Issue 338: Collective Hope

“It’s not that the industry is ‘not in good shape’, it’s just not racing along like it used to,” said Crook. “Regulatory reform is having some effect on the industry but the main effect is the downturn in activity in the offshore oil and onshore mineral industries. Our industry suffers the same surges and downturns as a number of other industries, it’s cyclical, but this particular downturn might take a little longer to recover from than what has traditionally been the average. ” Upbeat about the interest shown from industry in Rotortech 2016, Crook says exhibitor booth numbers for the now three-day event are up by nearly double on the inaugural Rotortech 2014, selling out four months in advance.

“And we are even getting bookings for Rotortech 2018 already,” said Crook.

“This year we chose to expand Rotortech out to three days because we listened to comments made at the last Rotortech. Exhibitors said they wanted more opportunity to talk with delegates. The extra day with no increase in the number of presentations will provide this opportunity. With the amount of interest being shown in Rotortech, it really does prove the industry wants to have a dedicated helicopter get-together where people can network. It also proves the AHIA is definitely needed to be an industry voice. ” Since forming in November 2012, the AHIA has been the voice for the Australian helicopter industry on a number of fronts, communicating between the industry and the regulator. “When we first started, the industry was looking to us to see if we were going to do anything,” said Crook. “We now have members that are fuel providers, insurance and finance brokers and legal firms – anyone with an interest in helicopters. We have had some successes and these people are joining the AHIA because they can now see the benefit of an industry voice. Our membership is growing and that is very satisfying. ”

Statistically speaking

On the topic of growing, a survey of the numbers of registered helicopters in Australia reveals modest growth compared to 2014’s figures. At the time of writing, there were 2,152 rotorcraft registered with CASA, representing growth of 2. 9 per cent in the past two years. Broken down the national fleet comprises 254 twin-turbines (12 per cent), 574 single-turbines (27 per cent) and 1,324 single pistons (61 per cent).

North America remains the largest source of Australian-registered helicopters. The two-seat Robinson R22 is still the most popular helicopter flying in the country with 577 units on the VH register. The R22’s bigger sibling, the four-seat R44, comes in second with 487 machines, while Bell’s 206/206L/407 family takes third spot with 248 units.

From Europe, there are 168 examples of Airbus Helicopter’s AS350/H130 Squirrel series registered locally, while from the company formerly known as AgustaWestland, the newly-renamed Leonardo Helicopters, there are now no fewer than 28 AW139s registered.

Within the helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) sector, the AW139 is proving to be the helicopter of choice, with the type in service with operators in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and the Northern Territory. Queensland’s RACQ CareFlight now has two AW139s in service with a third on the way. That state’s Queensland Government Air (QGAir) uses three of the type and was the first Australian HEMS operator to begin using the AW139 back in 2007.

In Victoria, the state’s new Ambulance Victoria contract is operated by Australian Helicopters, with six AW139s in service state-wide.

“The solution build was defined by the customer’s requirements as they were ultimately looking for options to future-proof their operations over a 10-year contract period,” said Lauren Adams, director of commercial at Australian Helicopters and Bond Helicopters Australia. “We assessed their mission requirements and conducted a comprehensive analysis of suitable platforms and the AW139 was a good fit aircraft for what they wanted to achieve. ” North of the border, Ambulance NSW’s incumbent service provider, CHC, currently uses three AW139s. However, from 2017 Toll Helicopters will begin to operate eight new AW139s under a new contract from bases in Orange, Bankstown, Wollongong and Canberra, representing the southern region. Toll already has three in country with its fourth due in late May as it gears ups for contract start. The Northern NSW Helicopter Rescue Service, an amalgamation of the Newcastle-based Hunter Region Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service and Lismore’s Northern Region Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter Service, will also begin operating four of the type from bases in Newcastle, Tamworth and Lismore for the northern region sector of the 10-year contract.

More helicopters are registered in Queensland, with 713 machines listed there, than any other state. Following behind is NSW (521), Western Australia (290), Victoria (274) and the Northern Territory (174). Helicopter numbers in Tasmania, South Australia and the ACT, combined, total 119.

On the activity front, a look at Airservices Australia’s ‘Movements at Australian Airports – Calendar Year 2015’ report shows civil helicopter movements at Australia’s 31 tower-controlled airports totalled 361,486 in 2015. While the report only captures movements during tower hours, the figure reflects a 9. 6 per cent drop on total helicopter movements compared with the previous year.

On a licensing front, CASA’s 2014-15 annual report shows that over the past two years ATPL(H) numbers have increased with 855 licensed helicopter pilots in that category, an increase of around 14 per cent. CPL(H) numbers are also up slightly by 10. 5 per cent to 1,853 and PPL(H) holders have risen 8. 5 per cent to 890. While minor, these increases to licence numbers capture the first nine months after the introduction of CASA’s new regulations for licensing and training organisations.

Regulatory reforming

As it was two years ago, the biggest issue for the Australian helicopter today remains regulatory reform, with the introduction of sweeping changes as CASA adopted new regulatory suites based on ICAO and EASA regulations.

“It’s absolute over regulation,” said John McDermott, owner and chief pilot of utility operator McDermott Aviation. “The regulations are impacting all of us in Australia who work in the aerial work category. What CASA is doing is creating a huge burden without any safety-based reason to do it. ” Following the introduction of CASA’s new suite of regulations for ratings, licences and endorsements on September 1 2014, under the helm of then Director of Aviation Safety (DAS) John McCormick, the transition period to CASRs Part 61 (licensing) and 141 and 142 (training) was extended by a year less than 12 months after they were first introduced with the revised deadline set as September 2017.

CASA’s new DAS, Mark Skidmore, who took over the helm in January 2015, not long after the new regulations were launched, acknowledges CASA had not implemented Part 61 as well as it should have. In his keynote address at the CHC Safety and Quality Summit in Vancouver, Canada on April 4 this year, Skidmore reinforced that safety must always be CASA’s most important consideration.

“This does not mean that safety is the only consideration CASA takes into account when performing its regulatory functions and exercising its regulatory powers. In other words, this means there is an opportunity for the aviation community to show CASA how the right safety outcomes under the regulations can be achieved at a lower cost or administrative burden. We will entertain such an alternative approach if it does not compromise safety. ” McDermott said he was hopeful there was going to be a clearer direction

CASA is creating a huge burden without any safety-based reason to do it. JOHN MCDERMOTT

following the appointment of a new DAS at CASA. “Just because you change the skipper, if the crew is exactly the same, then this is not necessarily going to give you a better outcome,” said McDermott.

“The whole regulatory change is fundamentally flawed because it is not being done on a safety-based reasoning, it is being done to align with ICAO. ICAO don’t recognise or at least involve themselves with aerial work, so why are we having these prescriptive and restrictive regulations forced upon us? All the small helicopter operators throughout Europe are extinct – they have gone. A small operator there could not afford the complexity of the regulations and this is what is going to evolve here in Australia, and if anybody thinks otherwise they are kidding themselves. ” That is a sentiment echoed by Mike Becker, chief pilot and co-owner of Becker Helicopters based at the Sunshine Coast Airport. “At the moment the state of our industry is a little depressed,” said Becker. “We are getting so many changes over such a short period of time and we don’t seem to be getting good direction from CASA. Although I don’t think legislation is the 100 per cent cause of this. Aviation is a confidence industry. If you have confidence in an industry, people will invest in it. If you don’t, then everyone runs a mile. ” Having worked hard over the past 20 years with wife and CEO, Jan, to build a niche business in training overseas ab initio students to become civil and military helicopter pilots, Becker says they are busy at the moment because of their contracts.

“We are doing more than 300 hours and over 230 sorties per week, but these contracts are the result of years of actively pursuing the international training arena to counteract slow activity in the mining and oil sectors, poor fire seasons and other aerial work. The local training industry is stagnating as the requirement for helicopter pilots fluctuates with the oil and gas industries. You don’t see many young pilots entering the industry wanting to give it a go anymore. It would be really nice if we could go back to having that ‘can do’ attitude again. If you want to give it a go, then you can give it a go and you should give it a go. ” CASA is currently undergoing a major internal restructure, an outcome of the Aviation Safety Regulation Review, to reorganise its operating model to become client-oriented. Skidmore said an important goal of the restructure is reducing the time people and organisations in the aviation community need to spend dealing with CASA.

“This change in structure is a vital step in the process of renewing CASA so that our organisation meets the legitimate safety and regulatory needs of the aviation community while delivering the best possible aviation safety system for all Australians. CASA has been consulting widely and often over the past year and now is the time to start delivering real change,” he said.

“The European regulations are the most restrictive and convoluted, but Australia is not that far behind it,” said McDermott. “Papua New Guinea looked at New Zealand’s regulations, took them and refined it. They now have got a really good system which is ten times better than Australia’s. As far as regulations go, theirs is simple, it is precise and it is workable. ” The AHIA has been regularly consulting with CASA as the industry continues to grapple with its regulations. “We have had some pretty high level meetings with CASA about the regulatory reform, namely CASR Parts 61, 141 and 142,” said Crook. “The progress is slow, probably a little slower than what we would like, but we are making headway and the regulator is as keen as we are to get things on the right track. We have to abide by certain ICAO rules and regulations to be a member country of that organisation. However, our operating environment is different, some of our requirements are different, so really we can’t go out there and align ourselves 100 per cent with ICAO. ” Becker says there have been over 25 chief flying instructors and chief pilots from organisations around the country spending many hours every week in conference calls with CASA nutting out the regulations that relate directly to the helicopter industry.

“The regulations are arduous,” said Becker. “To places things in perspective, we have over 36 instructors with IFR, NVFR, NVG, low-level and sling endorsements and each have to do some 15 to 25 annual flight reviews per pilot – that’s 900 tests. ” Crook, like everyone working at the AHIA, volunteers his time with all travel costs to attend meetings and conferences self-funded.

“We were heavily involved in the flight testing regime, a part of Part 61, which really needed to be rationalised,” said Crook. “There are far too many flights tests required to stay current. If you had ratings on five helicopter types say with low flying, external loads and night flying endorsements, you would need to do 15 annual check flights. This has all been rationalised now with input from the AHIA. One flight review would cover other parts of your licence coverage. Draft changes to flight testing should be out to industry to review by the end of May. ”

Oils and sales

The cyclical downturn in oil exploration and production has hit the global helicopter industry hard. Competitive overproduction outstripping global demand has been a key driver of crude oil’s prices falling from its peak of US$105 a barrel in June 2014 to a low of US$29 in mid-January this year, before rising to around US$45 a barrel today.

Airlines and operators are enjoying cheap fuel prices, helping to firm up their bottom lines. But the impact on the global helicopter industry has seen a number of operators lay off pilots and engineers, defer new orders and sell off some of its helicopters.

“Even the mineral industry up in PNG is in a downturn of exploration activity,” said Crook. “And that is also affecting the amount of work being done by helicopters in our region. Operators in this segment of the industry have had to mothball some of their fleet with their pilots asked to take extended leave or transfer from offshore to onshore work as required to suit their needs. ” Bond Helicopters Australia operates three Airbus Helicopters H225s and four Sikorsky S-92s for its offshore operations from Mungalalu Truscott Airbase to the Timor Sea and after July 1, from Barrow Island to Chevron installations off Australia’s north-west coast. Director of engineering at Bond Helicopters Australia and Australian Helicopters, Nick Clarke, said solid production contracts and the winning of another offshore contract meant the impact from the oil downturn for them has been minimal and in fact it continues to grow.

In the tourism sector we are now seeing things starting to improve a little. TONY FRASER

“With the reduction in exploration we have had to work harder and make sure we’re doing our business the smartest way possible,” said Clarke. “We did have to temporarily redeploy some staff to our sister company, Australian Helicopters, however that ultimately worked well for both companies. We’re confident it will pick up again, just at a slower pace than originally expected. ” Mixed times for operators means mixed fortunes for manufacturers.

“With the low price of oil, the offshore sector is difficult at the moment, but other elements of the industry are doing reasonably well,” said Airbus Group Australia Pacific’s managing director Tony Fraser. “We are very pleased with our ability still to hold marketshare in this difficult environment. It is a highly competitive environment and there are lots of good helicopters to choose from. ” Some of that good product includes Airbus Helicopters’ own new 16-seat medium-lift H175, which entered service with launch customer Belgium’s Noordzee Helikopters Vlaanderen in December 2014 – just as the downward dive began in the offshore industry.

But Airbus Helicopters has also been pushing ahead with the development of its new H160 medium-twin despite challenging times for new helicopter sales.

“It is amazing how much interest there is in the H160 including from VIP customers, probably because of the technology development that it has in it,” said Fraser. “The H160 is the next generation in helicopters. The work that has been done on the design of the blades, the fuselage and the updated Fenestron is really impressive and customers are genuinely interested. The company will do a demonstration tour of the H160 through our region when the helicopter is at a mature enough point and when it is the right time to bring it to our customers here in the Australia Pacific region. ” Airbus Helicopters averages about 10 new helicopter sales per year in Australia, New Zealand and neighbouring Pacific Islands, a little lower than in the past, Fraser noted.

“It does run in peaks and troughs. In the tourism sector we are now seeing things starting to improve a little, with the dropping Australian dollar, so that is promising. ”

What a drone

While there is little evidence they are having an impact on helicopter sales, the seismic growth in popularity of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) has resulted in CASA expanding its staffing to manage the application processes for licensed commercial pilots and operating certificates.

Australia was in fact the first country in the world to regulate remotely-piloted aircraft (RPA) when first operational regulations began in 2002. In March, CASA issued its 500th unmanned operator’s certificate (UOC) and is predicting there will be more than 600 operators licensed by the end of this year. In the US, the numbers are staggering with the FAA announcing in February that there are now more registered RPA operators than there are licensed pilots, with more than 325,000 RPA operators compared to around 320,000 licensed pilots of manned aircraft.

“The demand for small RPA flying visual line-of-sight for law enforcement, survey work, and aerial photography and video will continue to grow,” said Skidmore at the Australian Association for Unmanned Systems conference in Canberra on March 7. “Larger and more complex RPA, able to undertake more challenging tasks, will most likely begin to operate in controlled airspace where all traffic is known and where ATC is able to provide separation from other traffic. It is anticipated by 2030, UAS (unmanned aircraft systems) will be completely integrated into the airspace we know today, and interact with manned aircraft in a similar manner to how manned aircraft interact today. CASA and industry must remain cognisant that RPA operations do not increase the risks to other airspace users, particularly passenger transport operations or to other airspace users who may be are unaware of the increased risk. ” The uses of RPA are becoming more commonplace in commercial operations, but the trend has not been to replace but to complement the helicopter.

“Clearly they are here to stay,” said Crook. “There are larger rotary-wing machines getting around that don’t have a pilot on board. Sikorsky has been working on a fully autonomous S-76 and Black Hawk for a number years, as have other manufacturers with other types, so it’s not just the small drones, it’s getting to be quite big aircraft that are pilotless. The smaller drones, in the two to three kilogram category, can complement helicopter work because a lot of them are used in areas where you couldn’t really use a helicopter anyway. ” On March 31, CASA announced changes to RPA regulations that it says will maintain appropriate safety standards while cutting red tape. Effective from September 29 2016, commercial operators of RPA with a maximum takeoff weight of less than 2kg will no longer need to obtain a number of regulatory approvals, including a UOC and a remote pilot licence. CASA says the move will cut regulatory costs for operators by thousands of dollars, save time and reduce paperwork with operators just needing to notify them of their intent to use, while adhering to a set of standard operating conditions, via an “easy-to-use” online notification system.

The military landscape

Over the past two years, the Australian military helicopter landscape has changed with two new types, Boeing’s CH-47F Chinook and Sikorsky/ Lockheed Martin’s MH-60R Seahawk, entering service with the Australian Army and the Royal Australian Navy, respectively, with five helicopter types from both services continuing on their paths to retirement.

In August 2015, Boeing delivered the seventh and final CH-47F to the Army, completing the acquisition of seven helicopters to replace its six CH- 47D Chinooks under the AIR 9000 Phase 5C Medium Lift Helicopters project. In late December 2015, The US Department of State approved a possible sale of three more CH-47Fs for Army (subsequently confirmed in the Defence White Paper released in February), in a deal valued at US$180 million, including related equipment and support, which will bring the Foxtrot Chinook fleet size to 10.

Deliveries of 24 MH-60R Seahawk at Navy’s 725 and 723 squadrons at HMAS Albatross, Nowra continue with 19 handed over to date. The first Romeo arrived at Nowra in October 2014 with the final MH-60R scheduled to be delivered this August, 25 months earlier than forecast.

Army continues to take delivery of its remaining 46 MRH 90 Taipans, plus a 47th as a ground training device, on order from prime contractor Airbus Group Australia Pacific under the AIR 9000 MRH program. By the end of June this year, Army is scheduled to have accepted a further six MRH 90s to bring the total of Taipans in its inventory to 40. The final Taipan has been rescheduled to be delivered in July 2017. Navy has received its complement of six Taipans and are all in service with 808 Squadron at Nowra. Navy achieved initial operational capability (IOC) with the type in February 2015 and recently deployed three Taipans for the first time to Fiji in support of clean-up efforts following Tropical Cyclone Winston. Army achieved IOC with its MRH 90s in December 2014, but ongoing technical deficiencies have delayed the final materiel release (FMR) and final operational capability (FOC) milestones from being achieved by both services until around July 2019.

Leaving Army are its CH-47D Chinooks with only two of an original six remaining in service (see elsewhere this issue), S-70A-9 Black Hawks and Bell 206B-1 Kiowas.

The Black Hawks continue to be withdrawn from service, which commenced in January 2014. Black Hawks from B Squadron, 5 Aviation Regiment in Townsville were replaced in service by the MRH 90, with its Black Hawks transferred across to 171 and 173 Aviation Squadrons, 6 Aviation Regiment, at Holsworthy near Sydney in August 2014. A Squadron, 5 Aviation Regiment, has also relinquished its Black Hawks for MRH 90s.

In total, Army has 34 Black Hawks in service that rotate through a storage and maintenance program into the operational fleet, with 18 in use by 171 and 173 Squadrons and two operating at the Army Aviation Training Centre, Oakey on SAR duties. The last of the Black Hawks were due initially to be retired by June 2018. However, Army is delaying the introduction of the MRH 90 into service with 6 Aviation Regiment, meaning the Black Hawk fleet will be extended to remain in service until 2022 to mitigate the risk to capability.

Navy’s fleet of 16 S-70B-2 Seahawk ‘classics’ at 816 Squadron are progressively being withdrawn from service and replaced by the Seahawk ‘Romeo’. The transition out of service continues with 10 Seahawk classics planned to be withdrawn from flying operations by June. All Seahawk classics are planned to be withdrawn by early 2018.

Nineteen Bell 206B-1 Kiowas are still in service at the Army Aviation Training Centre, Oakey, used for Army’s ab initio pilot training, with four held in storage.

Navy, meanwhile, currently operates six AS350 BA Squirrels at 723 Squadron, Nowra for pilot and aircrew training. Numbers of both types have been progressively reducing ahead of the commencement of the ADF’s new $600 million Helicopter Aircrew Training System (HATS). Prime contractor Boeing Defence Australia will commence the initial HATS Pilot Training Course to train Army and Navy pilots and aircrew at Nowra in 2018 using 15 Airbus Helicopters H135s (EC135 T2+).

The first H135 for HATS arrived at Nowra on April 4 carrying the ADF serial N52-001, cab number ‘841’ and the civilian registration VH-AQG. The final H135 is due to be delivered during the first quarter of 2017.

Ups and downs

Looking ahead to when Rotortech 2018 flies around, a growing issue that will loom ever larger by then is the decline in the number of licensed aircraft maintenance engineers (LAMEs).

“A major concern of ours is a lack of apprentices that are being put through engineering,” said McDermott. “Engineering is our Achilles heel and engineering training schools are falling to pieces trying to pick up Part 147. While it’s a difficult apprenticeship to do, we have a good fleet of helicopters and aeroplanes for the apprentices to work on, so there is plenty of diversity and there is plenty of interest. We work overseas as well so this allows them to broaden their wings a little bit and get experiences without having to leave the company. ” Crook said the average age of a LAME is in the 50s or higher. “There just don’t seem to be the number of students coming through the schools. With the downturn in the global flying effort there is not a requirement for new pilots and therefore new engineers. So this is a big problem for us at the moment. ” Still, the Australian helicopter industry is collectively hopeful that an upside to this current downturn is not far away, such as Australia’s last big upturn circa 2006 to 2007.

“That is when there was an abundance of orders for new machines being made and delivery lead times of two to three years,” said Crook. “I would like to think in a couple of years we would be well on the upside of this downturn or certainly nearer to the top. Time will tell. ”

A major concern of ours is a lack of apprentices. JOHN MCDERMOTT