Employment

Why attempts to restrict New Zealand airspace for UAs must be blocked

November 20, 2018

Many folk in and around Alexandra (pop. 5440) were up in arms when a Christchurch-based firm called Skybase sought to restrict more than 500 sq km of Central Otago airspace in which to test unmanned aircraft. We do not know how many untested UAs are owned by Skybase in New Zealand, but we do know that Skybase is backed by US interests. We know …

Unmanned Aircraft: Segregation is not integration, Mr Director

October 6, 2018

Remember the bad old days of New Zealand’s Next Big Thing? They featured such silly ideas such as farms for ostriches, alpacas or Angora goats, as well as the oft-confused Robert Muldoon’s pipe dreams. Most of these get-rich-quick notions crashed (and burned the investors). But those days may not be gone. Our government, and its Ministry of Transport in particular, has latched on to …

Changes: Why are we waiting? Because we’re at the bottom of the pile

July 28, 2018

The GAA has had a meeting in Wellington with CAA Board Chairman Nigel Gould and Director Graeme Harris. One of the topics was the length of time it takes to achieve a rule change. On his whiteboard, the Director drew a triangle which had the airline sector at the top, commercial GA in the middle and recreational GA at the base. He explained that …

The global pilot crisis. At last, people are waking up

July 16, 2018

Boeing, one of the world’s largest aircraft manufacturers, estimates an additional 640,000 pilots will be needed worldwide over the next 20 years, 40 per cent of them in the Asia Pacific region. Air New Zealand has announced that it’s working on the issue behind the scenes with the Airline Pilots Association, and there is agreement that trainee pilots need better support and more funding. …

No apologies for acting in the public interest, says the CAA

April 5, 2018

The CAA has now had the opportunity to consider the material presented by the Des Lines and Brian Mackie including their “Overview” document and the results of their “Client Satisfaction” survey. The CAA welcomes feedback on its performance. As a responsible state sector entity, the CAA must – and does – operate in an environment of accountability to the public, whose interests it ultimately …

Shocking, insane and incompetent: Customers condemn the ‘toxic’ CAA

The full results of the GAA’s independent survey of CAA client satisfaction have been published. The report reveals significant disapproval and disquiet. On virtually all questions seeking a rating of 0 (no satisfaction) to 10 (very high), the Authority scored below 5 and in some cases, such as cost control, less than 2. The CAA is described by some GA customers as “shocking”, “insane”, …

We’re calling for a public inquiry into the CAA

The GAA is seeking a public inquiry into the Civil Aviation Authority. On 5 April, the GAA released a report detailing known and alleged CAA failures and shortcomings and another showing the results of the independent CAA client satisfaction survey. The dossier of failures and shortcomings has taken about six years to compile. It contains evidence of failures by the Authority and its governing …

A worrying picture of systemic inconsistency at the CAA

January 13, 2018

Inconsistent actions and conflicting demands by Civil Aviation Authority officials are causing confusion and stress, wasting time and costing the CAA and its customers thousands of dollars, says a report. In a 5000-word document sent to CAA Director Graeme Harris, exposition-writing consultants Walter Wagtendonk and Ian Wood highlight – and reject – the behaviour of some CAA personnel who assess Air Operator Certification applications …

Pilot shortage: Australia to relax visa laws to attract foreign pilots

January 1, 2018

AAP, 28 December 2017 Foreign pilots will once again be allowed into Australia on working visas to help address a shortage that threatens to ground aircraft and cancel flights. The occupations eligible for foreign worker visas were slashed during a government shake-up in April but from next month, pilots will once again be granted access after concerns about the national shortage. The Regional Aviation …

A proposal to challenge the new CAA levies

May 27, 2017

By now, operators will have received a letter and information booklet from the CAA detailing the new safety levies that will take effect from 1 July 2017. These levies have been introduced despite efforts by a number of individuals and organisations to enlighten the CAA and Minister of Transport of the failings in the consultation process, as well as the inequities in the methodology …

Category: Employment