engineer who founded the now defunct Brindabella Airlines, and a former chairman of the RAAA.

Ian Smith has a long background in aviation insurance and is a former ­director of the RAAA.

A third director, Anita Taylor, who runs a superfine merino and angus property in regional NSW, is a member of the Regional Development Australia — Northern Inland Committee.

Only one of the six board members has worked for a major airline, former Qantas pilot Murray Warfield, whose term is due to expire this year.

Last month, CASA announced that it would delay for the second time a new fatigue management regime which regional operators say will add substantially to their cost of doing business. The ATSB identified fatigue as a factor in one December 2014 incident it investigated involving a Rex pilot.

The RAAA has lobbied vigorously, and successfully, to have the fatigue rules reviewed.

Mr Chester’s office confirmed that the regional operators had convinced the government that it should delay the reform.

This week’s new Statement of Expectations for the Civil Aviation Safety Authority now requires the authority to be even more flexible under a “Three Ps” model — pragmatic, practical and proportional.

Chester said that while air safety was important, “CASA must also take into ­account the economic and cost impact”.

“A pragmatic, practical and proportional approach to ­reg­ulatory activity is intended to help support aviation growth in this country, particularly in the general aviation sector,” Chester said.

Welcoming the new approach, RAAA chief executive Mike Higgins said the new approach “reinforces and builds on the great work already undertaken by CASA’s acting CEO Shane Carmody”.

The political pressure being ­applied to air safety regulation is also evident in Chester’s latest appointment to the CASA board.

Cheryl Cartwright was a Coalition staffer and more recently as CEO of the Australian Pipelines and Gas Association.

   
Hmm...watch this space I've got a feeling there will definitely be MTF...P2