[Peetwo]

While the wingnut is away? - Deputy dog adds fuel to the conflagration...  

It would appear the 2IC and Iron Ring's Scottish Git has seized the opportunity to come out firing in defense of the seemingly indefensible; i.e the fact that Fort Fumble over 30 years has been systematically destroying the Aussie aviation industry with their policy of 'Safe Skies are empty Skies'...    

CASA acting chief Graeme Crawford hits back over reform claims

CASA chief Graeme Crawford said he could not fix the broader economic and social changes that have hit general aviation.

The Australian

12:00AM July 27, 2018
ANDREW BURRELL

WA Chief Reporter
Perth
@AndrewBurrell7

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority has defended its actions amid mounting criticism that overzealous regulation is killing Australia’s general ­aviation sector, rejecting claims it fails to consider the effect of costs on businesses when it sets the rules.

As The Australian revealed that Deputy Prime Minister ­Michael McCormack had halted a reform plan aimed at cutting costs, CASA acting chief executive Graeme Crawford told operators the regulator wanted solutions that were practical while also addressing safety risks.

Industry experts, including aviation veteran Dick Smith, have claimed that general aviation in Australia — which includes charter and private operations, flight training, maintenance and emergency medical services — is in crisis because of onerous and costly red tape.

But Mr Crawford said CASA could not fix the broader economic and social changes that have hit general aviation.

“Implicit in this debate is the suggestion by some people that CASA does not support a sustainable and viable general aviation sector,’’ he said in a briefing note.

“I would like to assure everyone this is simply not true. There is no CASA agenda against general aviation and we regard the sector as a vital component of the national aviation community.

“Many of CASA’s staff are participants in general aviation, or started their careers in the sector, and have a practical understanding of the issues and challenges the sector faces.”

The Australian reported yesterday that Mr McCormack had killed off a plan — endorsed by Barnaby Joyce in his final days in cabinet in February — to remove a key part of the Civil Aviation Act that requires CASA to ­“regard safety as the most important consideration”.

The changes, backed by opposition transport spokesman ­Anthony Albanese, instead would have required CASA to ­balance the “highest level of safety in air navigation” with the need for “an efficient and sustainable Australian aviation industry”.

Mr Smith, a former CASA chairman, said Mr Joyce was the only Coalition transport minister in the past 20 years to agree to ­reforms that would cut the regulatory burden on the industry without putting lives at risk.

He accused the others, including former deputy prime minister John Anderson, of being ­hostage to CASA and other ­bureaucrats who had introduced “gold-­plated” regulations with no consideration for the industry’s crippling costs.

Mr Anderson yesterday accused Mr Smith of ignoring his own failings.

“Mr Smith might reflect a little on the fact that both Labor and the Coalition gave him the chance to reform CASA as chairman,” he said. “Labor sacked him, and when I was minister he lost the confidence of his own board.

“I bent over backwards to try to deliver an efficient aviation sector. I have to say that Mr Smith made this harder, not easier.”

Mr Smith said Mr Anderson’s claim he was sacked by Labor was “completely wrong” because the then minister, Bob Collins, had asked him to stay on. “I was put on as the chairman of CASA by John Sharp with the idea of bringing in changes — then John Anderson became minister and wouldn’t support any changes.’’

Is it anyway wonder the miniscule/DPM eyes glaze over and appears to be the perfect portrait of a punch-drunk sheep...

Perhaps if the DPM wants some free non-alphabet and relatively friendly advice; he should perhaps talk to one of the major and longterm contributors to the economy of his electorate REX airlines. I'm sure Sharpie will be able to give MM a true insight into the totally unnecessary fiscal damages being inflicted by CASA on the REX bottom line:

Ref: Mount Gambier, TREX and a man for all seasons - John Sharp?

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General aviation industry left stunned by political backflip
The Australian
Dick Smith with his helicopter at his home in Terry Hills, Sydney. Picture:

Ps Who in their right mind would leave a narcissistic sociopath of this caliber in charge of the Fort?

Hmm...wonder if he has got McComic's mobile number on speed dial? Certainly has many of the pugmarks of former DAS don't you think? How long will it be before this IR stooge starts swinging his dick and dragging up section 9A of the Act...

Perhaps this is why the FF enforcement manual still contains McComic's moniker on the Director's preface - 

Commentary addendum  

First from Thursday's Oz article: 

Jim2 DAYS AGO


Time for a pilots general strike. Nothing serious or nationwide. Just no aeroplane leaves the ground with a politician in it, regardless of party or affiliation. If it was done during the last day of sitting week I would wager we would get a favourable result by lunchtime.

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Maureen2 DAYS AGO


Another industry we are killing off - Australia the clever Country.

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Gang Green2 DAYS AGO


Considering that CASA won't accept medical practice from Europe and the United States as valid regarding pilot health , why are we surprised ?

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Ray2 DAYS AGO


McCormack's statement is a cop-out. A useless Minister railroaded by a mostly-useless bureaucracy.

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Paul2 DAYS AGO



It would seem CASA runs a little fiefdom and runs over any minister who wishes to tidy it up. Probably threatens that any breach of safety will be called out as due to ministers cuts etc.

Good on Dick for speaking out about these problems. If not Dick who will do it?

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John2 DAYS AGO


Talk about fiddling while Rome burns, these bureaucrats in CASA will sit on their hands until our entire general aviation industry goes down the drain. Thank goodness Dick Smith is still out their pushing his case for affordable general aviation. Maybe it’s time for a clean out of the CASA board, this mob just don’t seem to get the fact, that time is fast running out for the general aviation industry in Australia, they have already brought it to its knees. How much longer are they going to twiddle their respective thumbs ???

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P2 - In reply to Robert...  

Robert2 DAYS AGO


Dick Smith is aghast at anything not in accord with his views. Why we haven’t turned over the entire aviation industry to this man is beyond me . Perhaps the relatively safe sky’s in this country has something to do with our reluctance to make this guy Air Chief Marshal.

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graham2 DAYS AGO



@Robert 
Dick was for awhile, the head of whatever we were, DCA, DOA, etc etc, there was resistance, but he brought us into line with the US way of doing business, and the US put functionality and efficiency before bureaucratic inertia, mostly.

Barnaby, Tony, Craig Kelly rotting on the back benches are the problem many of us see, the reason Turnbull can't turn the wick up on LNP popularity. 

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TG2 DAYS AGO


@Robert The CASA focus on safety is counter productive.  It has resulted in an old GA fleet and a pilot training industry on its knees.  Dick Smith is correct in his views.  I'm a GA pilot, own an aircraft and have a very good understanding of the financials of aero clubs.  If the rules don't change we will see more failures.

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William2 DAYS AGO


Clearly you have no insight into the aviation industry. Awash with ridiculous legislative requirements which add not a dot to safety.

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Stan2 DAYS AGO


@Robert good to see the "tall poppy syndrome" is alive and well. Dick made it and although don't always agree with his view he at least contributes where most of us don't dare. Where's your contribution to eradicating our problems.

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Betty2 DAYS AGO


Who would you put money on, Dick Smith or slow tortoise McCormack? Noone in this industry is backing the bureaucrats and their glove puppet MM.

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Tony2 DAYS AGO


CASA regulation has crippled General Aviation for decades.  Most pilots learn how to fly in technology from the 1960's.  Just imagine if you were still driving a car from the 1960.s.  CASA regulations make it so expensive to innovate that pilots are still flying FJ Holdens.

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& from Sandy...  


Alexander2 DAYS AGO



Flying for 52 yrs, in General Aviation (GA) with own aircraft and airport, as instructor, charter and scheduled services I’ve watched, with dismay, the ‘death by a thousand regulator cuts’ of what could have been a great Aussie industry. Safety has suffered, after the $billions of bureaucratic waste and mismanagement the industry and taxpayer should have seen definite improvements. In 30 years No.
Thousands have lost work by the closure of hundreds of flying schools and maintenance businesses, especially in the bush. Well done Nats! Irresponsible idiocy.

It’s not just GA either, every time you buy an airline ticket you pay a premium for the incompetence of CASA, ie Government, while the bloated numbers of CASA bureaucrats sit high on their wallets. More than 800 of them with great super, comfy offices, RDOs and plenty of O/S seminars or QLD junkets when it’s freezing in Can’tberra. The CEO paid $600,000, a lot more than the Minister, no wonder he’s subservient.

Extraordinarily if we go back to square one, would Australians still fly their light aircraft if CASA did not exist? Yes, with care and responsibility. Oddly the largely self regulating low weight category does just this quite well, and is about to get a weight increase thus putting paid to the notion that CASA is the be all and end all of flight.
The do nothing Minister is too frightened to take the slightest responsibility for the most sensible, modest and small amendment to the Civil Aviation Act. Bring Back Barnaby.

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Ted2 DAYS AGO


Well , it sounds like it’s time for Aviation as a whole to boycott all air travel by politicians and senior bureaucrats. It’s well past time that politicians and parliament started taking notice of the perilous state that CASA has placed the industry. After more than thirty years plus, they just don’t take any notice and just don’t seem to care.

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Mark2 DAYS AGO


I bought an aviation business ... I know ... But because I bought the business, not the company, CASA ruled that the Air Operators Certificate could not be transferred with the operations, staff, the aircraft, the procedures, etc. The AOC is attached to the old company shell and could have been bought by anyone else brave enough to buy a closet which may or may not be full of skeletons. It will take 6 months minimum to have a new application for an AOC approved. GA and airwork gets it in the neck time after time.

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Greta2 DAYS AGO


Most airports were built and paid for by the taxpayer and then handed over to the private sector or local authorities. 'Landing fees' are just another administrative belligerence none of us need. A whole regime of other fees have since surfaced too which used to be free in the past. Australia has unlimited potential to become the world's best training ground, but no, instead we are regulated out of the skies. Like many others, I walked away from GA years ago. 

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P2 in reply to Suzanne:


Suzanne2 DAYS AGO



Before resorting to following the ‘Pied Piper’, Dick Smith, in everything he says, it would pay to do a little bit of homework. ‘With their local council recently quadrupling their rent, soaring landing fees....’. There’s a hint there about where their true costs are coming from, neither of which have anything to do with CASA. It is also easy to blame the regulations for increasing costs and draw a parallel between this and the decline in the pilot training sector, but this ignores the fact that this is not an issue unique to Australia, this is a global phenomena. Increasing demand for pilots and a decline in those wanting to become pilots is also part of the problem. Is that also CASA’s fault? It may be convenient to sit back and blame CASA for the woes of the industry but the truth is that the industry has changed. This is not the industry of the 60’s, 70’s or even the 80’s. Is changing some wording in the Act really going to make a difference? And if so, how? Are you then at risk of placing CASA in a compromising position with its key role in regulating for aviation safety?

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Paul2 DAYS AGO


@Suzanne I read it differently. The industry has pressures from many fronts, one of which is CASA over regulating, so let's at least get that fixed.

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Sleepy Lizard2 DAYS AGO



Ok fair point , so you want hard facts , here’s a start.

CASA has held up the release of the Part 135 (air taxi) rules for over twenty years.

It was directed to do this by the government in 1999.

Why ? because a certain regional airline put pressure on successive CASA directors and the ministers responsible , in order to protect regional airlines from the perceived threat of small charter companies.

As a result charter operators are not allowed to sell flights per seat.

That’s unfair market manipulation and it was all done under the guise of safety.

Australia has a long and sad history of the big guy crushing the up and coming by using the regulator as its patsy.

It has happened since the beginning of aviation but got worse once the CAA became CASA.

It’s happening again right now in the drone industry.
It’s happening right now in the aviation training sector.

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Patrick2 DAYS AGO



@Suzanne  The same "compromising safety" position that our trading partners are in such as Canada, NZ and the US who operate with far less regulation than CASA.

This is also a trading issue. How can GA in Australia compete with our trade competitors who don't have operate with one hand tied behind their back.

Pilot training is a growth industry in countries that don't have McCormack and CASA to hold them back.

Level the playing field.

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Sleepy Lizard2 DAYS AGO



I’m renewing my CPL (Commercial Pilots License ), so I had to renew my ASIC (Aviation Security Identification Card) that allows me to walk on the tarmac near the plane, $240 thank you.

Pilots medical. $600 thanks very much.

That plus the maps and AIP subscriptions and I’m over $1000 before getting into an aircraft.

A young guy I was talking to said the full University course to be a pilot costs you $140,000 to $180,000.

Just so you you can get a job that doesnt even pay minimum wage. (Flight instructor/ charter pilot)

I wonder why there is a pilot shortage?

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Gilbert2 DAYS AGO


Michael McCormack seems to be the Invisible Man? A perfect deputy that says and does nothing apparently and has been flannelled by the CASA mandarins!

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Alexandra2 DAYS AGO



What a tragedy for Australia

- we have one of the largest land masses of any country in the world, among the most dispersed populations. The small planes sector connects people, generate and service business. (Over)Regulate drives the costs up and up - and the negative ripple effect is easy to see. Kills off a transport sector

- we used to have a reputation for the most skilled pilots in the world, a reputation born out of young people getting into planes, learning to fly and being able to clock up significant hours. Price that out of reach

- and fewer people will learn to fly, or spend the hours to become very skilled - ripple effect again

- at the commercial end of the spectrum - who wants to see overseas pilots sitting at the front of the Qantas, Virgin, jetstar Tiger fights? Give me a skilled Aussie any day. 

Wake up Liberal Nationals. 

What do you stand for??

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James2 DAYS AGO


Incredibly poor decision by the Minister.  Anybody with even a modicum of involvement in general aviation in this country is well aware that the industry is being destroyed by CASA.  Many small operators, long term operators, flying schools and very experienced pilots are dropping out of the industry.  The attitude of CASA is not only overbearing but often vindictive.  Many in CASA are bureaucrats with no experience of aviation.  A significant number of mid level personnel are relatively recent migrants, particularly subcontinental and are nigh on impossible for industry to deal with.  Australia used to have a large number of pilots that were highly sought after by international airlines.  I have recently been advised by Australians working for international airlines that this source has now dried up and that Australia is now having to import pilots for our airlines.  A senior Australian Captain flying for a major SE Asian airline recently told me that the skill level of Australian pilots, generally because of their extensive light aircraft experience, had been outstanding.  It is of concern that on account of mindless bureaucracy, we will no longer have these guys and girls up the pointy end of our local aircraft.

P2 - In reply to Shane:


Shane2 DAYS AGO




Yup. The aviation industry exists solely for the aggrandizement of Dick.

Lucky the yokel idiot Joyce’s hands were removed from the levers.

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Patrick2 DAYS AGO


@Shane  You love expensive over regulation do you? You need to compare regulations in Australia to those in Canada, NZ, USA. Australia is over regulated by "yokel idiots"

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James2 DAYS AGO


@Shane You obviously don't know anything about general aviation - or Dick Smith. Without sensible amendments, there won't be any general aviation in Australia...yet another industry moved overseas due to lack of vision.

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James2 DAYS AGO


@Shane So you apparently would be comfortable having fast-track Chinese or SE Asian trained pilots up front - like the pilot who headed the wrong way out of Sydney, or the one who dialed in the wrong runway in Perth, or the guy who told everybody to pray when an engine failed!  CASA blatantly allows these people to fly into and out of the country while methodically screwing the local industry.  For me, if I was in an A380 when its engine blew up leaving Singapore, I'll take a highly experienced Aussie up front.

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Raymond2 DAYS AGO


@Shane You children and grandchildren will pay an expensive price for the kind of attitude you have expressed. Dick Smith and Barnaby Joyce are loyal Australians who are trying to do what is best for Australia's future.

Also in reply to the editor was this from Rudders...

To: editor <editor@theaustralian.com.au>

Dick Smith has been a tireless advocate over decades to get some
practical sense into the Aviation Bureaucracy, so that General
Aviation may prosper.

Alas, the entrenched mandarins in CASA have their own agenda even to
the point of trashing GOVERNMENT POLICY.

In 1997 the MInister and the Board adopted the new (FAA based)
Classifications of Operations Policy.  It was the 17 of April, not the
first, so it wasn't an  April Fools Day joke..

This would have given more freedoms and allowed for the more business
minded to seek those opportunities in the lighter end of Aviation.

And herein lies the problem.  CASA is a free floating Agency without
recourse or oversight.
No Minister has had the courage to pull it into line.

Those in CASA do what they do without hindrance and the
Australian Nation is very much the poorer for it, to tune of billions of
dollars in lost opportunities

And billions of dollars wasted on an avalanche of regulations , much
of which have nothing to do with "safety".

Thats why you see many country airfields these days with only a few
parked up aircraft and a fuel bowser with cobwebs.
And this is in the wide brown land where rapid transport is vital.

America , a continent the size of Australia has the most vibrant GA
industry in the world.
No reason why we should not be the same.

But we aren't ,...because of a rampant unaccountable bureaucracy.,
that has buried  the GA industry with ever  increasing paperwork and
outrageous costs.

The "Jobs and growth" mantra is pretty sick for GA, except for those
within the bureaucracy.

Sadly,since 2 decades ago it has been all down hill as the figures
quoted in your Editorial  show.

As an 'aviator for over 60 years I am saddened and disgusted that this
has been allowed  to occur through gross political neglect.

Within CASA there is corruption, cronyism and
criminality ( and I can prove it, as can  many others)

Under the guise of " Safety" anything can be done, and is, and CASA
has no over-sighting body to correct its deficiencies and poor
practices.

While regulatory change is sorely needed, how to change the culture of
those within CASA?

Until there is a serious JUDICIAL INQUIRY into the bureaucratic
shenanigans by CASA, where those in the GA industry have suffered and
their horror stories can be put out in the public domain NOTHING will
change.

CASA's Motto is , for ultimate 'safety' (which is an impossibility) is
"Safe Skies are Empty Skies"

And in Mike Borgelt reply to yesterday's Oz Flying article:

Crawford defends CASA Position on GA
[url=http://www.australianflying.com.au/latest/crawford-defends-casa-position-on-ga]27 Jul 2018
Acting Director of Aviation Safety defends CASA's position on general aviation. Read more

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Mike Borgelt • 16 hours ago
Well that's it then. The aim is to destroy general aviation. When a government official denies something you can bet it is true. When the official and his deputy both say it, you can take it to the bank.

Finally once again from Sandy with the last word on the LMH...  

Sandy Reith • 15 hours ago

Well done Hitch, right on the money. The whole of GA industry is on the skids, nothing but Government action can save what’s left of our once busy sector. Jobs and growth? Stop laughing, its too sad. 

As for Mr. Crawford’s total denial of any culpability I’m afraid this says to expect no understanding or relief from the regulator because it has no idea of the horrific mess that, single handedly, it has created. Malice aforethought wouldn’t be an unreasonable conclusion in many quarters, probably not correct but you have to ask why?

August the current deadline for full transition to the impossible Part 61. Watch the (few) remaining flying schools struggle or just give up. 

Free country? What happened to that? Only Parliament can stop the rot, ring, email or collar your local MP and state Senators if you want to help.

 

MTF...P2 

Ps For more commentary on the Dick Smith Oz article please refer to AOPA Oz Facebook post:

https://www.facebook.com/AOPAaustralia/p...7878096134