[Peetwo]

REX solemn loyalty vow falls a foul of the Feds - 

It would seem that the beloved airline of the Nats REX (for all the wrong reasons) can't stay out of the news??

From Ironsider, via the Oz:

Rex letter to cadet pilots lands in court


July 17, 2019

Aviation


Legal action over a letter sent by Regional Express (Rex) airlines to prospective cadet pilots will finally be heard by the Federal Circuit Court today, five years after it was originally filed.

The Australian Federation of Air Pilots applied to the court in September 2014 for penalty order­s against Rex after the airline sought to make cadet pilots agree to stay at cheap accommod­ation and remain with the company for at least seven years.

“For us at Rex, pure technical skills alone are not enough,” said the letter.

“We are looking for cadets who will acknowledge the privil­ege of this life-changing opportunity and commit to paying back to the company by being fiercely loyal and company-minded and by going above and beyond the call of duty especially in times of need by the company.”

The letter went on to highlight the example of cadets choosing to stay at a local motel rather than more basic accommodation during­ simulator training, at a cost to the company of an extra $100 a night.

“You should be aware that the Rex Group considers such cadets to be totally lacking in integrity and the Rex Group will not allow any pilot lacking in integrity to hold a command.”

Recipients were then asked to reply with a handwritten letter includ­ing a “solemn promise to give back to the company by volun­teering to undertake various­ activities and actions”.

According to the AFAP, the letter constituted “adverse act­ion, coercion and misrepre­sen­tation under the Fair Work Act, and should be retracted with Rex ordered­ to pay civil penalties”.

In response, Rex applied to the Federal Circuit Court to have the AFAP-brought action dismissed on the grounds the federation could not represent people who were not actual members.

When the application was rejected­, Rex appealed to a full bench of the Federal Court only to lose again, leaving the High Court as its last resort.

In its ruling in December 2017, the High Court upheld the ­Federal Court’s finding that an industr­ial organisation registered under the Fair Work Act was entitle­d to represent the interests of a person who was eligible for membership but was not a member­.

The matter has been set down for hearing in the Federal Circuit Court in Melbourne for three days from today before judge Karl Blake.

A spokeswoman for the AFAP said the federation was relieved the case was finally going to be heard.

Rex did not respond to questions from The Australian. The reg­ional carrier has faced intense scrutiny in recent weeks after engin­eers raised concerns with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority about a “poor safety culture”.

CASA has since cleared the airline after a two-day inspection of the airline’s Wagga Wagga maintenance depot.

 
Also in the Alphabet news...

Via Oz Flying:

Sport Aircraft Association out of Part 149
18 July 2019
    
The Sport Aircraft Association of Australia (SAAA) will not become an Approved Self-administration Aviation Organisation (ASAO) under the new CASR Part 149 that took effect this week.

Part 149 is a new ruleset that covers the functions of organisations that seek to administer specific sectors of aviation such as Recreational Aviation Australia (RAAus), the Gliding Federation of Australia (GFA) or the Australian Parachute Federation (APF).

Part 149 aims to eliminate all the exemptions granted to ASAOs over the past 60 years and instead replace them with approvals to operate that recognise the associations as administrators for the sector.

Up until this week, the SAAA was considering applying for an ASAO approval, but a note from CASA made it clear that the SAAA would gain no advantage from going through the process.

In an announcement made to members, the SAAA said they would not pursue Part 149 approval for "the foreseeable future."

"This follows a communication to SAAA from CASA on 2nd July 2019 '..as Part 149 does not contain any functions that SAAA would administer, it would subsequently not be possible for the SAAA to transition from its current role to becoming an Approved Self-administering Aviation Organisation (ASAO) under Part 149.' This is of course in the context of Part 149 and the related Manual of Standards as they presently exist."

SAAA was one of nine Australian sport aviation organisations working with CASA on Part 149, but has said it was concerned over the relevance of the new regulation to members.

"SAAA has ... been especially concerned over many issues, the most significant of which have been around:

• transfer of regulatory responsibilities from CASA to SAOs with no attendant transfer of funding
  
• the imposition of strict liability provisions
  
• the understanding that SAAA members’ current exemptions would at best be frozen in time if SAAA did not migrate to Part 149, thus hindering opportunities for further development of safety outcome improvements
  
• the fate of VH EAB [VH-registered Experimental Amateur-built] aircraft and their pilots was unknown.
  

"SAAA remains unconvinced of the merits of Part 149 being relevant to or able to offer improved safety outcomes for the Australian VH EAB fleet and its pilots."

CASA administers aircraft registration, airworthiness, licensing and medicals for EAB aircraft regardless of whether or not the owners and pilots are members of SAAA. The SAAA focuses on helping members comply with the Civil Aviation Act 1988 and providing education as a way of improving safety for home-built aircraft.

"SAAA, now continuing its operations outside of the Part 149 environment, looks forward to working with CASA as it has done in the past to deliver further safety outcome improvements to its Members and the VH EAB fleet and pilots generally," the announcement said.

More information on CASR Part 149 is on the CASA website.

Read more at http://www.australianflying.com.au/lates...p61rqJB.99

MTF...P2