User [over] pays

This is not an argument to slash wages and conditions but there is a growing realisation that we should compare ourselves honestly with our major competitors.

One worrying anomaly is the difference between the average wages of those who work in the Australian industry and those who work for the government aviation bureaucracies. The difference in conditions, for seemingly similar or related work, is sometimes spectacular. The cruel irony is that the industry pays directly to support these wage disparities.

There is also sometimes the added perk of recently retired aviation bureaucrats being re-employed by government as contractors, and concurrently enjoying the blessings of a new wage and a new pension.

If this is not double-dipping I don’t know what is.

While the government’s attempts to drive down red tape costs are to be commended, it doesn’t seem to have filtered through to aviation. I would challenge anyone to be brave enough to set a date marking the end of aviation regulation reform. It’s been going 25 years and there seems no end in sight.

As always where there are challenges, there are opportunities. Asia is discovering Australia rather than the other way around. Sydney and Melbourne property markets, agriculture and iron ore will not be the only areas of investment in the longer term. Aviation and aviation-related services will attract the Asian middle classes. A lower Australian dollar will accelerate this overseas investment.

Our aviation future depends on how we respond to the above challenges and opportunities. Government costs and regulations must be kept to a minimum, including public service wages growth. Also we must be able to attract our best and brightest to the aviation professions, particularly engineering where the average age has risen to unsustainable levels.

If our investment growth lies in Asia it is sound for our industry to have interlocutors who can speak the language of our future customers.

English may be the international business language but we will have an edge if strenuous efforts are made to encourage multi-lingual business relationships. This is not a normal business reflex for Australia but it is for many of our competitors, and must be taken seriously. For example, how did a small country like the Czech Republic end up producing 60 per cent of new sport aircraft models? Their product and marketing is first class plus they speak the languages of their main customers.

As we are discovering, relying on boom times in one or two industries is a poor long-term strategy in terms of sustaining an economy. Asia is open to the possibilities of commercial and private aviation, and our mature industry is on its doorstep. We can grow these multi-lateral aviation relationships but it will mean clearly understanding what our future customers need and want.

As an experienced aviation operator once said, never waste a good recession. We might need to heed this advice.