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The Last Minute Hitch: 22 November 2019

Flying academies, turbo-props and awarded airports. Read more

Regional Express seems to have come up with a left-of-centre answer to its crew shortage. The airline this week announced it had bought Singapore-based ST Engineering's Ballarat flying academy, STAA. STAA has been training students for Chinese airlines for over 10 years and still has some good contracts in place. Rex already had their own academy at Wagga Wagga, and adding the Ballarat operation gives them more capacity and shadows Qantas' move to set up flying schools in Toowoomba and Mackay. But buildings, aeroplanes and runways don't train students to ATPL level ... only instructors can do that. Right now this country is in the grip of a regulation-driven instructor drought that threatens the basic foundations of the GA industry. That won't have much of an impact on Rex. You may remember a news story from two weeks ago where Rex announced they had gained permission to import instructors? So what they can do is set up a pipeline for instructors trained overseas away from the boat-anchor regulation of Part 61 to come to their academies at Ballarat and Wagga Wagga. Smart move on their behalf. However, this is likely to drive yet another nail into the coffin of private GA, as employment opportunities for the very few instructors trained here dry-up even further.