08-01-2021, 05:11 PM
It seems plain that Ms. Spence doesn’t have the incentive to make the changes that we all know are necessary if General Aviation has any chance of revival. Wombat has laid out the main contrary problems and pointed to a much better regulatory pathway.
The thirty three year experiment of removing the administration of aviation out of direct Ministerial responsibility is the key issue because the regulator now has all the wrong incentives.
1/. The head is an appointee, not elected, neither is the Board.
2/. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), being a corporate entity (unlike a Department) can be sued therefore it will protect itself.
3/. It will largely set for itself the wages and conditions and its easy to see that by making itself more important then ‘corporate’ rates of pay will be in place, and conditions may be far from optimal in terms of work output.
4/. By the requiring of new permissions, and making far more complex rules and demands of compliance, and repeatedly making changes, CASA ensures that it’s ‘fee for service’ program generates large sums of money which feed into it’s bottom line and ability to increase wages.
5/. Because it is treated by government in a completely hands off manner, notwithstanding the occasional regurgitation from the Minister’s office the very general Statement of Expectations, mostly about world’s best practice, CASA has managed to create a never ending make work program out of what should be a workable set of rules. Our rules and procedures should closely follow the International Convention of Aviation Organisations agreed standards, to which we are signatory. They do not follow the agreed standards, I hear that we have in excess of four thousand noted differences. Not to mention that by being so out of kilter, and with the USA in particular, we miss out on trade and business opportunities.
The system must be changed, maybe the Board should be elected, but without change we won’t see our GA industry take it’s proper place and provide jobs businesses and services along with all the home grown pilots that will needed in the future. And perhaps more importantly allow our freedom to fly.
The thirty three year experiment of removing the administration of aviation out of direct Ministerial responsibility is the key issue because the regulator now has all the wrong incentives.
1/. The head is an appointee, not elected, neither is the Board.
2/. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), being a corporate entity (unlike a Department) can be sued therefore it will protect itself.
3/. It will largely set for itself the wages and conditions and its easy to see that by making itself more important then ‘corporate’ rates of pay will be in place, and conditions may be far from optimal in terms of work output.
4/. By the requiring of new permissions, and making far more complex rules and demands of compliance, and repeatedly making changes, CASA ensures that it’s ‘fee for service’ program generates large sums of money which feed into it’s bottom line and ability to increase wages.
5/. Because it is treated by government in a completely hands off manner, notwithstanding the occasional regurgitation from the Minister’s office the very general Statement of Expectations, mostly about world’s best practice, CASA has managed to create a never ending make work program out of what should be a workable set of rules. Our rules and procedures should closely follow the International Convention of Aviation Organisations agreed standards, to which we are signatory. They do not follow the agreed standards, I hear that we have in excess of four thousand noted differences. Not to mention that by being so out of kilter, and with the USA in particular, we miss out on trade and business opportunities.
The system must be changed, maybe the Board should be elected, but without change we won’t see our GA industry take it’s proper place and provide jobs businesses and services along with all the home grown pilots that will needed in the future. And perhaps more importantly allow our freedom to fly.