[Peetwo]

WTD? - EWH promos RAAA's WOFTAM CEO opinion on AFTIA?

Ref 20/20 thread post:

RAAA - 19.1 Supplementary to submission 19

Picked up that the RRAT committee recently published the CEO of the RAAA supplementary submission (personal opinion piece) to the McDolittle WOFTAM inquiry...  

See here - 19.1 Supplementary to submission 19 (PDF 2366 KB) 

Extract:

...On top of this, aircraft operating costs are only going higher as they age and fuel costs go even higher, renewing aircraft is not cheap and we have seen the lifespan of GA aircraft extending beyond 40+ years. Later on we talk about CASA, but whilst ongoing costs from regulations are a small percent age of total costs of running a GA business, regulatory changes have incurred significant costs to the industry which were not fully understood by CASA and we have another big change coming soon .

I believe too much focus has been placed on CASA by GA for the cause of their woes, I believe it is time for GA to look inward for some real self-reflect ion . Some GA businesses are built from  a passion or hobby, once upon a time this worked out ok, but with privatisation of airports, maintenance and fuel costs going up, our GA businesses needed to adapt. Rather than harking back to the 'good ol days' GA needs to be looking 5-10 years ahead, what will flying training look like, how will drones affect GA, how will technology change GA, should GA be looking to regional bases??

There are IMO some reasonable points and recommendations made. However I find it passing strange that this submission, written on behalf of some fairly high profile operators and airlines (eg Rex, Alliance), would appear to be the sole considered opinion of the new CEO of the RAAA Steven Campbell??

I also believe there is a weighted perception of a 'conflict of interest' that questions the independence and veracity of this individual to give unbiased, credible opinion to the RRAT committee??

Ref: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-campb...bdomain=au

Airservices Australia
Government Relations Manager
Company Name Airservices Australia Full-time
Dates Employed Feb 2020 – Jan 2021
Employment Duration 1 yr
Location Canberra, Australia

Deputy Prime Minister's Office
Senior Advisor - Aviation
Company Name Deputy Prime Minister's Office
Dates Employed May 2018 – Feb 2020
Employment Duration 1 yr 10 mos
Location Canberra, Australia
Civil Aviation Safety Authority

Senior Aviation Adviser-Office of the CEO
Company Name Civil Aviation Safety Authority
Dates Employed Oct 2017 – May 2018
Employment Duration 8 mos
Location Canberra, Australia

Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development
Company Name Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development
Total Duration 1 yr 8 mos
Title Special Aviation Adviser
Dates Employed Jul 2017 – Oct 2017
Employment Duration 4 mos
Location Canberra, Australia

Western Sydney Airport Division-Airspace and flight path design
Title Senior Advisor-Aviation
Dates Employed Mar 2016 – Jul 2017
Employment Duration 1 yr 5 mos
Location Canberra, Australia

Civil Aviation Safety Authority
Company Name Civil Aviation Safety Authority
Total Duration 2 yrs 8 mos
Title Manager, Part 61 taskforce, Part 141/142
Dates Employed Oct 2015 – Mar 2016
Employment Duration6 mos
Location Canberra, Australia

Manager of CASR Part 141/142 review team.
Title Standards Officer (Large aeroplanes)
Dates Employed Aug 2013 – Oct 2015
Employment Duration 2 yrs 3 mos
Providing policy guidance and regulation development for the CASR operations suite of regulations.

Despite the fact that the WOFTAM CEO of the RAAA has absolutely zero credibility (view CV above), with serious questions of COI in his current role, EWH has promoted this individual as some sort industry Guru whose opinion actually matters - WTD? Ref: http://www.australianflying.com.au/lates...initiative

 

24 September 2021

The Regional Aviation Association of Australia (RAAA) is taking a cautious approach to the new flight training association that was announced last week.

The Australian Flight Training Industry Association (AFTIA) was formed in reaction to what some flight training organisations (FTO) believe is under-representation of the sector, a task the RAAA has proported to champion in the past.

RAAA CEO Steve Campbell said whilst he wished AFTIA all the best, many questions still needed to be answered.

"I welcome the new AFTIA initiative and agree that training in general deserves more of a focus," he told Australian Flying, "but we do need to understand more detail in AFTIA’s policy platform with their ideas on how they will make a difference for their potential members.

"I am personally not one for more associations in an already crowded space, so it would be interesting to hear how AFTIA believes they will be able to stand out in the crowd."

Campbell also pointed out that RAAA had several members who were FTOs and that the association had ongoing projects with Canberra and felt a co-operative effort was better than presenting a divided facade.

"The RAAA has already been working in this space of course with the Department of Infrastructure, focusing on key skill shortages in our industry and will be looking at bringing some of our members together, who are the largest training providers in Australia, to put forward solutions for future government consideration," he said.

"The RAAA also recently put in a submission to the general aviation senate inquiry calling on the government to produce the Future of Aviation paper, which will be key in understanding where the government’s focus will be in the short to medium term for aviation and in particular skills shortages.

"It would be more advantageous for us all to be putting our shoulders to the same wheel, but none the less I wish AFTIA the very best."

Several other advocates in the flight training sector have expressed similar sentiments to Campbell, but have preferred to remain off the record.

AFTIA has released some preliminary material and is believed to be in the process of producing a prospectus for potential members.

And to top it off (vomit -   ) EWH follows up in this week's LMH with his OP on the matter?? 

The general aviation community's reaction to AFTIA has been varied but very forthright. The theme coming through to me is that everyone wishes the new association the best, but wants to see what emerges before they give it whole-hearted support. The audience gives a round of applause as the curtain goes up, but holds the standing ovation until they see how good the show actually is. With the flight training sector almost universally assessed as being under-represented for years you would think the GA community would show more enthusiasm, but that's being quelled slightly by concerns that published policies may be infected by self-interest. There's validity in that: it's a concern being aired about almost every association and advocacy group in the country, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that AFTIA is being subject to the same eyebrow-raising. However, there has been an obvious void in the flight training industry for many years: leadership. Not only in advocacy, but also in policy, promotion and development, there has been no association or any other entity that has helmed the industry. Despite the reservations expressed in the last week, the flight training industry is better off for having one banner for FTOs to unite behind.

MTF...P2