Opinion | GAA - Page 4

The 2014 GAA User Survey results, Part 2: Aviators are sick of the ‘arrogant’ Medical Unit

April 11, 2014

Thanks to the $300-plus medical application fee, general aviators are voting with their shrinking wallets and abandoning the Class 2 medical in favour of the Recreational Pilot’s Licence or microlighting, according to our survey of users. But the core message they are sending to the CAA is one of continuing outrage at the authority’s seemingly invulnerable Medical Unit and its more than $2 million …

The 2014 GAA User Survey results, Part 1: MetFlight is a disaster

March 9, 2014

The first GAA user survey of 2014 reveals strong evidence of the shocking state of weather forecasting services for recreational aviators in New Zealand. It shows beyond doubt that the move to paid subscriptions for MetFlight has: ♦ dramatically reduced the number of people seeking MetFlight forecasts ♦ sent former MetFlight/IFIS users to less reliable sources ♦ probably contributed insignificant revenue towards offsetting MetService costs, and ♦ failed …

2014 is the year General Aviation tells them exactly what we think of the CAA

December 27, 2013

We begin 2014 with the first in a series of online surveys to give users an opportunity to have their say on the issues that currently affect GA, and client relationships with the CAA. Our survey of CAA users is similar to what many commercial organisations do amongst their own client base to gain feedback so they can improve systems and service – and …

You’d like a trial flight? OK, but just one smile, and you’re nicked

December 7, 2013

The latest Vector magazine contains an article headlined Adventure Flights are not Trial Flights, and says “A so-called trial flight, or flight instruction, should not be used as a backdoor method for conducting commercial activities such as adventure or scenic flights without certification”. What follows is a rather baffling piece of work, based on Part 115 – itself inspired by panic and created in …

O Canada! Where the skies are vast, the charges are fair and the Admin is sane…

November 16, 2013

Today, NAV CANADA – the Canadian equivalent of our Airways – published its 2013 Customer Guide to Charges, and GAA is quietly proud to be the first website in the world outside Canada to reveal some of the contents. They will come as an unpleasant surprise to Kiwi general aviators, still hurting from Airways’ heavy increases earlier this year. We also hope that they …

More Yakkety Yak from the CAA – The forecast is TURB (MOD/SEV) for Asteron House

November 13, 2013

From November 14, by decree of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (and, as always, in the interests of safety), general aviators’ weather forecasts will be more difficult to decode. The use of actual place names (or their abbreviations) in SIGMETs is henceforth banned, to be replaced by latitude and longitude references. Presiding over this latest imposition of potty rules created by aliens are the …

ADS-B: Does absolutely everyone need a $10,000 dose of the squitters?

November 2, 2013

No, we’re not talking about what you may get if you spend too much time in India, although if CAA proposals go through, everyone will be feeling extremely poorly. We’re talking about ADS-B and the current $10,000-plus price tag. In its National Airspace and Air Navigation plan currently up for consultation, the CAA says that the existing radar network will reach end-of-life by 2021. …

The Dilbert Principle of 21st Century Management

While walking the short distance between our hotel and Parliament, along Featherston Street with a following gale and against the flow of black-clad pedestrians, Des Lines and I played a game of I Spy A Smile. “First one to spot ten smiley people earns lunch at Rydges Hotel”. This was a prize not to be sniffed at, but neither of us won. Gazing upon …

It’s time to bring Airways down to Earth

October 9, 2013

Everyone who flies within controlled airspace will have felt the effects of Airways’ increased charges. In many cases, it has doubled the cost of flying there. This is space that was created for the benefit of commercial operators and their passengers, and it is space that’s now far too generous for the 21st Century regional airliner. Despite Airways’ protestations, it is clear that the …

Would the last PPL holder out of here please turn off the clubhouse lights?

September 30, 2013

Without wishing to tempt fate, this is a semi-serious request. When it comes to GA, fate needs no tempting because the GAA survey of aviators has already revealed alarming statistics that include a major switch by PPLs to either the RPL or to microlights, and provides evidence of serious damage to general aviation. Many PPL holders say they have given up altogether because they …

Category: Opinion