Turbulent Times for Light Aircraft in Tasmania

[Rotor Work]

From ABC website

Turbulent times for light aircraft - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-11/turbulent-times-for-light-aircraft/4307262?section=tas)


Tasmania's small aviation sector is struggling with increased costs and a drop in demand for charter flights.
TasAir folded in February and now the Southern Aero Club has decided to discontinue its pilot training.
Former club president Graeme Martin says it is not turning a profit.
"The last two or three years been constantly drawing down on our funds which is not a sustainable thing," he said.
The Chief Executive of the Regional Aviation Association, Paul Tyrrell, says nationally small airlines are also being hit by rising fuel and maintenance costs, combined with increased safety regulations.
"The industry's consolidating and the very small aircraft become uneconomical."
The Southern Aero Club will continue flights with two planes at Cambridge Airport, but only for member pilots.

[OZBUSDRIVER]

Pretty simple! Just shows how bloody bad the economy is in Tassie.

That debate attended by Jeff Kennet a few months ago, he was tongue in cheek arguing for Tassie , Victoria and South Australia should amalgamate into one state....He could well be closer to the truth than he thinks.

[Frank Arouet]

TAS could chuck in the ACT as well, although that would probably make the bottom line worse. At least aviation would only have a local call to blame someone.

[tail wheel]

The Electrolytic Zinc Company. Bell Bay Aluminium. The Titan factory.The wood chip industry. Cheap hydro electric power. Gunn's timber. The apple industry. The cray fish and scallop industries. The potato industry now being screwed. Etc Etc.

All aboloshed and demolished to appease the Greens. :=

Why would aviation survive? :confused:

[Jabawocky]

Taillie, you been holidaying lately? Been quiet in recent times.

This one is going straight to the pprune pool room!

POTY :ok::ok::ok:

[Aussie Bob]

The Electrolytic Zinc Company. Bell Bay Aluminium. The Titan factory.The wood chip industry. Cheap hydro electric power. Gunn's timber. The apple industry. The cray fish and scallop industries. The potato industry now being screwed. Etc Etc.

Good one Tailwheel and clearly well researchrd (not)!

EZ and Bell Bay were taxpayer funded (via almost free hydro) Gunns and the woodchips thrived on corruption, the apples were pulled by the government long before the greens had a single member and the overfishing was greed. Spuds ... ask Maccas.

This demise is in most part due to a better equipped better located competition who also happen to have a better and bigger plan.

[PLovett]

This demise is in most part due to a better equipped better located competition who also happen to have a better and bigger plan.

The demise started long before there was any local competitor. GA training in aero clubs around Australia has been in decline for some time and I suspect even the "puppy farms" are starting to see a slow down in numbers. The only clubs that seem to have much of a future are those who own their own property.

It will be interesting to see what happens in Hobart now with two start-up training providers, both with relatively deep pockets. Time for the comfy chairs and pop-corn me thinks.

[alphacentauri]

Not just in Tassie....lets put in perspective.

What does $500 buy you? a quick comparison.

1. Not quite 2 hrs of flying training, in an aeroplane older than me without any modern avionics not including licence/medical fees and maps, charts etc
2. The complete basic open water dive certificate (5 day course)
3. 1 set of TAFE tuition fees for most semi professional qualifications (well it was when i did it)
4. A pc tablet
5. One weeks rent (in ACT)


These are just off the top of my head.

Now job prospects for a pilot....in Tassie? probably next to none. If you can make it to an airline, you will be one of the few. But most other professions and your mates who are plumbers and builders will be making more money then you and as a result have a better lifestyle.

FACT: There alot better ways to spend your hard earned money than throwing it up against the aviation wall. And the youth of today are beginning to realise it. Like it or not, the aviation dream for the next generation is dead.

My advice....get a good paying job, that allows you to blow upwards of 10,000 on a PPL and fly for fun. I haven't yet met anyone who has done this who hates flying. I have met heaps of people who have gone down a career path in aviation who wish they had done something else.

Just my 2 cents worth

[27/09]

That debate attended by Jeff Kennet a few months ago, he was tongue in cheek arguing for Tassie , Victoria and South Australia should amalgamate into one state....He could well be closer to the truth than he thinks.

The same underlying problems still exist, i.e. location/geography, population size/distribution, local resources or lack there of. Amalgamation doesn't fix any of those. All it does is create a bigger and usually more unwieldy and inefficient bureaucracy.

Unless of course the the bigger amalgamated bureaucracy ensures wealth/industry/jobs are redistributed to the areas that need some help. In the free market economy that doesn't happen does it?

[Elfatness]

Alpha, I believe that is a very narrow minded way of looking at things.

I am almost GFPT'd however I am dead keen to make a career out of aviation, for no other reason than that I love to fly & I love aviation in general & if I can get paid for flying, no matter how pitiful the pay will be, then I will be happy. I would much prefer to be happy in my job than do something that makes me lots of coin but gives me no satisfaction whatsoever at all (which I'm currently doing!).

Yeah I know I'm going to cop "Just wait till you get a job and see how bad conditions/pay etc" is. Well its a fair point too, but you ppruners have opened my eyes as to what to expect so I think I am more than prepared!

Anyways, in saying all that, looks like I won't be finding a job in Tassie and I don't have a problem with that. It is a shame however to see the GA industry declining.

That's the Fat Man's ten cents worth. Now I will just duck for cover for the oncoming attacks ;)

But hey! That's what makes this forum fun!

Stay Positive People!

:)

[wishiwasupthere]

if I can get paid for flying, no matter how pitiful the pay will be, then I will be happy

I think you might have meant to say, 'if I can get paid for flying, so long as it is in accordance with the award, then I will be happy'.

[tasdevil.f27]

The Launceston Aero Club are also struggling, hopefully they will not meet the same fate as the Southern lads.

[27/09]

if I can get paid for flying, no matter how pitiful the pay will be, then I will be happy. I would much prefer to be happy in my job than do something that makes me lots of coin but gives me no satisfaction whatsoever at all

Unfortunately happiness doesn't pay the mortgage, power bill or food bill.

[Elfatness]

So much negativity! And yes that's exactly what I meant to say, Paid in accordance with the award, thank you for picking that up :D

[rgmgbg01]

"All aboloshed and demolished to appease the Greens"

Isnt that line getting a bit old now....

Lets stick to Aviation......

[Kharon]

RW #1 - The Chief Executive of the Regional Aviation Association, Paul Tyrrell, says nationally small airlines are also being hit by rising fuel and maintenance costs, combined with increased safety regulations. But is the downturn just more 'visible' in TAS? there are a lot of GA operators struggling to make ends meet. Sad to see.

AC #8 - FACT: There a lot better ways to spend your hard earned money than throwing it up against the aviation wall. And the youth of today are beginning to realise it. Like it or not, the aviation dream for the next generation is dead. Just a stray thought: I wonder if it's dead or moved on to Micro soft world. For the non professional (and even for some) the flight simulator is in the shed. In seconds, you can fly a Mallard up an Alaskan glacier, take your 738 through an ILS at LHR or, should the mood move you, a King Air to Kickatinalong. Cheap, easy, fun, have beer during, stop to watch the news, then when its all too hard; turn it off, up the stairs and cuddle up with Mum. Why would you want to leave the house to get a 'fix'. Just saying.

[alphacentauri]

Elfatness....10 years ago, I was in your situation. And 10 years ago I held the same attitude. I wanted to fly no matter how much I had to give up or how much it cost me. I am definitely not going to criticize you for your point of view.....in alot of ways I envy you.

But make no mistake about it....it is easy for some to get the goal, and harder for others....and quite a few don't ever get there. You will miss out on alot, and much of it you won't realise until you stop down the track.

Don't get me wrong...flying for a living is awesome. But it comes at a cost. In recent years, fewer people are prepared to justify the cost. You may think my view is narrow minded.....but the flying training statistics speak for themselves.

[Elfatness]

Fair call too mate, coming from someone who has been there and done that. Totally understand. That is just my mind set right at this point in time. I love it and the day I actually get paid for it as opposed to forking out of my own pocket will be brilliant. Already had a mortage, didnt like that so I pissed it off. Happy to settle down later in life (early 40s perhaps) once steady income stream is reasonable and sorted (fingers crossed!! haha) :)

Anyways, sorry Ive taken this thread onto another tangent that what it was originally made for!

Happy Flying fellow ppruners!

[pull-up-terrain]

My advice....get a good paying job, that allows you to blow upwards of 10,000 on a PPL and fly for fun. I haven't yet met anyone who has done this who hates flying. I have met heaps of people who have gone down a career path in aviation who wish they had done something else.

Just my 2 cents worth

Could you recomend me one of these jobs because im struggling to find one that doesnt have some sort of negativity about the job.

[Elfatness]

hahahaha ;)

[Wanderin_dave]

How are the charter operators going down there? The news piece indicates Par Avion/Airlines of Tassie are taking over training. Can't be all bad....can it?

Are there any other charter mobs in Tassie? How are they travelling?

[Frank Arouet]

"All aboloshed and demolished to appease the Greens"

Isnt that line getting a bit old now....

No, the matter will be over when The Greens go to where ever The Democrats are now. Anywhere but public office. (Marrickville would be a good place).

[Aussie Bob]

Now now Frankie, the Greens will go the way of the Democrats when the Labs and Libs can see eye to eye and work together, after all their policies are identical. Pity they are such a bunch of egotistical rabble that this is impossible.

You folk that say GA is in decline have forgotton one thing ... RAA. Here is where all the private pilots are going and for good reason, its fun affordable and sensibly run. A GA student application runs to about 15 pages, a RAA equivilant is just a single page. The planes are new, the rules are simple and there is a comerarderie that GA has never had. If there was no RAA, aero clubs around the country would, in all likelyhood still be muddling through. My guess is that in 10 years GA will be over caput but for a small handful of savvy operators.

[CHAIRMAN]

I reckon Taswegians have gotten what they have voted for - and been voting for for too long:ugh:
Is there no realistic opposition in the place to the melons:confused:

[Jabawocky]

Amen

Be careful what you wish for.

Chairman Ou are a wise Master!

[CHAIRMAN]

Jaba - now that Gunns is out of ammo, and the greens are in compost mode thanks largely to the melons, i reckon there's a big opening coming up to run the place.
There has to be some potential there, what with all that renewable energy (they burn it in copious quantities on a personal basis) now going to rot on the hillsides.

Only wee problem I see is that you needed to have an alternative lifestyle or be on fed social security to get in on the top rung.

Help me out here, i'm only interested in whats best for the Taswegians:rolleyes:

[Jabawocky]

Time to form THE COMMON SENSE PARTY

[thorn bird]

Unfortunately aviation has slowly been pushed further and further onto the back burner of political conciousness since the beginning of the seventies.
I count myself lucky to have experienced its best years which were brought about by a lingering concern generated by the second world war, where the country was caught without a pool of aviators to man the fighters and bombers. When I started flying the government even provided scholarships
for flying training to generate that pool
Once that concern diminished as the years past the support for aviation went with it.
The industry also suffered from a regulator which had its roots in the military, so without the "Foster and Promote" ethos apparent in the FAA
which was formed from the civilian side, they did what regulators do, stifle innovation and enterprise rather than encourage and assist.
All our early aviation pioneers who we so revered would today be branded "Not fit and Proper persons", we literally chased any chance of developing a viable industry away, much the same as Great Britain did.
Turning the regulator into a Government "Profit Centre" put the final nail in the coffin, along with a certain arrogance so apparent across many Australian bureaucracies that all the rest of the world is wrong..we are right, this has opened the door for the sub industries to make the money not aviation itself. The "Security industry" the "OH&S industry" the airports all feed off aviation driving up cost and of course the regulator itself imposes a huge burden.
I was browsing a recent catelog of US charter operators which listed their hourly rates for charter. In some cases their rates were three times cheaper than the equivalent in Australia, there are limits to what people will pay for a service and I fear Australia has reached that point, we are so "safe" now that nobody can afford us. Funnily enough for all the impositions we still have a long way to go to match the USA for safety.
Poor Tassie being on the extremity, is experiencing the law of diminishing returns a bit earlier, Its all very sad.

[Wally Mk2]

"TB" couldn't agree with you more there:ok: I too am glad I am on the tail-end of an industry that is now pretty much stuffed with little security. I saw & had a great time coming up thru the ranks when Australia was a proud country with a strong aviation industry but like our manufacturing industry it's all but gone thru greed & progress,the latter not always a good thing:sad:

"Common Sense Party" hey Jaba?...........it'll fail miserably mate due lack of same.

I think Tassie is a lovely place with YFLI being one of the most unspoilt spots
around.



Wmk2

[OZBUSDRIVER]

Thought bubble!

SDD, the new CSP Premier of Taswegia! Kilkennys all round, no steaks thinner than an inch:ok: and the only greens are local produce on your plate:ok:


Have to work on Cascade to produce a local drop as good.

[Arnold E]

Time to form THE COMMON SENSE PARTY

Didn't Bob Katter do that?:cool:

[le Pingouin]

The Greens have much a stronger ideological basis than the Dems so will probably be harder to dislodge. The issues that are their bread and butter such as climate change, the Murray and general environmental degradation aren't going away any time soon, so neither will they.

[frangatang]

Is a taswegian kiss worse than a glaswegian?? See yoo jimeh.

[Kharon]

OZBUS # 30 - Kilkenny all round, no steaks thinner than an inch and the only greens are local produce on your plate. Where do I sign up?? – sounds like paradise to me. Only in VMC not below 24 c, wind less than 5 knots, none of that nasty cloud stuff and any runway under 3000 meters – verboten. 0900 sign on, 1630 sign off, no flying between 1130 and 1330 hrs. 72 virgins if you prang it and, at least four days off a week. CASA to clean the windscreen and cook the BBQ.

Oh pick me.:D

[thorn bird]

work is the curse of a drinking man!!