[Peetwo]

Off the Yaffa 14/10/16: Hitch weekly wrap & Avbiz on CAO 48.1

..The organisers of OzKosh 2016 rolled the dice when they re-formatted the event to resemble an exhibition rather than an air show. They could easily have cut the heart out of the show by not staging the rollicking air displays that had come to be a trademark of Ausfly. Would ground displays, an exhibition and an exhausting seminar program be enough to draw people to Narromine. The answer so far has been "yes"; OzKosh was an outstanding success by Ausfly standards. Although the Friday was a bit quiet, the Saturday was as busy as a bull ant, and at many of the seminars latecomers were forced to stand up the back through a lack of chairs. The Unicom reported around 470 movements for the weekend, more than Ausfly ever recorded. Consequently, the OzKosh team has gone into preparations for the 2017 event (yes, already) in a bouyant mood, determined to make the next one even better. There are kinks that need to be straightened out, but that's par for any new flying event. Congrats to the team of hard workers at OzKosh.

... there'll be a battle royal needed just to get that on the ballot paper.

The value of Class 2 medical in a safety context has been contentious for years, and even with the blessing of three consecutive Directors of Aviation Safety, nothing has been done to shed aviation of this burden. Now, it seems, there is real potential for progress. Moves by the SAAA and AOPA have painted CASA into a bit of a corner, resulting in a discussion paper (DP) to be released before this year is out.

CLASS 2 REFORM[/url]
A STEP CLOSER TO REALITY.


Valued AOPA Members & Industry Supporters,

Class 2 private pilot medical certification reform is now a step closer, following a meeting between the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), Sport Aircraft Association of Australia (SAAA) and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) on 5th October 2016. 

The safety regulator has confirmed to AOPA and SAAA that it will move to public consultation for Class 2 reform before the close of the year, with a view towards regulatory introduction by March of 2017.

Mr Rob Walker, Industry Stakeholder Group Manager CASA, went on the record to state that the AOPA and SAAA call for reform had been clearly heard from within the regulator and that CASA was now working to see Class 2 reform delivered as soon as possible.

AOPA and SAAA reinforced that over the last 10 years, some 8,000+ general aviation pilots have exited Australia’s aviation industry (a 34% decline) and that the large reduction in pilots flying was contributing to large declines in Australia’s general aviation economy.  Making clear that the AOPA proposed policy on Class 2 private pilot medical certification aims to reconnect thousands of general aviation pilots with flying, the policy is supported by moves by the US FAA, UK CAA and NZ CAA, highlighting that there is no safety case to be made by the regulator for continuing to unfairly discriminate and prematurely ground pilots based.

Now that the regulator has committed to moving forward with public consultation, the challenge will be to keep CASA on track and to ensure that the Class 2 reform is not turned into an unusable or ineffective regulation.

Very shortly the Australian aviation industry will have the opportunity to respond directly on Class 2 reform, both the AOPA and SAAA will be working hard to encourage the industry to do so en-masse and will make available resources to help individuals do so in the coming weeks.

In the meantime our associations are continuing the push and are determined to see Class 2 reform a reality.

Best regards,

BENJAMIN MORGAN
Executive Director - Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association

Both associations have pointed out, however, that Class 2 reform is not a Monty, and that real pressure needs to be kept on CASA to maintain momentum. We'll know more about where we stand when the DP is released. If convention is followed, it will contain a series of options for discussion. One of those is likely to be "Do Nothing" and one option will be labelled as CASA's Preferred Option. There is nothing to say those two options won't be the same thing. Already there are vibes from Aviation House that they aren't happy with the number of passengers (five) that the AOPA policy would allow under the self-certification regime they have put forward, so there'll be a battle royal needed just to get that on the ballot paper. Still, medical reform is back on the agenda, and all noise right now is good noise.

Flightplan 2030 was Mark Skidmore's pet project; an attempt to get CASA to look well into the future and start preparing early for the challenges ahead. According to CASA, [url=http://www.australianflying.com.au/latest/casa-to-keep-flightplan-2030-on-track]the project outcome will be released next year after further work. I will be genuinely surprised if Flightplan 2030 actually brings anything concrete and valuable. The regulator doesn't have a reputation for being forward-looking (which, admittedly, Skidmore was trying to change) and it is also strapped for resources to drag itself out of the regulatory reform quagmire that it plunged itself into. So who's going to make Flightplan 2030 a priority? Add to that the uncomfortable truth that right now no-one at CASA has the expertise to deal with many of the challenges identified by the aviation community and we are left wondering what level of integrity the outcome could possibly have. Under Skidmore, the plan would have been prioritised and championed; right now it is really a poor cousin who someone dumped on CASA and ran away. I hope I'm wrong about this. Like many others in the aviation community, I traveled many nautical miles and sacrificed time out of my life to contribute because I thought it was a step forward in aviation regulation in Australia. Should it meet its fate in the bottom drawer, I will be annoyed at best.

May your gauges always be in the green,

Hitch

Read more at http://www.australianflying.com.au/the-l...Bb6VsXL.99

Meanwhile the other side of the Yaffa is catching up on the CAO 48.1 - Fort Fumble (rule 101) 'Divide & Conquer' bun fight :

CASA delays fatigue reg changes for a year
13 October 2016

Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has extended the implementation period for new CAO48.1 fatigue regulations by one year.

Air operators will now have until 1 May 2018 to transition to the new regulations, and will be required to submit their draft operations manual changes, or an application for a fatigue risk management system (FRMS), to CASA by October 31, 2017.

CASA has put the delay down to extensive feedback from the aviation community that the most recent amendment in July 2016 provided insufficient time to transition and that air operators also wanted more time to consider their options under CAO 48.1 and a number wanted extra time to develop and implement fatigue risk management systems.

CASA has also stated a need to provide more support through education, information and support tools on the new fatigue rules. CASA will use the extended transition period to conduct an independent review of fatigue limits.

Pilot groups such as the Australian Airline Pilots’ Association (AusALPA) have criticised the delay as a tactic on the part of airline operators to avoid the more restrictive requirements of the new regulations, saying that existing regulations are out of step with recent scientific approaches to fatigue.

“AusALPA is deeply concerned that the further delay only serves the commercial interests of industry bodies, such as the Regional Aviation Association of Australia, instead of an improved, more scientific approach to pilot fatigue risk management,” said AusALPA President and Qantas 737 pilot Nathan Safe.

“The implementation date was delayed by 12 months until May 2016 and has now been delayed by a further year without any reasonable explanation. AusALPA is concerned that CASA’s proposed ‘independent’ review may well recommend further delays.”

Regional Aviation Association of Australia chair Greg Russell said operators requested the delay because more time was needed to gauge the long term effects of the new CAO48.1.

“We believe some of the wording in the new regulation was not appropriate and that the full ramifications of its introduction were not fully understood,” he said.

“We campaigned to have another year and we believe that is the best way to go.”

Read more at http://www.aviationbusiness.com.au/lates...PE203HL.99

..Regional Aviation Association of Australia chair Greg Russell said operators requested the delay because more time was needed to gauge the long term effects of the new CAO48.1...

P2 - Hey Max think that's meant to be the honorary chair of The Australian Aviation Associations' Forum (TAAAF )


MTF...P2