09-18-2021, 12:48 PM
The ABAA has it’s case to put forward and rightly so. As far the the whole of Australia’s General Aviation (GA) industry is concerned their call for a harmonised regulatory environment is laudable, this a huge issue that needs action by Minister Barnaby Joyce as a matter of urgency. Urgency because GA has already succumbed in large part to massive bureaucratic overreach and COVID has made matters worse.
I’m sure for the sake of flying training we will wish good fortune to the new Australian Flight Training Industry Association (AFTIA). I hope it doesn’t fall into the trap of leaning on CASA to maintain exclusivity. It can be quite a leap for such an organisation to champion a free enterprise outlook because members can perceive competition from, say, independent instructors. The latter concept is most necessary if flying training is to flourish once again.
There’s no safety case against this desirable reform, standard practice in the USA, we used to have hundreds of flying schools, many in small country towns that produced pilots who needed aircraft, which needed maintenance, which employed people, who had families. This was the case before the CASA juggernaut crushed those small schools out of existence.
Truth is that only a free market can deliver that larger ‘pie’ from which all can take a slice. Certainly true for the remaining flying schools who have battled to stay afloat and have spent years working through the painful and very expensive transition to the nightmare of CASA’s latest flying school regulatory regime.
In a USA style reformed environment, I hope the members of AFTIA can see that they would not only be training private pilots but many more instructors, and the more pilots everywhere will increase the market for aircraft and advanced training, particularly for the Instrument Flight Rules rating.
I’m sure for the sake of flying training we will wish good fortune to the new Australian Flight Training Industry Association (AFTIA). I hope it doesn’t fall into the trap of leaning on CASA to maintain exclusivity. It can be quite a leap for such an organisation to champion a free enterprise outlook because members can perceive competition from, say, independent instructors. The latter concept is most necessary if flying training is to flourish once again.
There’s no safety case against this desirable reform, standard practice in the USA, we used to have hundreds of flying schools, many in small country towns that produced pilots who needed aircraft, which needed maintenance, which employed people, who had families. This was the case before the CASA juggernaut crushed those small schools out of existence.
Truth is that only a free market can deliver that larger ‘pie’ from which all can take a slice. Certainly true for the remaining flying schools who have battled to stay afloat and have spent years working through the painful and very expensive transition to the nightmare of CASA’s latest flying school regulatory regime.
In a USA style reformed environment, I hope the members of AFTIA can see that they would not only be training private pilots but many more instructors, and the more pilots everywhere will increase the market for aircraft and advanced training, particularly for the Instrument Flight Rules rating.