Northern exposure

While direct international services to the regions can be challenging to attract and retain, the development of additional flight paths that disperse international passengers beyond our capital cities could make a significant different to local visitor economies.

This is something both our regional tourism centres and our major airports are very aware of, and the industry continues to work closely with airlines and tourism agencies to identify new opportunities.

The AAA welcomed the committee’s recommendation that a number of regional airports receive urgent funding for upgrades.

This recognised the role these airports play in supporting the local visitor economy, and the importance of a strong domestic network to ensure our regional attractions are not out of reach for international tourists.

The committee’s recommendation also comes at a time when many regional airports are struggling.

New funding for upgrades can be hard to find as local councils balance a range of competing needs and manage an airport with what is often a very modest revenue base.

The recommended funding to strategically important locations could therefore make an important difference.

However, beyond the upgrades, the ongoing costs of operating a safe, secure and compliant airport is also a challenge faced in our regions.

Ensuring security and safety requirements can come at a disproportionate cost for regional airports compared to facilities with larger passenger numbers.

As NT Airports highlighted in their submission to the Joint Standing Committee, what makes smaller airports ‘fit for purpose’ is largely determined by Federal aviation standards and Commonwealth and State building standards.

The Federal Government has recognised this challenge, committing funding in the 2018-19 budget for regional airports as they implement new security requirements. This is a welcome step.

However, as we pursue greater tourism opportunities in our north, we must consider how we support sustainable, fit for purpose regional airports over the long term as part of that effort.

‘We must consider how we support sustainable, fit for purpose regional airports.’

Right now, the committee’s call for funding is a good one. After that, we must keep in touch with our regional airports to understand their challenges, and support them as they work together with airlines and tourism agencies to facilitate the tourism growth we all want to see.

Getting in on the Act
Changing the scope of the Civil Aviation Act

We all know how cumbersome, complex and onerous the existing aviation regulatory suite is. Surprisingly, CASA is not wholly to blame.

However, in the final hectic rounds of preparing the operating CASR Parts in an effort to have them out the door by year’s end we are acutely aware of an increasing number of overly prescriptive rules continuing to be produced and inserted into the previously consulted documents. This, in spite of CASA publically advocating an outcome-based philosophy.

Senior management needs to step in and regain control. And although some CASA officers may be pursuing an inherited culture, the Civil Aviation Act itself has also caused some legacy issues that, to a large degree, control the regulations’ scope and subsequent development.

So rather than continue to try to work in the system (the current and emerging regulations) and expecting different results, we need to first work on the system – the Civil Aviation Act. Only then will we get some clear air and be able to perform an effective and fully-informed post-implementation review of the regulations.

However, firstly we need to determine what it is we are trying to achieve as an industry, paint a word picture and then articulate and prosecute that outcome. We need to reclassify civil aviation activities based on risk and informed participants, rather than commercial imperatives. Secondly, we can then undertake a fully-informed and comprehensive review of the Act.

Finally a fresh look at the regulations during a post implementation review will then eventually deliver what the industry, particularly at the lower end, has desperately needed for decades.

CASA in fact began this work about 14 years ago, but a change of leadership stopped this important initiative. I refer to a CASA CEO regulatory policy notice titled ‘CASA’s Industry Sector Priorities and Classification of Civil Aviation Activities’. The recent General Aviation Summit 2018, held in Wagga Wagga has given a much-needed focus on this important policy document and we need to engage productively with the Department of Infrastructure, which will be charged with the oversight of the review of the Act.

On a more cheerful note, the RAAA national convention early bird period has been extended to the end of July. Now is the time to visit our dedicated website at www.raaa2018.com.au and register your attendance.

‘We need to reclassify the civil aviation activities based on risk and informed participants.’

And this year we have opened up scholarships to the entire Australian aviation industry. Scholarships range from $5,000 to $7,500 and applications are now open for student pilots and engineering apprentices. Further details are available on our website, raaa.com.au, under the scholarship tab.

One step forward
On reg reform, CASA’s intent is admirable, but the outcome is looking troubled

The Jekyll-Hyde nature of CASA with internal struggles between the reformers and others continues and is now to be played out in the slow-moving train wreck that is regulatory reform.

There are bright spots – AVMED reform, recognition of industry programs to improve safety like the AAAA AIMS program, Standard Ops Manual and Chief Pilots course. But these are hard won in the face of internal resistance.

Now DAS Shane Carmody’s admirable commitment to have all regulatory reform completed by the end of 2018 is looking troubled.

The draft CASR Part 91 on general operating rules – the lynchpin for the entire operating suite – has again been drafted in a prescriptive rather than outcome-focused language.

‘The simplest path to better safety is smarter drafting of outcomebased regs.’

Then there is the sheer workload involved in CASA consulting, drafting and re-consulting on final drafts across a significant number of critical operational rule suites – including RPT (Part 121), charter (Part 135) and aerial work (Part 138).

It will be very difficult for industry to absorb, analyse and provide timely expert feedback across thousands of pages of regs this year.

This trajectory is likely to be exacerbated by the simple fact that key working groups under ASAP, such as fatigue, have only just met for the first time, while others, such as aerial work on Part 138, have not even been stood up.

In addition to simple workload and timing issues, there remains the flickering candle that is cultural reform within CASA, with many within still not supporting the DAS’s clear messages on a ‘new CASA’, which are strongly based on government direction and the Forsyth Report.

The simplest path to better safety is smarter drafting of outcome-based regs that address risks. Coupled with a risk-based classification of operations, especially for aerial work operations, greater flexibility in how industry can meet those outcomes is viable.

Less regs to be drafted means less of a bottleneck, greater utility and, if the debacle of Part 61 is any guide, better compliance and safety.

This situation can still be saved by the DAS and CASA, but maybe what is required is a ruthless and empowered csar of reg reform within CASA who can get on with the job in cooperation with industry.

Not there yet
Developing a culture of mutual respect

There are strong rumours that the government is finally listening to industry and will begin appointing experienced commercial aviation personnel to its regulatory and advisory boards.

‘Australia is well recognised for its mature and highly-skilled helicopter industry.’

This is an important step if industry is to keep faith with the boards that oversight aviation regulation and airspace management. Given that industry has the privilege of paying for this oversight it is the least government can do.

The government/industry relationship is still recovering from the dark days of four or five years ago and this relationship must never be allowed to sink to such a low ebb again.

There are many aviation and aerospace opportunities on our horizon and should be grasped. Internecine skirmishes between government and industry are an expensive distraction for all parties and must be kept to a minimum; robust, informed debate should be encouraged but we should guard against returning to the mutual contempt of a few years ago.

On the helicopter front a number of challenges are being tackled. At the end of each fire season the various state agencies and service providers review the season’s operations. Strong team work, two way communication and a commitment to improvement is vital if the best outcomes are to be achieved on behalf of communities facing a fire threat.

This is not your typical command and control environment, given that private operators are being tasked by the individual state fire and emergency authorities. In such a complex environment it is important that a culture of mutual respect and even over-communication is developed. We are not there yet but AHIA members are committed to achieving this goal if we are to ensure the maximum fire protection for our communities.

The advantages of civil helicopters and rotorcraft platforms are becoming a hot topic across the emerging Asian markets. These are early days but Australia is well recognised for its mature and highly-skilled helicopter industry. Airshows and conventions specifically focussed on vertical lift are being planned across Asia. It would appear this is an opportunity not to be missed and the AHIA intends to work with Austrade to maximise the exposure of our industry.

It is now being understood that the light infrastructure footprint and flexibility of helicopters is ideal for countries with challenging terrain and isolated communities. And activities such emergency services, firefighting, and flight and engineering training are likely to be in high demand in the near future. It would remiss if we did not focus on these opportunities now and expose the Australian helicopter industry to the markets to our north.

There is the promise of exciting times ahead if we can scale up in a timely manner.