Airminded Australians?

In Rural and Regional Australia, Airports Provide a Crucial Service for Businesses Like Banking, Agriculture and Mining. Airports Enable Rural People to Be Less Isolated by the Provision of Newspapers and Regular Airline Services to Major Centres. They Provide a Critical Link for Health Services That Are Simply Not Available in the Bush.

Airports Enable Emergency Services to Support People in the Bush, From the Royal Flying Doctor Service and Air Ambulance to Flood, Fire and Plague Aerial Operations.

Airports Bring Money Into the Community Through the Businesses That Are Associated With Aviation – Airlines, Maintenance/repair Organisations, Fuel Suppliers, Charter Companies, Private Owners and Aerial Agricultural Operators – All of Whom Generally Pay Leases, as Well as Their Owners and Employees Paying Taxes, Rates and Contributing to Their Local Communities and Economies.

Some Enlightened Airport Owners Treat Their Airport and the Organisations on It as an Asset – to Be Nurtured, Promoted and Expanded.

Some Understand That Their Airport Represents a Great Investment in Their Future Through Expanded Tourism Opportunities, Continuing Services to Residents and the Attraction of Business to the Town.

However, There Are Other Owners Who View the People on Their Airport as Pests That the Airport Would Be Better Off Without. There Are Some Who Are Now Looking at the Real Estate Opportunities Locked Up in Their Airport – Not Through the Development of Air Parks or Other Suitable Aviation Related Developments, but Through the Wholesale Trashing of the Airport and Carving Up for a Short-term Gain.

The Short-sightedness of Some Airport Owners is Hard to Believe. Instead of Choosing to Build a Vibrant Airport Community by Sensible Policies and Charging Regimes as a Number of Owners Have Proven is a Viable Alternative Path, Some Owners Seem Intent on Driving People Away From Airports, or Giving in to Development Lobbies Who Place No Value on All the Critical Services Airports Enable for Local Communities.

The Handing Back of Airports to Local Authorities Without Any Guarantees for Continued Aviation Use May Be a Decision That Many Local Communities Will Come to Regret When the Services They Take for Granted Disappear Over Time.

Aviation Margins in Regional Areas Are Often Thin and Are Very Sensitive to Pressure From People With No Appreciation of Aviation or Who Continually Underestimate the Value of Aviation to the Community.

For Pilots, the Safety Implications From the Demise of Local Airports May Not Be Immediately Obvious, but Aaaa Has Included the Demise of Local Airports as an Emerging Safety Threat to Aviation for the Current Casa Review. Shorter, Narrower, Dirt Strips Away From the Current Airport’s Often Excellent Infrastructure, Possibly Fewer Radio Calls Because of Their Link to Landing Charges, Deteriorating Maintenance of Runways Because of the Death Spiral of Lower Utilisation Due to Diminishing Services and Increased Charges May All Have an Impact on the Safety of Operations.

The Waste of Great Infrastructure, Already Paid for by the Aviation Industry and the Community, is a Blemish on Australia’s Self-image as an Air-minded Nation. Federal and State Governments Should Still Be Helping Airport Owners With Funding for Runways and Maintenance in the Same Way They Fund Rail, Road and Commuter Infrastructure – It Must Be a Part of Strategic National Investment.

But the Contrast Between Enlightened Owners and Those Who Are at Best Lukewarm About Their Airport Could Not Be Starker. Deserted Airfields Versus Bustling Economic Centres – Healthy Contributors to the Local Economy and Supporters of a Vibrant Community Versus Moribund Strips With No Services and High Charges. Cantankerous Groundsmen Versus Helpful Facilitators.

The Choice Lies in the Hands of Local Communities and Local Owners. And They Should Be Influenced by Local Aviation Operators Lobbying for a Fair Go, and Highlighting the Success Stories of Local Airport Ownership.

Chemical Drift Management Course Success

Aaaa’s Latest Professional Development Product – the Chemical Drift Management Course – is Being Hailed as a Success by Attendees, Many of Whom Are Saying That Despite Years in the Business They Are Still Learning Something New as Technology Enables Better Decisions.

Over 150 Professional Application Pilots and Operators Have Attended Courses in Coleambally, Launceston, Goondiwindi, Emerald, Innisfail, Jandakot and Mudgee Over Recent Months, With More Scheduled for Sa and Victoria in 2008.

The Aaaa Computerbased Calculators for Spray Quality and Water Volume Are Providing a New Means of Educating Clients and Agronomists About Sound Spray Decisions, and Aerial Agricultural Operators Are Taking Up the New Technology Enthusiastically. R Australian Aviation is Proud to Be the Official Supporting Journal of the Aerial Agricultural Association of Australia. The Views in This Column Are Those of the Aaaa, and Not Necessarily Australian Aviation’s.