Originally Posted by
Sir Niall Dementia
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And then you get organisations like Wingly where 100 hour PPL's can advertise to take you flying on what are effectively A to A Commercial flights (sightseeing) without a commercial license, AOC or any other of the myriad checks and balances those of who provide aviation services as a living are subject too.
My Flight Ops Inspector was shamefaced when I asked him how he dare turn up and audit us when the CAA allow Wingly. Cost sharing and the Wingly principal have dropped standards of safety for people in ignorance of the rules. A couple of PPL's sharing a trip know the deal they are entering into, the man in the street be he dustman or premiership footballer have no real chance of knowing the truth.
Grant Shapps, MP for Welwyn and Hatfield and owner of a Cirrus SR22 pushed hard for this situation via his "Red Tape Challenge" The red tape (and fees) for AOC's went up and an area of GA became the wild west. Well done Grant! you c@@t!
SND
Sir Niall, I would not disagree with one syllable.
Wingly has given further cover to the illegal charter mob many of whom fly N REG machines. There is no oversight anywhere.
"Cost sharing" is now a new cottage industry (wingly, flyer on the pub notice board, Facebook etc) and it is sending a message that the next step up or down, i.e. "illegal charter", if you prefer, is ok - nobody is going to bother you. If you look at the Wingly website some of the prices on there are certainly money makers - I understand 6 seaters are selling well.
Unfortunately, AOCs are disappearing extremely fast - companies cannot complete with 100 hour PPLs who have to meet almost no regulatory requirements - when the next recession comes around and there are no airline jobs then there will be no levels below to fall back on. In addition, going forward, as we appear to be leaving EASA British licensed pilots will be as rare as ....... insert as required.
The regulator (joke), as they like to be known, has been well informed.