– Steve Hitchen
CASA's GA workplan looks to run on for a few more years yet. The regulator expects to have the next version ready for scrutiny by the end of this year or early into next year. Director of Aviation Safety Pip Spence dropped some teasers this week about non-scheduled passenger carrying, pilot licensing, medicals and addressing skills shortages, but the GA community is still in IMC over the key proposals of Workplan 2.0. Unlike genuine consultation (the workplan is not regulation nor legislation), industry feedback is not guaranteed to be made public even in summary, so matching input to output is going to be more difficult. Spence also went on to say that the idea going forward is to forge a "risk-based regulatory environment that offers improved service delivery, supports innovation, facilitates new entrants and removes unnecessary requirements that act as obstacles to growth." Presumably, the actions contained in the workplan are supposed to make that happen, all without triggering a decrease in aviation safety. But like all good grand visions, it's heavy on the "what" and light on the "how". There is a big hint in Spence's reference to the 2024 GAAN strategy paper. If you want a positive to take away, make it this: that GAAN paper was put together by a panel very experienced in the needs of GA, and most of the members have skin in the game. It may be a more valuable foundation for GA Workplan 2.0 than random individual opinions.
Consultation on the south-east corridor closed last month, and I expect the feedback to Airservices and CASA to produce no changes to the proposal whatsoever. This is closely tied to Western Sydney Airport, and so far none of GA's input to WSA and the redesigned airspace it has provoked has made even the smallest dent in this disaster. The issues highlighted by the RAAA all have merit, and I suspect other feedback reflects similar concerns. For example, at its narrowest point, Melbourne's Kilmore Gap is 5.0 nm wide. The choke point between Sandy Point Mine and Casuarina Oval that has the RAAA worried is only 1.4 nm wide. By some measures, that's barely wider than Bankstown Airport itself. You'll be able to Airdrop photos to your mate coming in the other direction! My point is this, you wouldn't design this corridor this way if you had any other options. And that's why I think this is a fait accompli: WSA has left the entire GA industry–regulators and all–without any alternatives regardless of the feedback. The problem now falls back on CASA. For years, people have been worried about the VFR approach points at Class D towers funneling inexperienced pilots into close proximity, but rather than come up with a solution, Airservices and the OAR are proposing to create Australia's most dangerous patch of airspace that will easily eclipse any worries ever aired about 2RN or the extinct Six South. That means this design represents a decrease in safety. Over to you, CASA.
Waiting for the aviation white paper resulted in a lot of things not being addressed. It was the elephant in the room that everyone could see and was talking about; it created a lot of frustration within the GA community. For me, perhaps the most important thing that was delayed was the public revelation of the 2024 GAAN Strategy paper. This paper was produced in December 2023 and made public with all the noise of a floating bubble only last month. I recognise that there is no obligation for this paper to be published–it's industry advice given to the minister–but as it has been referred to by CASA in statements about their workplan and the department itself in the white paper, it's very clear that this is a key document that underpins the future–healthy or otherwise–of the GA industry. If the bandmaster wants everyone to march to the same beat, there's no point keeping the drummer in a sound-proof booth. Right, that's done. Now we can go forward because this is one hell of a good beat to march to. You can read it for yourself on the Department of Infrastructure and Transport's GAAN webpage.
And then there were two ... days left for you to get your 2024 CASA Wings Awards nomination in. We're closing the collector on Monday, so if you have plans to get something done, you have homework for the weekend. And for the many who have already submitted, thanks for supporting this awards scheme in the volume you have this year. It's going to take some work getting through it all, but we're pleased that so many people value this scheme to such an extent. For you leave-it-to-the-last-minuters, the links you need are on the Australian Flying website.
May your gauges always be in the green,
Hitch