Convention success

The creative tension that marks government/industry relationships was well in evidence in a number of forums.

Aviation is an industry that is regulated sometimes to the point of near extinction and must stand its ground to ensure its survival.

It is understood and respected that government agencies have legislated responsibilities. It is also understood that the agencies have obligations to the travelling public and to the industry. It is not just a matter of oversighting the regional aviation industry but working with industry to overcome emerging operational issues.

Regional aviation is a very dynamic industry requiring strategic responses, often in very short timeframes, if a particular business is to survive and grow. Operators and their staff work long hours to respond to customer needs. People work to ensure that safety minima are always exceeded. Their business relies on delivering a timely, high quality product. This regional aviation culture is interacting with the more extended, sometimes politically driven goals of government agencies.

This can create tensions that need to be accepted and used to deliver the best possible possible and how they intended to make their contribution.

Their nervous but eloquent speeches were straight from the heart and reinforced that the future is in good hands.

Soon many across the industry will be responding to the Government’s Aviation Green Paper. The government should be acknowledged for indentias a large aircraft manufacturer there are still niche markets to explore in regional aircraft, avionics, sub-assemblies, engines and fuels to name a few.

The Aviation Green Paper may be a once-in-a-generation opportunity to focus on an industry that has been in the shadows, even pillaged if the airports are considered, for too many years. Let us hope that the government is listening intently and will be prepared to fund the best ideas. Ross and Keith Smith, Bert Hinkler, Charles Kingsford-Smith, and more recently Arthur Butler, Don Kendell, Nancy-Bird Walton, and Max Hazelton were and are Australians of courage and vision. They put new aviation possibilities in front of their fellow citizens. Even now, there are many aviation fields that can be developed further.

Rather than being consumers of aviation technology, why not expand the number of Australian innovators and add value? We have done it before and it is possible again.

Aviation is particularly well suited to regional economic environments and can be a source of employment growth. This is an issue that the government should consider carefully as it analyses the Green Paper responses.

Considerable resources are being allocated by industry to develop the responses.

Serious issues will be raised and a serious, creative reply by government is anticipated. n Australian Aviation is proud to be the official supporting journal of the Regional Aviation Association of Australia. The views in this column are those of the RAAA, and not necessarily Australian Aviation’s.

Convention success Aviation is an industry that is regulated sometimes to the point of near extinction and must stand its ground to ensure its survival.

outcomes for the regional aviation industry and its customers.

One of the major highlights of the Convention was the awarding of the Jeppesen and Michelin technical scholarships.

Each year these young people drive all cynicism from the room and remind us why we are part of regional aviation.

The recipients did not speak of current difficulties but of the fying sound, forward looking aviation policy as fundamental to Australia’s interests. One thing is certain, regional aviation is vital to Australia’s longterm economic and social goals.

The responses to the Green Paper should be a call to arms by the industry to ensure that Australia is, once again, a leading air-minded nation. While we may have missed the boat