Originally Posted by
DOUBLE BOGEY
I think some of the costs quoted on this thread are a tadge excessive. Lease purchase a decent second hand 135 or equivelant and for day VMC OPS a budget of £1m p.a would easily suffice with a contracted AOC.
if it saves one life.................
We all pay insurance for vehicles, homes etc and very few ever claim. if we added £3 to every vehicle insurance policy sold the kitty would be big enough to cover UK with AAs without charity or hand to mouth existence.
I really do hear where you're coming from DB and in a perfect world it might well be the best thing, however...
What would actually happen is this: There would be a massive bun fight for the resources to run this uber-AA service. It would end up going to a single large operator who would then run it his own way to the advantage of the vested interests and the disadvantage of everyone else. Very soon it would not be £3, it would be £10 and there would be less aircraft.
At the moment the UK has superb AA coverage. yes it's spotty in places and it's sometimes inconsistent. Some of the charities and operators are "different" to the rest but there is a huge variety of operators and charities rather than one single overarching administrative behemoth. The charities generally have good relationships and recognition within their areas of operations and there is a sense of "ownership". Merging independent local AA into one single entity - Have a wee look at the NPAS thread to see how that's likely to turn out!
OH