Costs Archives - Page 4 of 10

Goodbye PPL Medical – and good riddance (but not in New Zealand)

May 11, 2016

The UK Civil Aviation Authority has announced the virtual end of the PPL medical. Requirements for private pilots are to change in line with the CAA’s top level principles for GA regulation. They do not apply to pilots with commercial licences or those displaying at airshows, who will still need to be approved as fit to fly by a specialist aviation medical examiner. The …

Class 2 medicals harm your wealth and add unwanted fat to the CAA

March 6, 2016

This article was written by Murray Shaw, a GA pilot, who originally sent it to the CAA I propose that the CAA eliminates the requirement for a Class 2 medical for Private Pilots, replacing it with the same medical requirement as that currently required for the Recreational Pilot Licence (RPL) while retaining the current privileges of a PPL, and removes any requirement for PPLs …

Letter from America: I don’t want to be like New Zealand…

March 1, 2016

This is from Paul Bertorelli’s Avweb.com site based in Florida… The other day, I was floating along in the Cub listening to the radio chatter when it occurred to me that I hadn’t heard a native English speaker for several minutes. I listened for several more and determined that, sure enough, there were no native English speakers on the frequency. Judging by the accents, …

You’ve changed your address? Heavens, that really is rocket science!

In the Phase 1 price review consultation, the CAA presented an option to introduce differential hourly rates for Professional/Technical and Administration staff contribution to “activities for which fees and charges are made”. There was strong support from customers. And then, in the Phase 2 consultation document, the CAA stated: We have established rates for Professional/Technical, and Administration staff charge- out, based on it’s [sic] …

First, they put your head in a cloud. Then they slip their fingers into your wallet

February 27, 2016

The last time we looked at the CAA’s current pricing review, we showed how the authority rewrote history to claim that it had discovered a public good element in the Medical Application Fee – and hip-hooray, folks! The fee looked as if it was coming down. But now we have discovered yet another piece of CAA sophistry: The secret art of increasing a fee …

Medicals: CAA rewrites history, but they’re still way behind the times

December 17, 2015

Authoritarian regimes have a bad habit of rewriting history. The CAA’s shameless U-turn over the medical certification fee is a classic example. When we presented the GAA case against increases in fees and charges to the Regulations Review Committee in March 2013, we submitted that the CAA was viewing the medical certification fee only as a “private good” and therefore the costs were to …

Announcing the GAA’s alliance with the NZAIG

October 20, 2015

Des Lines and Brian Mackie, who manage the GAA social network on behalf of you and more than 1500 other supporters, have agreed to work in alliance with the New Zealand Aviation Industry Group. This cooperation is intended to better address issues that affect professional and private participants in the New Zealand general aviation system. Both groups will maintain their freedom of independent action, …

Could this signal the beginning of the end for PPL medicals?

June 8, 2015

The UK CAA is considering the removal of PPL medicals – and our CAA is keeping a close watch. The UK authority has worked with a number of aviation medical experts to develop a consultation on medical requirements for some private pilots which aims to make them more realistic and reduce bureaucracy. (No changes are proposed for pilots with commercial licences.) It proposes that …

MetFlight GA is free again: Let’s celebrate one step backwards to safer flying

May 26, 2015

From July 1, MetFlight GA will be publicly funded – just like mountain and marine forecasts. This decision, buried in the 2015 Budget, brings to an end a campaign of protest from private pilots, established aviation organisations and GAA supporters. It finally acknowledges that weather information for general aviators is for the benefit of people aloft and people on the ground, and must never …

Cash for questions: A New Zealand version, operated by the CAA

March 2, 2015

The Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand and the Ministry of Transport are dysfunctional. This article offers supporting evidence. On 15 October 2010, Martin Jenkins – a New Zealand-based consulting firm providing strategic management support to clients in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors – received instructions from the CAA. They were engaged to prepare a Value for Money report on the CAA’s performance …

Category: Costs