24 May

Aviation its in our DNA – the double helix Safety and Growth 
 
 
It’s been an intense week and the excitement around conference week is building. The Trades Hall is now full. Further bookings can be taken as we have the facility to expand to the stage or foyer areas.
 
We’re holding a Career expo this year, reflecting on the very challenging time we are having positioning ourselves as a great industry to join. We already have big buy in from three of our key sectors and if you’d like to participate click here
 
Credit card facilities are now a feature of our delegate registrations so payment is largely automated. Remember loyalty discounts apply to those attending the full NZAAA and or AIA conference click here.
 
A massive thank you to all our sponsors who have committed so far. We still need a lot more sponsorship to make this a stellar event click here.  Troy Forsyth is our sponsorship person and he’ll be in contact with some of you again shortly.
 
Read next week's Kiwiflyer. It has got details on who’s in the trade show, what’s going on and when. For those rugby fanatics, the All Black's captain will be there signing books and mixing and mingling. He’ll be our special guest at the AIA Awards function but due to playing commitments, won't be speaking but he will be there for you to chat to and we can swap “war stories” about flying.   
 
Over the last week end we held our third Executive Leadership programme. Ten Industry leaders participated. Apart from the opportunity it gave to mix informally, there were some powerful learning’s coming out of this.  One aspect that never ceases to amaze me, is how much you don't know about yourself, your communication style and most importantly how to communicate with others on their terms - for those who have teenage children, I’m sure you know what I mean. In our industry, dominated as it is by people and their behaviours just imagine if we all had an effective communication style which adjusted to the people you were speaking to.
 
Tuesday saw AEANZ, the group representing aircraft engineering in New Zealand hold one of their regular meetings. One of the very real challenges this group is discussing, is how to improve the competitiveness and thus productivity of the sector. A major frustration is the lack of an internationally recognised rule part for training. We intend taking this issue up after conference.  It is also pretty clear that there are major concerns over the operation and performance of the key engineering interface unit in CAA. Engineers will have the opportunity to express their views directly to the Chairman and CAA at conference.  We know that the frustrations are largely procedures and processes, not people driven, and come from policy decisions made a few years ago that made virtually every mod a major mod.  This issue must be addressed as its having a crippling impact on the GA industry in particular.
 
Wednesday saw the meeting of the Advisory Counci. Arising from this will be a number of proposed constitutional changes to further refine and promote "One Industry". Our AGM is on Friday 21 June.  We would urge as many of you as possible to attend or if not to have a proxy in attendance. We will circulate to you AGM papers on or before 7 June along with an explanation of the changes.
 
Yesterday I attended the “Go Global” conference. First, it was great to see so many aviation company's acknowledged as “globally" innovative. LanzaTech, a previous award winner of the Richard Pearse Award, spoke about their journey to market as a collision of crazy scientists and “go to” engineers. Towards the end of this year, after testing their bio bug steam waste system in steel mills in China, the first true run of biofuels will come from the plants. Capable of being mixed with jet fuel these fuels significantly reduce CO2 emissions from the steel mill and from aviation. A win win all around click here for the latest commentary from NZTE on aviation.
 
Safety Briefing
 
Pilot medicals – we know you're anxious to get this resolved and “the boots” is spending a good portion of time promoting a “sooner” rather than “later” approach. From your feed back we’ve developed a fairly clear understanding of your requirements including a substantial reduction in charges, increased efficiency and automation, protection of privacy and security. Last week we suggested a totally delegated system was an option and this is one that many warmed too. It is also a system we’re pretty familiar with having lead the world in the delegation of exam assessments to a joint industry owned company ASPEQ.  We feel sufficiently confident to go down this path – here’s what the regulator thinks post the meeting on 10 April click here   
 
Airways new charges – the increase in charges proposed, albeit lower than contained in the consultation document came as a real disappointment to many parties and although we did not join in the public commentary we too felt disappointed.
 
It is not that the Airways staff didn’t do an excellent job in identifying and communicating the issues and listening carefully its just in a non competitive environment how do you ever make any price increase palatable.  A difficult challenge.
 
Some times you have to set a charge, as CAA did, before change can  occur, as price can be the only way some times of highlighting to everyone how inefficient things have become.  Now we are not suggesting this is the case with Airways but we do wonder why the industry has not taken the “bull by the horns” so to speak and encouraged Airways to take a different approach.  I believe with the new management team firmly in place that they are up for that type of dialogue.    
 
 
Mark Hughes departing CAA – CAA staff were advised earlier this week that Mark would be departing in about three months time.  Marks been instrumental and first developing and then promoting the new “pathways” in CAA.  The “boots” has worked in some of the most difficult circumstances possible looking after member’s interests when Mark has been leading the CAA’s contingent of investigators.  I was and remain repeatedly impressed by his professionalism and his ability to listen and take matters on board in a balanced way.  Canada’s gain is most definitely New Zealand’s loss.  We wish Mark well as he re-joins the airline industry in the “coolest job possible”.
 
With Mark’s departure we are aware this will bring up the question of the organizations structure.  We lobbied for one standard across GA and airlines – taking account of scale and scope however, this may not be the best solution for CAA as it does create a potential risk in terms of technical competencies.  A factor that weighed heavily on everyone’s mind when the change took place. Of course CAA is not confronted with the reality of this situation.  We are also aware that the Engineers have expressed for some time their view that they should have a place “at the top table”.   
 
Review of Civil Aviation Act  - its announced (click here and here) and covering much more than simply safety.  It will deal with matters around growth.  To understand the significance of this we quote from John McCormack.
CASA is often criticised for not taking into account the impact of its decisions on the livelihood of industry participants.  Consistent with this perspective, some members of industry and representative bodies assert that CASA and its predecessors had, or should have, a ‘dual mandate’ - to conduct the regulation of aviation safety and to actively promote and advance the commercial aspects of the aviation industry.  Frequently, these critics claim the US Federal Aviation Administration has this type of mandate.  Let me assure you that CASA has never had such a ‘dual mandate’.  In fact, the legislation establishing CASA was deliberately formulated to make it clear that we do not and should not have those inherently incompatible functions.  Significantly, the Federal Aviation Administration’s own legislation was amended in 1996 to remove the ‘dual mandate’ from its remit for the same r easons.  The Australian Parliament clearly set out the main object of the Civil Aviation Act-that is, to establish a regulatory framework for maintaining, enhancing and promoting the safety of civil aviation-which is quite different to ‘promoting civil aviation’.  It is in everyone’s interest that the robust aviation industry in Australia continues to flourish; however, CASA’s statutory functions are specified in accordance with the object of the Act.
  
This is the way the instructions you give or coverage clause of the Act is so critical.  We also suspect his commentary is in the context of some pretty nasty comment coming out of a senate inquiry (see our international stuff).
 
Health and Safety in Employment  - the next step after some further briefings form CAA is to brief the MOT on the essence of the problem which is two quite different SOP’s flying the one plane.  A right mix up and confused environment if it continues down the adversarial and apparently punitive track of the HSE “safety” system.  In our environment you can’t have two SOP’s and you can’t have conflicting instructions – this leads to an erosion of our safety culture, our safety systems and the way we think about safety in the air and on the ground.  It’s a difficult concept to understand unless you have been subject to an investigation by the agencies which in our case if it’s an incident in the air can be the CAA discharging both functions. 
 
One solution is to say Officials are mature beings and they can work together to optimize the statutory system and so a service level agreement is Ok between the new safety agency and CAA. Another solution is to redefine CAA coverage so that it is very clear they cover all matters in the air and on the ground which impact on aviation as defined under part 12 of the Act.  This is the option we are favouring but we would like to understand your views on the issue.
 
This debate is being lead by our Safety Advisory Committee who will soon meet to consider the matter further.          
 
 
Pilot fitness – the colourblindess issue -  it appears this issue is gaining some traction and may be the subject of public commentary next week.  We have a fair amount of empathy for the debate as it highlights the question of how do regulators know they are making the right decisions?  It easy to say “100% ICAO compliance nothing less”. 
 
We know this debate has arisen from an Administrative Appeals Tribunal decision in Australia which said “its Ok for pilots who are colour blind and hold a CPL” to continue flying.  In New Zealand it’s a “no go” Both countries are considered more or less ICAO compliant but as you can see the internal standards are quite different.
 
The Australian standard has been developed through an inquisitorial process which is there in the words of John McCormack – CASA’s Director to give “affected parties” the right to have decisions reviewed.   No equivalent appeals process exists here as an appeal to the District Court is by its very nature adversarial, non binding on the Director and doesn’t set a “precedent”.
 
So my question is, under this system how do we promote policy change  because it is the policy which is the contentious part although “the boots” does accept that individual careers can and have been adversely impacted. Over time we know policy settings, particularly as they impact on individual health conditions, do change but there is no transparent mechanism for this to occur and no mechanism where all of the parties can present all of the facts.
 
CAA is simply discharging the statutory rights it presently has.  There is nothing to suggest to me that they have stepped outside their statutory boundaries in making the decisions they have made.  This doesn’t mean to say their decision is necessarily the right one or the wrong one – quite simply we don’t know because we don’t know on what basis they made the decision. Quite frankly we should know and the aviation community should be part of the process providing advice to the Director just as they are in Australia via the Appeals Tribunal.    
 
Aviation Security Review – if you are interested in participating in this review let us know and we’ll pass your name on

Growth

Indonesian Mission builds contacts with the regulator. The team spent quality time with Herry Bakti, the Director General of DGCA, and his senior management team. There is a good appreciation of the integrity of the New Zealand aviation system with several positive references being made to the relationship with our CAA. Our regulator is viewed as ‘very responsive’ in helping validate New Zealand pilot licences. Good grounds to build on.

Trained staff shortages are significant. The domestic industry is not meeting the sector’s need for trained staff. The solutions – developing new programmes, raising throughput, improving quality and bringing in more foreigners, are not overnight solutions. Bringing in more foreigners per se, is discouraged. Blanket changes have been made for example, that affect all foreigners trained overseas as pilots, looking to work in Indonesia. Some recent bad examples have seen everyone affected, and the integrity of all pilots from some countries being questioned. Building a reputation takes time: this is a classic case of a few bad eggs ruining the reputation of everyone.

While infrastructure struggles to keep up. Major expansion programmes are underway at many airports and will soon start in others. The absence of suitable infrastructure is constraining growth. Preserving cultural integrity is becoming important in concept designs. There is limited knowledge of some of the technological advances seen in recent years in New Zealand airports and some scope for them to be introduced. Working with local partners will be essential.

Knowledge and technology transfer are important. Indonesia is looking to upgrade its domestic capabilities. Ventures with overseas partners that see local skills upgraded, technology transferred and the ability to maintain technologies locally, are encouraged. Ventures where the overseas partner simply looks to ‘sell’ to Indonesia, are not. So, some important direction here for the way New Zealand companies develop the market.

But it is not for the faint hearted. Patience, perseverance, building relationships and coping with significant traffic jams in Jakarta, if that is where your customer is, are important. Being able to cope in vehicles where aircon breaks down are important too. Bottom line, the economy is growing, and aviation is growing at 16% year on year.

 

Aviation is in our DNA   Red boots

 

Information Pack + Bookings

 

Careers Expo - Dunedin Town Hall 
co sponsored with Service IQ  

Friday  21 June 0900-1300
Booking trades display  - space restricted to Wednesday 19 June PM to Friday 21 June 1300, ie after vacated by NZAAA displayers click here cost $300 for stand and furnishments. Persons manning booth to register in normal way click here
Seminar Booking, Promoting your business click here $200, for 15 minute speaking slot - first in first served.
Media and Promotion - Schools SERVICE IQ; Otago University Careers; RNZAF present; local media will be contacted with promotional opportunities.
Entry on controlled basis registration at AIA desk.

Nominations called for – AIA awards.  Each year the AIA makes two awards: to an individual in recognition of their long service to the industry; and to a company for their outstanding contribution.  If you know anyone or company who might meet these requirements please feel free to nominate by emailing admin1@aia.org.nz
 
CAA Directors Awards – note these are also open. Go to CAA webpage.

Trade Stands read more

Delegates read more

Sponsorship read more
 

 

 
Etihad Airways recruits 50 airberlin pilots read more

Dubai reveals new aviation vision to 2045 read more

Parts of jet plane wing fall on woman's house, Walmart parking lot read more

 

 
Government response to BusinessNZ Letter read more
 

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