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Worldwide pilot shortage heats up -

Via the Oz today:

Qantas plea for foreign pilots


12:00amAnnabel Hepworth

QantasLink is urging the government to extend the time foreign pilots can stay in Australia on work visas.

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QantasLink in plea for foreign pilots to stay for five years

Australia’s largest regional airline, QantasLink, is urging the government to extend the time foreign pilots can stay in Australia on work visas to deal with an “acute” pilot shortage and allow it to restore flights to regional communities.

Qantas’s regional arm wants the government to let it bring in a “limited number” of experienced pilots and simulator instructors from overseas for a longer time than the two years allowed under the skilled visa program.

The airline is expected to ­announce today it wants to recruit as many as 75 senior pilots and simulator instructors from overseas in the first year, and up to 55 a year after that, over the next five years.

Amid a worldwide scramble to hire pilots, the government has allowed foreign pilots into Australia on two-year visas for regional air routes.

But QantasLink argues this does not go far enough because experienced flyers do not want to move themselves and their families to Australia for less than five years. Instead, the airline wants to be able to bring the foreign ­pilots and simulator instructors in for up to five years.

The plan could face resistance from pilots unions that have previously called for a review of the use of foreign pilots in regional areas.

Late last year, amid frustration in regional communities about a spike in cancellations, QantasLink cut the number of flights it operates because of “pilot resourcing issues”.

Although the airline put larger aircraft from capital-city routes onto some regional routes, the average capacity is down 8 per cent across the regional markets in Queensland and NSW that are served by turbo­props and Boeing 717s.

The airline would be likely to look for aviators in South Africa, Canada, the US and Britain, which have the most pilots who can fly the Bombardier Dash 8 turboprop aircraft that forms the backbone of the QantasLink fleet.

“We know how important air transport is to regional communities, so we’re doing all we can to restore capacity and frequency,” said QantasLink chief executive John Gissing.

“The quality of pilots who fly for us is crucial and we’ll never compromise on safety. Our focus has always been to recruit Australian-based pilots, and that hasn’t changed. But the current skills shortage means we have to go overseas to find the trainers we need to keep bringing local pilots back into QantasLink.”

The airline will argue the plan would allow it to restore capacity until other measures aimed at addressing the pilot shortage took effect, such as Qantas’s plan for a pilot academy to open next year. It is expected many of the up to 100 pilots a year initially trained at the academy each year would join QantasLink.

Overseas airlines have been poaching experienced Australian pilots, particularly as China’s aviation sector booms. While regional airlines have been able to recruit from general aviation in previous shortages, that sector has been shrinking.

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Sandy comment - Before the life was crushed out of Australian General Aviation (GA) by the (Un) Civil Aviation Safety Authority there were way more aspiring airline pilots than positions available. 


Since 1988 when the Minister virtually relinquished responsibility by creating CASA as an independent Commonwealth corporate CASA has slowly rung the neck of what used to be a busy GA industry, especially in training. 

Where there were flying schools everywhere, now down to a handful. 

In the US some 70% of pilots are trained by independent instructors. Not allowed in Bureacratalia, one senior instructor near me was forced to put up $8000 just to lodge an application for a flying school licence, 18 months ago still no licence. 

Until Parliament actually does some governing in this area, the fee gouging and costly mismanagement will continue including the make work aviation rules rewrite 30 years on and still not finished. Alex in the Rises.

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Update: Via ABC News.

Qantas pushes for visa extensions, more foreign pilots amid critical staff shortage

By Kelly Fuller
Posted Thu at 1:18pmThu 29 Mar 2018, 1:18pm


Photo: Qantas is asking the Federal Government to allow foreign pilots to extend their visas to solve critical pilot shortage (Mark Baker: Reuters)
Related Story: Competition fierce as regional councils vie for new Qantas pilot academy
Related Story: Airnorth cancels flights across NT, blames pilot shortage

Qantas is asking the Federal Government to allow foreign pilots to stay in Australia longer to deal with a critical pilot shortage.

The airline has been under intense pressure in regional centres after revealing it was cutting back fights in a number of cities as a result of the scarcity of pilots.

QantasLink's John Gissing said the airline had applied to the Government to allow in additional pilots and simulator instructors on visas beyond the existing two-year window permitted under the current skilled visa program.

He said the airline would need up to 75 additional pilots and instructors in the first year and up to 55 each year for the next five years.

The airline will target pilots from the US, Canada, and the UK to fly the Q400 used on the regional routes.

Bring Australian pilots home, union says

The Australian and International Pilots Association President, Captain Murray Butt, said bringing in more foreign pilots would be a bad outcome for Australian pilots.

He said now there was upward pressure on the labour market, the airline was opting to go overseas rather than paying local pilots more.

"The problem we foresee with the approach that the Qantas group is taking is that rather than allow any pressure on wages, and allow the packages that they are offering people to get interested in these sort of jobs, their solution is to sell off Australian residency."

Captain Murray said there were enough graduates and pilots who were working overseas and would like to come back home to meet the demand Qantas had identified.

He said pilots association would seek more information from the airline and reach out to both sides of politics to help them understand the consequences of the Qantas proposal.

Aviation expert Neil Hansford said the pilot shortage showed a lack of foresight from all Australian airlines, and doubted the push would get support from the government.

"I don't think they are going to get too much traction to get these 457 visas past two years," Mr Hansford said.

"Qantas has got to get off the bike and start these training facilities now because there is commercial training capacity in the country to cover the 75 they are looking for."

Photo: A QantasLink plane lands at a regional airport in NSW (ABC News: Jennifer Ingall)

Training new pilots

Qantas is still pushing ahead with plans for a pilot training academy to be based in regional Australia by 2019.

More than 10,000 hopeful pilots have registered their interest to sign up to the academy.

The airline is working through state governments to contact regional cities to quickly find out which regional airports could support the academy and pilot training school.

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Update: QF pilot academy? 

Via, The Advocate:

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April 8 2018 - 5:00PM

Steve Martin pushes for Qantas Group Pilot Academy at Devonport Airport

• 
  Lachlan Bennett
  

Tasmanian Seantor and former Devonport mayor Steve Martin. Picture: Cordell Richardson

Tasmania’s newest senator is hoping to convince Qantas to set up its new pilot academy in Devonport.

Senator Steve Martin will meet with Qantas executives on Thursday to promote the benefits of Devonport Airport, including its infrastructure, terrain and proximity to other airports.

He said the pilot academy would be a “win-win” for Qantas and Devonport.

 “For Devonport, an academy would bring substantial economic and social benefits to the region with 100 pilots expected in the initial intake,” Senator Martin said.

“Up to 500 pilots are expected to be trained annually at the academy once it is established.”



MASTER PLAN: An aviation training facility is being considered as part of Devonport Airport's 15 year master plan. Picture: Cordell Richardson

RELATED:

• Par Avion looks to the North-West
  
• Chamber of Commerce supports pilot academy
  
• Master plan for Devonport Airport
  

Senator Martin said the academy would also lift Tasmania’s profile “on the international stage as a provider of world’s best training facilities”.

Tasmanian aviation company Par Avion has also expressed interest in establishing a training facility at Devonport Airport.

Senator Martin was supportive of Par Avion’s plans but said securing a Qantas Group Pilot Academy was his “immediate focus”

“There should be room at Devonport Airport for both schools, and the interest shown by Par Avion and Qantas shows faith in the North-West Coast having the capacity and capability to have such world-class businesses located in the area,” he said.

“I am more than happy to sit down with Par Avion, as I will be with Qantas executives this week, to discuss any proposals.”

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AIPA feedback submission to CAO 48.1 review report -  

CASA delays new fatigue rules, announces independent review
August 8, 2017 by australianaviation.com.au 1 Comment

& Bob's comment...

Bob says

August 8, 2017 at 4:23 pm

Why does that not surprise me . Useless regulator run by the airlines .

...If you want a perfect example of how an operator/airline can appear to tick all the boxes with a CASA approved FRMS, yet then have major issues of compliance and operability of that FRMS, go no further than the PelAir FRMS pre-ditching. Read & absorb Ben Cook's PelAir FRMS Special Audit Report - 09 CASA_Doc 10_Web

Update: Review report released - Finally!  

Again via Oz Aviation:

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 CASA releases final report of review of new fatigue rules
March 22, 2018 by australianaviation.com.au



Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) is seeking feedback in response to an independent review of its new fatigue risk management rules.

The review was announced in August 2017, when CASA deferred the introduction of Civil Aviation Order (CAO) 48.1 in response to feedback from the aviation community...

Via the Oz today:

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Pilots in for the long haul

12:00amANNABEL HEPWORTH
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority should ‘urgently’ outline rules for ultra-long-range flights, pilots say.

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Pilots in for the long haul on fatigue as CASA seeks input

The Civil Aviation Safety Authority should “urgently” outline rules on crew composition and rest requirements specific to ultra-long-range flights, the Australian and International Pilots Association has declared.

As consultations on an independent review prepared for CASA reignite debate about fatigue rules, the association has hit out at CASA for not having targeted the mega-long-haul area for regulation.

In response to the review, the association has said “we urgently require a rule set” that clearly defines ultra-long-range operations “and requires specific consideration of appropriate rest facilities, crew composition, preflight, on-board and post-flight rest requirements”.

The push comes after the review, which was led by Melbourne-based human factors and safety consultancy Dedale Asia Pacific, told CASA that it could be more explicit on guidance for in-flight rest facilities for ultra-long-range flights and noted that the regulations didn’t detail minimum standards for facilities such as bunks on mega-long journeys.

But AIPA says it is disappointed the review didn’t make a firm recommendation on the issue.

The push comes as, globally, the ultra-long-haul flight becomes more common.

Last month, Qantas made the inaugural direct flight from Perth to London. Qatar Airways flies Doha-Auckland, while United Airlines is doing Sydney-Houston and Los Angeles-Singapore. Singapore Airlines will resume direct flights to New York this year. Qantas has a “Project Sunrise” ambition of direct flights from the eastern states to New York, London, Rio de Janeiro and Cape Town by 2022 if the aeroplane manufacturing giants can rise to the challenge.

A Qantas spokesman said that given the nature of the carrier’s long-haul network and history of flying routes of significant distance, “we have a mature fatigue risk-management system in place”.

“All Qantas Group airlines manage fatigue and are working with the industry to see the eventual implementation of a standard fatigue risk system,” the spokesman said.

“As we look forward to Project Sunrise and our aim of operating flights from the east coast of Australia to London and New York, the ability for us to manage fatigue in co-operation with our employees and regulators is of course a heavy focus for us,” the Qantas spokesman said.

CASA chairman Jeff Boyd previously has said the report ­“provides a method to find an appropriate balance between fatigue risk and operational impact” and the board wanted input before finalising changes to the rules.

CASA has given stakeholders until Sunday to respond to the review.

After that, the authority will evaluate the feedback and decide on its final position.

The development of the proposed new rules, reflected in CAO 48.1, were prompted by recommendations from the UN agency known as the International Civil Aviation Organisation. This came after a series of accidents in which fatigue was considered to be a significant ­factor.

Unions have criticised delays in implementing the proposed rules. But Rex has said the proposed rules have the potential to drive up operating costs by more than $7 million annually.

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Here's a disturbing reminder and potted history of some of AIPA's advocacy, within the last two decades for a proper scientific based regulatory rule-set, tackling fatigue risk within the aviation industry: FRMS/SMS a lip service exercise - Part VII & Closing the FRMS safety loop? 

From pg 5:

ICAO recognises the importance of “operational experience”, but that is a tainted concept if it merely reflects what operators have been doing or what the regulator thinks they are doing.

In Australia, we have already seen how this concept is tainted - recent Senate inquiries that have touched upon Jetstar, Pel-air and Avtex/Skymaster fatigue management processes and largely exposed the gulf between sound fatigue risk management, what operators have really been doing and what the regulator didn’t really bother to see what they were doing. The CASA Special Audit conducted after the Pel-Air ditching revealed all three of those propositions, while explaining a lack of pilot complaints:

…The short planning period, lack of knowledge of possible destinations and lack of support provided by operations staff once doors closed appears to add to this fatigue. All crew interviewed stated that they felt there would be no issues in stating that they were fatigued and pulling out of duty but also felt that they had limited opportunities to fly and had to take these opportunities when they arose… 8

… Most crew interviewed stated that they had been part of a duty that was greater than 15 hours in length but evidence could not be identified that showed fatigue related extension of duty processes had been followed, safety reports had been written following the duty or that management follow-up was conducted as is required in the company FRMS manual. Several interviewees believed that there is a lack of management adherence to safety management requirements and the fatigue risk mitigation strategies as laid down in the company's FRMS manual…9

When CASA was asked about the significance of Jetstar requiring crews on the Darwin-Singapore-Darwin night flight to extend beyond their normal flight duty period (FDP) limits on 12 of 21 flights in January 2011, they responded:

CASA does not consider that these extensions require continual monitoring.
The duty extensions recorded in January 2011 by Jetstar were a result of flight crew agreeing to operate beyond the standard 12 hour initial limits as provided for within Civil Aviation Order 48 Exemption. No breaches of the 14 hour condition were recorded.10

Undoubtedly that is how CASA will regulate operations under the SIE until they expire in 2016, despite the fact that the same flights could not even be contemplated under The Instrument! Finally, from evidence given to the UK Parliament Transport Committee Inquiry into Flight Time Limitations in February 2012 (which we believe to be replicated in parts of the Australian industry):

7.6. More importantly: fatigue is significantly under-reported by the pilots themselves. This is because pilots do not file reports on an aspect that has become a ‘normal’ part of their daily work. Many are afraid their fatigue reports could have negative consequences for their professional future (i.e. reprisals by management) – a phenomenon that is growing – particularly when pilots refuse to fly because they are too fatigued. Indeed UK polling results show that 33% of pilots would not feel comfortable refusing to fly if fatigued, and of those who would, three quarters would have reservations. Once a pilot has decided they have no option but to fly, a fatigue report would be tantamount to writing the evidence for their own prosecution…11

This under-reporting by pilots is exacerbated by CASA being widely seen by the aviation community as having actively disengaged in any intelligent discussion about fatigue regulation for many years. It is highly unlikely that CASA has any defensible ‘regulatory experience’ other than superficial ‘tick and flick’ audit activities and, as such, cannot and should not rely on its perception of the current state of fatigue management to set aside the science or to replicate current rules.

Just saying -



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[Gobbledock]

P2;

“This under-reporting by pilots is exacerbated by CASA being widely seen by the aviation community as having actively disengaged in any intelligent discussion about fatigue regulation for many years. It is highly unlikely that CASA has any defensible ‘regulatory experience’ other than superficial ‘tick and flick’ audit activities and, as such, cannot and should not rely on its perception of the current state of fatigue management to set aside the science or to replicate current rules”.

That is because CAsA (and pretty much every government institution) views the people as criminals. Bearded fool Aleck and Mr Angry JMac were continuously pushing that line! Oh the irony, when most government departments themselves are staffed by some of the biggest shonks on Gods green earth and are run by the public servant Mafia who rort, manipulate, lie, steal, bludge, obsfucate and cover up....the crook is on the other foot!

“Untrustworthy skies for all”

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Viva la Revolución - Part IV

References: Viva la Revolución - Part II, AMROBA: Viva la Revolución - Part III, Let the viva la revolución begin & While the cat is away the mice will play

In light of recent AP forum posts (above) and indeed yesterday's SBG blog - Well; just a little rebellion then? - the following Oz Aviation magazine article (somewhat ironically - ) predates the rolling of Barnaby Joyce and highlights the troubling issues facing the aviation industry grassroots...   

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No train, no gain – pilot training in the spotlight

April 22, 2018 by Jordan Chong —2 Comments



image – UNSW/Paul Sadler

For more than a decade, a team of aviation professionals with strong airline and training backgrounds has been attempting to establish the Australia Asia Flight Training School at Glen Innes Airport, a small airfield in the NSW Northern Tablelands. Consultant Neil Hansford was part of this team.

The little-used airport, located within new Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Barnaby Joyce’s electorate of New England, would have been home to a residential college for 600 trainees and all the facilities needed for ab initio training or type conversions for Airbus and Boeing aircraft.

Governments at all levels backed the project, offering grants and building sewage and water pipelines to the airport. Shovels were practically at the ready.

And why wouldn’t they be? All the forecasts show the demand for pilots will only grow as the number of air travellers worldwide doubles to nearly 8 billion a year by 2036.

However, the project failed to get off the ground due to what Hansford, the chairman of aviation consultancy Strategic Aviation Solutions, described as a lack of interest from the financial community in Australia to invest in the project or generally fund anything related to aviation.

“The fundamental thing that screams out is that it is nigh impossible to finance from Australian sources such as the big four banks, merchant banks or high net worth individuals, a commercial flying academy in Australia to have Australia take the leadership in the region for commercial pilot training,” Hansford told Australian Aviation in an interview.

“None approached could fault the financials and business case in general and all agreed that the market was very lucrative.

“They can all agree there is demand, but nobody has any interest in investing in commercial pilot education despite it being one of the very few businesses in Australia where you receive your revenue in advance.

“All they are interested in investing in is the leasing of the heavy metal assets.”

The frustration is all the more acute given Australia represents one of the most ideal locations for training pilots.

“Everything is there for Australia to be the training capital for the southern hemisphere – you can train for about 340 days a year, we’ve got uncrowded skies, a safe environment and a predictable regulator,” Hansford said.

“All the ingredients are there for Australia to be training 2,500-3,000 commercial pilots a year, compared with about 1,000 a year today. If there was some investment in the sector we could do up to 5,000 a year.

“And the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) licence is of such a high standard that it is attractive to airlines, particularly English-speaking airlines, around the world.”

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association of Australia (AOPA), which represents the interests of the general aviation sector, agrees. Its executive director Ben Morgan said Australia had the perfect environment for flight training.

“There really isn’t a good reason as to why we can’t be a world leader in providing candidates not only for our domestic needs but for I guess our international partners overseas,” he told the Australian Aviation podcast in late December.

“Aviation continues to be one of those industries that attracts an enormous amount of interest and the demand and the interest in aviation is possibly the highest it has ever been.”

However, Morgan said the regulatory environment, a lack of investment and ageing aircraft were combining to act as a handbrake on the sector.

“If we have a working, flexible and productive regulatory framework, we should be able to attract investment, therefore we should be able to attract financial investment in aircraft, in businesses, in personnel and to get this flight training industry moving,” Morgan said.

The Boeing 2017-2036 Pilot and Technician Outlook, published in July 2017, showed there is a need for 637,000 new commercial airline pilots, 648,000 airline maintenance technicians and 839,000 new cabin crew members around the world over the next two decades.

The Asia Pacific would comprise the largest source of demand with 40 per cent of new pilots, 39 per cent of technicians and 37 per cent of cabin crew to be recruited in the region between now and 2036.

Hansford estimated there is a 20,000 deficit in pilot training places per annum throughout the world to meet the forecast demand from estimates such as Boeing’s.

The issue of pilot training and recruitment came to the fore in late December, when details emerged of the federal government’s decision to again allow foreign pilots to work in Australia.



The Virgin Independent Pilots Association says visas for foreign pilots is not a long-term solution to a pilot shortage. (Seth Jaworski)

But first, some background.

In April 2017, the federal government announced it was ending the 457 temporary skilled worker visa scheme.

In its place are two new temporary skilled worker visas. The first is a two-year visa that includes one option to extend for two more years. However, visa holders will not be able to apply for permanent residency.

There is also a four-year temporary skilled worker visa that can be renewed. This visa does include a pathway for permanent residency in Australia after three years.

The federal government also cut scores of occupations that were eligible for the new visas, compared with the 457 visa, including pilots and aircraft maintenance engineers (avionics).

And those applying under the aircraft maintenance engineers (airframe and engine) categories would only be eligible for the short-term two-year visa and therefore not able to seek permanent residency.

The 457 visa was introduced by Prime Minister John Howard in 1996 and allowed companies to employ overseas workers for job vacancies difficult to find Australian workers for. It also allowed 457 visa holders to have their family live with them in Australia on a 457 secondary visa.

Current 457 visa holders were unaffected by the changes.

After lobbying from the Regional Aviation Association of Australia (RAAA), and others, the federal government in late December added pilots back onto the list of applicable occupations for its temporary skilled worker visas.

However, pilots would only be able to apply for the two-year visa and would not be eligible to apply for permanent residency.

RAAA chief executive Mike Higgins said the former 457 visa scheme had been used to bring experienced pilots into the country as cover for the exodus of Australian pilots to overseas carriers.

Further, Higgins said it was not being used as a source of pilots for normal crewing.

“We are not relying on the import of foreign captains forever and into the future, it is just so we can get these first officers trained up to take their place,” Higgins told Australian Aviation.

“We still have sufficient numbers of right-hand seat qualified pilots. It comes back to the shortage of experienced pilots that is causing the problem.

“The pilots’ associations and the RAAA want exactly the same thing. At the end of the day we all want Australian-based pilots flying Australian-based aeroplanes in Australia. It is just a matter of this short-term hiatus and the visa is the only answer in the short term.”

When the 457 visas for pilots was abruptly scrapped in April, that meant experienced Australian captains being recruited by overseas airlines could not be quickly replaced.



Rex is feeling the pinch from pilot recruitment drives from expanding international airlines. (Seth Jaworski)

At Regional Express (Rex), that led to more cancelled flights due to a shortage of pilots, according to the airline’s chief operating officer Neville Howell.

“The tighter regulations enacted in April of this year have caused havoc on Australian airlines,” Howell said in a statement on December 29.

“It is a total mystery why Australia would choose to deter highly trained and scarce professionals like commercial pilots, causing major disruptions to the travelling public in the process.”

Figures from the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) showed Rex had a cancellation rate of 0.2 per cent in December 2016. The figure for all carriers covered in the BITRE report – Jetstar, Qantas, QantasLink, Rex, Tigerair Australia, Virgin Australia and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines – was 1.8 per cent

Fast forward to December 2017 (the most recent month for which figures were available at the time of publication) and Rex’s cancellation rate had risen to 1.0 per cent. However, the figure for all carriers was down to 1.5 per cent.

While the RAAA’s Higgins gave the government credit for its change of heart, the association was continuing to lobby for pilots to be eligible for the four-year visa, rather than the two‑year visa.

“The driving force behind the push for four-year visas for pilots is two-fold,” Higgins said.

“Firstly, it takes about four years of experience in the right-hand seat before you can sit in the left-hand seat and gain a command and during that four-year period there is a training and mentoring relationship that is very important and we would like to see that relationship unbroken so that’s why we are requesting four-year visas.

“Secondly, the sort of experienced captains we’re looking for have obviously been flying for a couple of decades and are more likely to have families established and so forth, so to ask them to pack up and come halfway around the world for four years is much more attractive than say a two-year period.”

Despite setting up the Australian Airline Pilot Academy in Wagga Wagga in 2007, Howell said Rex had conducted recruitment drives in South Africa, the United Kingdom and United States at various times to supplement its pilot body. The 457 visas allowed the airline the flexibility to recruit pilots when needed.

“Rex speaks with good authority when we say that the need for good experienced pilots cannot be met locally,” Howell said.

Australia’s two biggest airline groups Qantas and Virgin Australia have stepped up their recruiting efforts in recent times and this visa change was understood to be unlikely to have a significant impact on their operations.

At Virgin Australia, the airline has been reducing the number of aircraft types in its fleet, with all Embraer E190s withdrawn by early February and up to eight ATR 72 turboprops also headed for the exits.

While the fleet reduction had placed some constraints on pilot numbers, given some were undergoing conversion courses for new types, this has now mostly ended.

VIDEO – A Virgin Australia pilot cadet program promotional video

A Virgin Australia spokesperson said the airline had a range of entry points for pilots, including its cadetship program in partnership with Flight Training Adelaide that has been running since 2012.

The cadetship program’s intake was being increased from 12 people in 2017 to 18 in 2018.

Meanwhile, experienced pilots are able to join the company as first (737/Fokker 100) or second officers (777) on its jet fleet or as a captain or first officer on its turboprop fleet.

“We have a range of measures in place to help manage the number of pilots required to operate our fleet and flight schedules,” a Virgin Australia spokesperson told Australian Aviation.

“Virgin Australia welcomes the federal government’s review of the short-term skilled occupation list, particularly in relation to how this is impacting on pilot shortages in Australia.”

Qantas has also been on a pilot recruitment drive as it inducts the Boeing 787-9 into its fleet.

The airline announced in February 2016 plans to hire 170 new pilots over the following three years to support growth, its first significant recruitment of pilots since 2009.

Its regional arm QantasLink has also been recruiting, as more experienced pilots in its ranks moved across to the “mainline” Qantas jet fleet.



Qantas has launched its ‘Qantas Future Pilot Program’ in partnership with five universities. (Qantas)

In December 2017, QantasLink launched a partnership where students at five universities – Griffith University, RMIT University, the University of NSW, the University of Southern Queensland and Swinburne University of Technology – can apply for a 12-week airline transition course at the end of their degree.

Called the Qantas Future Pilot Program, the students would be mentored by QantasLink pilots and trainers to be qualified first officers on Q400 and Q300 turboprops.

Qantas is also focusing on diversity in its search for new pilots, recently launching the Nancy Bird Walton initiative.

Named after the pioneering Australian aviatrix, the initiative aims to increase the number of qualified women in its pilot recruitment programs to 20 per cent in 2018 and doubling it the following year.

“Our goal is to reach an intake that is 50 per cent men and 50 per cent women within a decade,” Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce wrote in the January edition of the airline’s inflight magazine.

“We know it’s not going to be easy to reach our targets. Today, women make up only 20 per cent of aviation students across Australian universities. And the number of women and girls studying science, technology, engineering and maths subjects shows that not enough see careers in technical roles as an option.

“We need to change that mindset.”

Pilot groups for both the major carriers were lukewarm on the visa changes.

Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA) president Captain Murray Butt said the use of foreign pilots was a short-term fix and called on the federal government to establish a white paper on pilot training in Australia. AIPA represents about 2,000 Qantas Group pilots.

The Virgin Independent Pilots Association (VIPA), which represents Virgin Australia group pilots, also backed AIPA’s push for a white paper on the “serious and growing shortage of pilots”.

VIPA president John Lyons said the visa reversal for foreign pilots was not a long-term answer to the question of pilot numbers.

“The problem is systemic in that the traditional sources of recruitment for airlines has dried up. General aviation has been forced into decline largely because of an over regulated, punitive system enforced by CASA and the flow of experienced RAAF pilots has dwindled,” Captain Lyons said in a statement.

“Thirty years ago the general aviation industry was thriving. It employed a lot of pilots and licenced engineers which provided an experienced source of recruitment for the airlines. Stifling regulatory changes and prohibitive costs have forced many general aviation operators and flying schools out of business.”

The director of specialist careers consultancy Pinstripe Solutions Kirsty Ferguson said more needed to be done to offer newly qualified pilots the opportunities to progress through the ranks once they had completed their studies.

“The gap is that while we have training facilities here for local pilots, we don’t have pathways from the flying schools and from the universities through to the regionals or through to the mainline carriers or even into general aviation,” Ferguson told the Australian Aviation podcast in late December.

“It is an industry issue that we have to create these pathways.”

AOPA’s Morgan said there needed to be a partnership between the regional, domestic and international airlines with the general aviation industry.

“Nobody wants to see local jobs being given away to foreign candidates,” Morgan said.

“It’s an accepted norm that if we have got the demand locally, if we’ve got young Australians who are looking to break into the industry, we should be cultivating, fostering and nurturing those people through to employment.

“What we really need in Australia is a solid partnership between the regional, domestic and international airlines with the general aviation industry.”

This feature article first appeared in the March 2018 issue of Australian Aviation.

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[Gobbledock]

CAN’TBERRA.....THE CITY OF TROUGHS, DREAMS AND MAKE BELIEVE

The prime problem with our industry is Government. A bunch of overpaid arse lickers living in a fairytale of excessive salaries, rorts and fantasy land. These idiots idiots wouldn’t know the real world from fantasy. They may as well live in Hollywood. Proof - on the weekend Barn’find said this; “Canberra is a weird place," he said. “It's like a big old boarding school up on a hill in the middle of Canberra”. How true that is Barn’find. A weird place indeed, where the rich bureaucrats and politicians swan around expensive offices and live in expensive houses while earning excessive salaries for doing.......nothing! Well, nothing except fucking up our country.

And, the former deputy prime minister and ‘Minister for bad skin and pulling weird faces’ says he wants an overhaul to the hiring regulations at Parliament House, so politicians can work alongside their partners!! WTF? You really do live in Wonderland don’t you Alice? The reason the rules were supposedly changed is because Politicians are thieves, rorters, liars, crooks and shonks and have rorted the living hell out of the system for too long. Fuck, imagine if that rule was changed? Pollywafflers would have their 8 year old nieces on the books at $200k per year! Fucking morons.

Barn’finds ridiculous statement below;

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-23...fmredir=sm

OINK OINK. ‘Safe return to multiple snouts in the trough for all’.

[P7_TOM]

And when the kissing stops partners become like a Hurricane. It was wet and while coming – but when it goes – the house goes with it. Bollocks Barmy; pure, unmitigated bollocks; the history of your last engagement with romance turned bitter and the following ‘press’ should have taught you that.

The man’s a chump; we’d be better off with John Depp – at least he likes dogs. Hey, perhaps there is hope yet for reconciliation – through a mutual interest; of a sort.

[Kharon]

No comment:-

TAAF and AOPA.

“The Australian Aviation Associations Forum (TAAAF) has terminated the membership of AOPA Australia after the pilots' association failed to respond to questions about the Australian General Aviation Alliance (AGAA).”

AWAL.

Mike Borgelt • 3 days ago

It is CASA's job to administer civil aviation regulation in Australia. Do it. Don't expect private citizens and their organisations to do the job of public servants. In the meantime the organisations should do just as much administration as the CASA funding pays for and not one dollar's worth more.

If CASA wants more they can pay their contractors to do it. Nobody works for nothing.
The people in these organisations are already paying for CASA through fuel levies. By forcing expensive "membership" of private organisations (which likely violates the right to freedom of association), CASA is in effect forcing people to pay TWICE.

As much as they would like to, in the US, the FAA has not succeeded in getting the EAA to take upon itself the role of the State. The EAA leadership is smarter than that

Thanks Oz Flying.

[Peetwo]

Alphabet issues - Via the Oz.

Call to lift regional airport funds

12:00amANNABEL HEPWORTH

The nation’s peak body for airports has ramped up its push for next month’s budget to increase funding for regional airports.

---

Australian Airports Association calls for more regional funding

The nation’s peak body for airports has ramped up its push to convince the Turnbull government to use next month’s budget to increase funding for regional airports.

The Australian Airports Association wrote to Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack this month in a bid to emphasise the issue of regional airport funding.

Ahead of the May 8 budget, the association’s chief executive, Caroline Wilkie, said the funding was needed “to break the back of the infrastructure backlog plaguing our regional airport network”.

“With the government also considering potential changes to aviation security requirements in our regions, we must first have safe and sustainable aeronautical infrastructure to maintain the services we are trying to protect,” Ms Wilkie told The Australian.

Last month, Mr McCormack outlined 31 projects that would receive a further $7 million in funding under the Remote Airstrip Upgrade Program, with projects including the up­grading of Camooweal airstrip in Queensland that is used by Royal Flying Doctor Service aircraft.

But Ms Wilkie said the program, which was allocated $33.7m over four years in the 2015-16 budget, “has now run out”.

“This program is always oversubscribed and must be reinstated in this coming budget,” Ms Wilkie said.

She said there was an “equally important need” for a new regional airport infrastructure development fund for airports that were not able to tap the remote funding and that processed fewer than 250,000 passengers a year.

“This sector of this industry has no dedicated federal funding assistance and is struggling to maintain its infrastructure, yet it is the backbone of our regional aviation network,” Ms Wilkie said.

A spokesman for Mr McCormack said the government “understands and recognises the important role regional aviation plays in servicing the needs of regional and remote communities across Australia, particularly in delivering vital services such as emergency medical care”.

“While funding for regional airports is generally the responsibility of the local governments which manage them, the Australian government has provided funding for specific projects,” he said. As well, $84m in funding was recently announced for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

The call comes as regional aviation becomes an increasingly sensitive political issue, with frustration expressed to a Senate rural and regional affairs and transport committee inquiry about the cost of airfares to the bush.

Qantas has recently run ads in Mount Isa and Cloncurry and Longreach telling residents “we are listening”. In the ads, QantasLink chief executive John Gissing says the global shortage of pilots “is impacting how many regional flights we can operate, and that has impacted prices”.

While the competition tsar this week released a report on the profits of the major privatised airports at Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, Ms Wilkie said regional airports were “fundamentally different businesses”, due “primarily to costs from different economies of scale”.

“Regional airports are owned and operated by local councils and more than 60 per cent lose money every year simply trying to maintain largely WWII-era infrastructure,” she said.

“Without safe and sustainable regional airports our regions risk losing access to essential transport links — and for those more remote communities, access to life-saving emergency services.”

---

---

Pilot push to be consulted

12:00amANNABEL HEPWORTH

Australia’s largest pilot union is pushing for pilots to be represented on a key consultation body to CASA.

---

Pilot push to be consulted

Australia’s largest pilot union is pushing for pilots to be represented on a key consultation body to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority. The Australian Federation of Air Pilots, which represents more than 4500 pilots, wants professional pilots included on the Aviation Safety Advisory Panel. In a submission on an independent review prepared for CASA on fatigue rules, AFAP says such a move “will assist in a balanced consultation and review process and help develop the general pilot communities trust in CASA’s consultation process”.

The growth in jet-setters is to coincide with e-commerce-driven air freight, a report suggests. The Infrastructure Partnerships Australia report on “fixing freight” says the shift by consumers to online purchasing is pushing up air freight as it so often involves “next day” deliveries. “However, this growth will coincide with the growth in the passenger aviation task at many capital city airports,” the report says. “This will place increased pressure on capacity — and require a review of operating curfew rules, future capacity or other restrictive regulations.”

Qantas is taking the “Queen of the Skies” Boeing 747 off its Los Angeles services later this year. Instead, the 747 services into Los Angeles will be replaced by the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. In other changes to the international network, Qantas has announced that it will offer extra services to the Japanese city of Osaka and the Philippines capital, Manila.

 
MTF...P2

[Gobbledock]

AND SO THE EXCRETA FLOWS.....

Firstly, this bullshit from Qantas Gissing;
“Qantas has recently run ads in Mount Isa and Cloncurry and Longreach telling residents ‘we are listening’.

I call bullshit. You bastards know damn well you’ve been gouging Regional Australia and the people are starting to revolt. Your arrogant queer rainbow boss Joyce told the Moranbah Mayor to eat shit and drive to Rockhampton. Arrogant, contemptible bastards. Stick your ‘ads’ up your ass, lower your fares you profit hungry shonk.

And even more bullshit from the pathetic Government;
A spokesman for Mr McCormack said the government “understands and recognises the important role regional aviation plays in servicing the needs of regional and remote communities across Australia’.

I call bullshit on you as well McCorn’sack, you pathetic weasel. Yeah yeah blah blah, of course the Government ‘understands’, and that’s about all it is going to do. It ain’t going to do SFA all about it.

And this crap;
“Mr McCormack outlined 31 projects that would receive a further $7 million in funding under the Remote Airstrip Upgrade Program”.

Woohoo, $7m on 31 projects. What a piss poor token amount. That’s what Parliament House spends on Avian water every year. These pathetic scum spend $650k on each bomb dropped in the Middle East in a fictitious war in countries that have nothing to do with us, while screwing our industry royally.....

What a nauseating load of drivel from both McCorn’Sack and that long term protected Qantas species Gissing. Disgraceful.

TICK TOCK

[Peetwo]

QF flying school update -

Via the Oz:

Qantas steps up hunt for pilot training facility




Qantas pilot Haidee Wong on the tarmac at Brisbane Airport as the carrier looks to train more female pilots. Picture: Claudia Baxter
The Australian12:00AM May 11, 2018

ANNABEL HEPWORTH
Aviation EditorSydney
@HepworthAnnabel

Qantas will today detail the next stages for selecting the region that will be home to its coveted new multi-million-dollar pilot training ­facility.

As carriers rush to deal with a looming pilot shortage, Qantas is setting up a new pilot academy that is expected to become one of the biggest in the southern hemisphere.

The Australian can reveal that Qantas will launch a formal request-for-information process for regional cities and state governments vying to host the Pilot Academy based on a raft of criteria, including access to a mix of controlled and uncontrolled airspace and weather conditions that would allow for at least 300 days a year that are suited to flying.

The criteria will include having a minimum asphalt runway length of 1300m. The airport would need to be able to have fuel tanker refuelling and be able to have full lighting for night and reduced-visibility operations.

As well, the group has a preference for an airport that has a control tower.

Those bidding to host the academy are also expected to include detail on teaching facilities that have full Wi-Fi capability and ­facilities to accommodate simulators. Accommodation for students will also be needed.

Qantas will be taking the responses up to June 8 and expects to announce a shortlist before making a final decision on where the base for the pilot training college will be.

Already, leaders from a raft of areas have expressed interest in the academy coming to their city.

Qantas is expected to tip an initial investment of up to $20 million into the new facility.

The more than 12,500 aspiring pilots who have registered their interest in the academy will receive an update on the process.

Qantas Group Pilot Academy executive manager Wes Nobelius said he was encouraged by the number of people who had expressed an interest in a career as an aviator. He pointed to an estimate by US aerospace giant Boeing that globally, more than 640,000 more ­pilots will be needed in the next 20 years.

In Australia, concerns about a pilot shortage are serious enough that it was reported this week that the Royal Flying Doctor Service was struggling to fill jobs in outback Queensland, in Mount Isa and Charleville.

Qantas’s regional arm, QantasLink, has indicated that it wants to bring in a “limited number” of experienced pilots and simulator instructors from overseas, but wants the government to extend the time foreign pilots can stay in Australia on work visas for this.

Of the aspiring pilots who have registered their interest in the Qantas academy, 15 per cent are women.

Mr Nobelius said the proportion of women was “also significant for a profession that currently has a global average of 3 per cent female representation”.

He said this put the group on track to meet its “Nancy Bird Walton” initiative to get to 40 per cent in the pilot intake in a decade.

Last week, rival Virgin Australia committed to a target of 50 per cent women in its cadet pilot intake for the year.

Mr Nobelius said regional cities nationwide had put their hands up to host the academy.

“We’ve already had some very positive discussions with governments and state leaders,” Mr ­Nobelius said. “More than 40 regional cities have indicated they’ll be making a bid to be home to the academy. We’ve even had one council posting a video on social media featuring its residents and all the city had to offer.”

Qantas announced earlier this year that it wanted its pilot academy to be based at a regional centre with an airfield.

Businessman and aviator Dick Smith has previously described the plan for the academy as the best aviation news he has heard in the past 20 years.

The creation of the academy comes after reports of a rush to ­secure pilots, and the costs and red tape that have dogged flying schools and the greater foreign ownership of Australian training schools.

MTF...P2

[Peetwo]

Chinese flight school hits a snag -   

Via the Oz:

China pilot plan hits turbulence
MATTHEW DENHOLM
One of the Chinese pilot schools planned for Australia has stalled.

---

Kempsey complaints ground plans for Chinese pilot school

One of the Chinese pilot schools planned for Australia has stalled after an independent report backed concerns it could have a significant impact on local residents and the environment.

Residents of Kempsey, on the NSW north coast, were yesterday cautiously celebrating the withdrawal of plans for an $18 million expansion of pilot training at the town’s small airport.

The proponent — the Australian International Aviation College, owned by China’s Hainan Airlines — has withdrawn two development applications to the Kempsey Shire Council.

An independent report, by a Coffs Harbour-based planning expert, recommended the applications be refused, because there was insufficient information to demonstrate that the plans would not have a “significant environmental impact”.

The report also pointed to the “significant number of valid submissions received objecting to the modification of the development”, which would have increased flights at Kempsey from 3000 a year to 30,000.

“We put the withdrawal down to the independent assessor’s report clearly stating that refusal of the application be recommended to council,” said Adam Ulrick, of the Save Kempsey Airport Action Group. “They have basically failed planning laws.”

Residents are still concerned the college, which did not respond to requests for comment yesterday, may yet amend its application and again seek approval.

The project is one of a number put forward by Chinese companies in NSW and Queensland, seeking to train Chinese pilots in Australia to overcome a domestic and global shortage.

A trend towards Chinese companies buying struggling Australian pilot schools has alarmed some industry experts, including veteran aviator Dick Smith. Australia is grapplings with its own pilot shortage, linked by some to costly and burdensome red tape.

China needs about 110,000 new pilots by 2035 but lacks the capacity to train sufficient numbers due to a lack of suitable airspace, smog-free skies and English-speaking instructors.

There are also plans for Chinese pilot training at Frogs Hollow, near Bega in southeast NSW, and Mareeba in far north Queensland. Training of Air Asia pilots is planned in Tasmania.

While many Australian pilot training companies are keen to embrace Chinese and Asian students, as well as Australian pilots, to meet the burgeoning demand, many warn regulations must be streamlined.

MTF...P2 

[Kharon]

Thanks to Vref5 (Choc Frog) over on the UP; saved me time hunting down a message from Sir Humphrey which, at the moment, carries real weight.

[Peetwo]

GAAG submits flight plan to DPM McNobody -

Not sure what to make of it yet but there was some interesting snippets in today's Aviation section of the Oz -

Question is could this be an aviation reform renaissance or just another series of gabfests followed by a half a decade long bureaucratic strategy of divide & conquer, spin'n'bulldust and obfuscation?

Via the Oz:

Plan to keep troubled aviation sector in air amid pilot shortage

Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack has welcomed the ‘flight plan’.

• The Australian
  
  
• 12:00AM June 1, 2018
  
  
• ANNABEL HEPWORTH
  
  Aviation Editor
  Sydney
  @HepworthAnnabel
  [img=0x0]https://i1.wp.com/pixel.tcog.cp1.news.com.au/track/component/author/d4b891a093ad6ddc703117011dc4fd61/?esi=true&t_product=the-australian&t_template=s3/austemp-article_common/vertical/author/widget&td_bio=false[/img]
  

A high-powered advisory group to the Turnbull government is advancing plans to ensure there are enough pilots and aviation engineers “to keep Australians flying”.

The Australian can reveal Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack has been given a plan that outlines three priorities for the troubled general aviation sector, which has been complaining of crippling costs and red tape.

The plan was produced by the government’s General Aviation Advisory Group, chaired by Royal Flying Doctor Service chief executive Martin Laverty, and outlines a work plan for the group.

Mr Laverty said the plan “addresses critical issues of regulatory burden and ensuring sufficient workforce to keep Australians flying”.

Amid a pilot shortage that is a global phenomenon, the document identifies “workforce development” for the general aviation industry as a priority.

It also says a priority should be ensuring air safety regulation supports the general aviation sector through “clear, consistently applied and proportionally responsive administration”.

The other priority is for a long-term “strategic perspective” for general aviation, which provides links to areas not serviced by ­airlines but has been shrinking since 2010.

Writing in The Australian today, Mr Laverty says even the RFDS has struggled with the issue of pilot and engineer shortages.

“A solution is best advanced from within industry itself by encouraging young people into the profession,” Mr Laverty writes.

“Expanded industry training capacity will fulfil national needs and create export opportunities.”

Mr McCormack, who is also Infrastructure and Transport Minister, said he welcomed the “General Aviation Flight Plan” and had asked the Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to work with the group in responding to the three priorities.

Mr McCormack also said the advisory group would be continued a further two years to allow work outlined in the plan to be ­finished. Overseas airlines have poached major airline pilots and while Australia’s airlines had sourced pilots from general aviation, the sector has been shrinking.

The situation has prompted the government to allow foreign pilots into Australia on two-year work visas to keep regional air routes operating, while Qantas’s regional arm, QantasLink, wants the government to extend the time foreign pilots can stay.

The group’s high-level strategy document says there are pressures on the sector, “such as an ageing workforce and commercial airline competition for personnel”.

The group will work with an existing panel, led by Australian Aviation Associations Forum chair and former Airservices boss Greg Russell, that is reviewing aviation skills and training.

The review is expected to be completed in the middle of the year.

The panel is aiming to make recommendations on supporting the training and retention of aviators and backing Australia as an exporter of aviation training and skills.

The “flight plan” document also says CASA should be given “guiding principles” for future administration of regulation as it applies to general aviation and suggestions to ensure rules are applied consistently.

---

---

Industry must pilot future

12:00amMARTIN LAVERTY
With the aviation sector facing a storm of challenges, a new industry-driven plan is vital to finding clear skies.

---

General Aviation Flight Plan charts a successful future

Former transport minister Darren Chester in early 2017 offered general aviation a rare opportunity. Rare because the then minister invited the sector to identify ways to ensure a sustainable future.

This rarity was reinforced this week when Deputy Prime Minister and current Transport Minister Michael McCormack received the industry’s General Aviation Flight Plan. The plan identifies options for the industry to guarantee its own future.

The Deputy Prime Minister has welcomed the plan and has signalled the Australian government’s willingness to work with our industry to achieve its aspirations.

General aviation is a diverse sector. It covers emergency services, agricultural work, instructional flying, and other small aircraft use. It doesn’t often capture headlines. When it does, the voices who often get attention have glasses half empty. These voices blame government, ignoring international realities.

December’s Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics General Aviation study affirms what most aviators knew. General aviation in Australia is in transition. A similar transition is occurring in the US, Britain, Canada and New Zealand.

The study shows traditional general aviation activity overall has decreased in Australia, as it has in other countries. Yet new trends are emerging. The composition of the GA fleet has changed, with more sport and recreational aircraft. There is significant growth in the number of remotely piloted aircraft. These new technologies, if harnessed and safely integrated into our aviation system, will contribute to Australia’s social and economic gain.

Disruption and change is a constant in all parts of the Australian and international economies. There should be no surprise the BITRE study reports change is ­occurring in general aviation.

While the study was being conducted, industry leaders through the Deputy Prime Minister’s General Aviation Advisory Group were developing a work plan — the General Aviation Flight Plan.

The plan first seeks to articulate a long-term strategic outlook for general aviation in Australia.

It then wants to put forward the sector’s advice on how air safety regulation can support ­general aviation through clear, consistently applied, and proportionally responsive administration.

Finally, the plan seeks to maintain and enhance general aviation industry capability, through better workforce planning and appropriate access to airspace and infrastructure.

It’s perhaps this third area of industry capability and workforce development that offers the best prospects for general aviation’s growth. Here’s why.

Australia is experiencing a pilot and aviation engineer shortage. Pilot shortages have happened before in Australia, but this time it’s different. Australia’s two major airlines recruited from ­Defence or the nation’s regional carriers during shortages in the past. Regional carriers would enlist from general aviation. General aviation kept training, small and big aircraft kept flying. It wasn’t always smooth, but the system worked.

Recently, international carriers have been recruiting heavily in Australia. They like the quality of Australia’s aviation workforce. Why wouldn’t they? This again has sent our two major airlines to recruit, and the staff movement pattern has again been triggered through the system.

Even we at the Royal Flying Doctor Service are facing pilot and engineer shortages.

A solution is best advanced from within the industry itself, by encouraging young people into the profession. Expanded industry training capacity will fulfil national needs and create export opportunities.

Government, the opposition, and the broader industry appear united on the need for aviation workforce effort. The Deputy Prime Minister and his department are already assisting an industry-led expert panel on aviation skills and training. The General Aviation Advisory Group will work with that panel to ensure it addresses general aviation’s future training needs.

All of us involved in Australia’s aviation system want to see this work succeed, suggesting the glass is indeed half full for general aviation’s and Australia’s flying future.

Martin Laverty is chair of the federal government’s General Aviation Advisory Group, and CEO of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia.

P7 post - #135 

"..There is a most satisfactory – as yet unconfirmed rumour floating around that AOPA (Oz) have been rehabilitated to the GAG panel – an have a voice with the ministerial choir. This, if true is a very, very good thing. AOPA joining in the debate, despite petty differences can only add weight to the long held argument supporting a change to the ‘the Act’.

That change will release CASA from the tight constraints they are obliged, by ‘the Act’ to operate under. Maybe, perhaps, there is a candle flickering in window, far, far away. Keep plodding along chaps; one foot after another..."

Test of true colours? - If the P7 rumour is true then GAAG and the Greg Russell led TAAAF should be throwing their support behind the Aviation summit and a change to the Act -  


MTF...P2

[thorn bird]

I wonder if there were strings were attached for Mr Laverty to produce a statement like the above.
The RFDS receives considerable largesse from the Federal Government as well as from the
Australian public. As a charity it also operates with considerable tax concessions unlike
commercial operators. For sure the RFDS is an Iconic Australian institution and does wonderful work.
It does however bid for commercial and government contracts with a considerable advantage over "for profit"
organisations.

[Kharon]

General Aviation Flight Plan Welcomed

Media Release - MM064/2018

01 June 2018

Leaders of Australia's General Aviation (GA) Advisory Group has this week presented a plan to Government to help ensure the sector's future.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Michael McCormack said he received the General Aviation Flight Plan when he met with sector leaders in Canberra.

“The GA Advisory Group was established by the then-Minister Darren Chester in October 2016, to provide the very diverse GA sector with a forum to advise the Government on its priorities,” Mr McCormack said.

The GA Flight Plan has identified three key priorities to ensure a strong future for the sector.

“I welcome the establishment of the GA Flight Plan and I have asked the Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to work with the Group in responding to these priorities,” Mr McCormack said.

“To ensure the Group is able to complete the work outlined in the GA Flight Plan, the Group's membership and operations will continue for a further two years and I look forward to working constructively with the Group during this period.”

The three priorities of the GA Flight Plan are to:

   Develop a broad long term strategic perspective for General Aviation

   Propose how air safety regulation can support General Aviation through clear, consistently applied, and proportionally responsive administration

   Maintain and enhance General Aviation industry capability, through workforce development and access to airspace and infrastructure

GA Advisory Group Chair and Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia CEO Dr Martin Laverty thanked the Deputy Prime Minister for his strong backing of the GA industry.

“The Deputy Prime Minister has given the GA Advisory Group freedom to identify our own opportunities for growth and to present its ideas on solutions to some of our challenges,” Dr Laverty said.

“He has welcomed the Flight Plan, which addresses critical issues of regulatory burden and ensuring sufficient workforce to keep Australians flying.”

CASA Chief Executive Officer and Director of Aviation Safety Shane Carmody welcomed the opportunity to work closely with the GA Advisory Group and to strengthen the safety regulator's ties with General Aviation.

“I'm pleased to have met with the GA Advisory Group, and to plan to use it as an ongoing reference group on safety regulatory issues relating to the GA sector,” Mr Carmody said.

Terrific - no rush then, another decade or two should see it through. If the whole thing took more than a fortnight's hard work, then they were slacking off. Oh Bravo. 

There is a photograph floating about somewhere of this - Carmody grinning like a well fed Cheshire cat - and why not -  a million dollar payout smile and a two year reprieve from actually needing to do anything. Can't be ducked to find it - but Hell I'd be smiling too.

Toot - FDS - toot.

[Peetwo]

General Aviation Flight Plan Welcomed

Media Release - MM064/2018

01 June 2018

Leaders of Australia's General Aviation (GA) Advisory Group has this week presented a plan to Government to help ensure the sector's future.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Michael McCormack said he received the General Aviation Flight Plan when he met with sector leaders in Canberra.

“The GA Advisory Group was established by the then-Minister Darren Chester in October 2016, to provide the very diverse GA sector with a forum to advise the Government on its priorities,” Mr McCormack said.

The GA Flight Plan has identified three key priorities to ensure a strong future for the sector.

“I welcome the establishment of the GA Flight Plan and I have asked the Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to work with the Group in responding to these priorities,” Mr McCormack said.

“To ensure the Group is able to complete the work outlined in the GA Flight Plan, the Group's membership and operations will continue for a further two years and I look forward to working constructively with the Group during this period.”

The three priorities of the GA Flight Plan are to:

   Develop a broad long term strategic perspective for General Aviation

   Propose how air safety regulation can support General Aviation through clear, consistently applied, and proportionally responsive administration

   Maintain and enhance General Aviation industry capability, through workforce development and access to airspace and infrastructure

GA Advisory Group Chair and Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia CEO Dr Martin Laverty thanked the Deputy Prime Minister for his strong backing of the GA industry.

“The Deputy Prime Minister has given the GA Advisory Group freedom to identify our own opportunities for growth and to present its ideas on solutions to some of our challenges,” Dr Laverty said.

“He has welcomed the Flight Plan, which addresses critical issues of regulatory burden and ensuring sufficient workforce to keep Australians flying.”

CASA Chief Executive Officer and Director of Aviation Safety Shane Carmody welcomed the opportunity to work closely with the GA Advisory Group and to strengthen the safety regulator's ties with General Aviation.

“I'm pleased to have met with the GA Advisory Group, and to plan to use it as an ongoing reference group on safety regulatory issues relating to the GA sector,” Mr Carmody said.

Terrific - no rush then, another decade or two should see it through. If the whole thing took more than a fortnight's hard work, then they were slacking off. Oh Bravo. 

There is a photograph floating about somewhere of this - Carmody grinning like a well fed Cheshire cat - and why not -  a million dollar payout smile and a two year reprieve from actually needing to do anything. Can't be ducked to find it - but Hell I'd be smiling too.

Toot - FDS - toot.

You mean this one?

Via McDo'nothing twitter feed:

The General Aviation Advisory Group presented the GA Flight Plan to Government to ensure the sector’s future. Together with @infra_regional and @CASABriefing we will continue their excellent work. Read more: https://www.michaelmccormack.com.au/media-releases/2018/6/1/general-aviation-flight-plan-welcomed … #aviation #auspol


11:41 AM - 1 Jun 2018

UDB! - all pollies and mandarins are parasites - 

"K" add - Yup, that's the one  - McDonaught et al.......

[Gobbledock]

AND THE CROWD CRIED OUT BOLLOCKS BOLLOCKS BOLLOCKS!

Miniscule McDo’nothing said;

“I welcome the establishment of the GA Flight Plan and I have asked the Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to work with the Group in responding to these priorities,” Mr McCormack said.

Of course you welcome the establishment and of course the Department and CAsA will look at these matters, however that is not an acceptance of the problems in aviation and nor is it a solution or a COMMITMENT to do anything.

These arsewipes really are unbelievable arent they? 30 years of doing SFA and the game continues. If it wasn’t so true and serious you would laugh wouldn’t you? Jesus, by the time any reform is done Australia will be underwater from that other chestnut of ‘global warming’ and there will be no need for aviation when we are sitting on the bottom of the ocean with a Pel Air aircraft.....

‘Safe cheap talk for all”

[thorn bird]

How many of those cheshire cats knows anything about GA? their all wearing suits to start with.
Who in GA can afford a suit after paying CAsA fees, airport charges, fuel excise, etc etc.