Marc Joel Atrero

Part 61 now in place September 1. As I write this column the new Part 61 regulations have just come into effect. August 31 was an interesting day with me writing up no fewer than six sticky labels for logbooks. All were for first twin ratings. Outside on the airport there seemed to be a

Ordinary Australians have direct investments in airports via super Between 1997 and 2003, the operation and management of Australia’s 21 federally-leased airports was transferred from the Commonwealth government to private operators under a long-term lease arrangement. This privatisation process included the major capital city airports in each state and territory across the country, as well

The chance to build positive, trusting relationships It is almost impossible to consider aviation in Australia today without acknowledging that government needs to significantly lift its regulatory game. The state of flux that exists in CASA’s strategic direction at the time of writing is akin to a rudderless ship. With only one CASA board appointment

Don’t waste the Forsyth Report’s circuit-breaking opportunity Commercial aviation, and particularly regional aviation, is a place where optimists and economic reality often meet. We very much need these optimists because success turns them into our aviation entrepreneurs. As always, the recent reporting season brought home those realities in bold, black print. Well done to Regional

Army Black Hawks head south The Army marked the end of its S-70A-9 Black Hawk operations at Townsville on August 18 with a ceremonial flyover by six Black Hawks from B Squadron, 5 Aviation Regiment. Bad weather days earlier had delayed the flypast that saw the six-ship formation, followed close behind by three MRH 90

Qantas Group news In this issue we report on the delivery of three 737-800s to Qantas, two 787-8s to Jetstar and a Dash 8-Q400 to QantasLink, and the departures of two Qantas 767‑300ERs. Qantas took delivery of 737-838 VH-XZL Flinders in Brisbane on July 30 after the aircraft completed its ferry flight from Boeing Field