Glenb thanking you for your support
Hopefully I get a chance to continue unfolding the APTA experience on here over the next 24 hours. But I do want to sincerely thank everyone for their support. It has really been very much appreciated. To date, I had tried everything to resolve this internally and as discretely as possible, but my hand was forced. "Coming out" has been a liberating experience. I am on the phone quite a bit at the moment, and I am having trouble keeping up.
But to every Industry peer, ex school mate (SB), work mate, customer, person I respectfully bang heads with (Gerard), employee, past boss or supervisor, competitor,or Airline Pilot and father of a friend (Gav), thanks for the calls and encouragement. Trust me, its very much appreciated. If I cant take your call, im sorry, but the name popping up as a missed call gives me encouragement. Everything is appreciated and valued, it really is.
Let me assure you, I don't like fighting, and those close to me will testify to that. I can sit at a green arrow behind someone for two sets of green arrows without tooting my horn. I don't get upset at people that make errors. If I toot my horn, the person in front might lurch forward, and have an accident. They may get stressed and make a bad decision, they may actually have inadvertently prevented me being in an accident up the road.
I do also appreciate that two parties can look at exactly the same thing, and have a COMPLETELY different perspective, and I will use the example that I used at my staff meeting last Friday.
Most Sunday mornings, my wife, my 21 year old daughter, and myself sit across the kitchen bench with my daughter in the middle. I munch on my toast looking at my daughter who came home in the wee hours. I think to myself, "wow the father of an angelic 21 year old girl patiently waiting and resisting temptation waiting for Mr Right". As I glance across the table, I catch my wife's steely eyed glare fixated on my daughter, I can see it in her eyes "you dirty filthy wh$%@".
Anyway, as in my issue with CASA, I am strengthened by the fact, despite two sides having a different perspective, one of us is right. I choose that word with consideration. Its a bigger issue than correct or better. It really is a very pure issue, despite any attempt by CASA to smoke it up. It is very simply about right and wrong. Some behaviour, simply cannot be accepted because it is clearly wrong, as I believe it is in this case.
Let me assure you however, I will fight people who head out into the world, and decide to act with bad intent. Im not talking about the person who misses the green light. Im talking about the person that decides to spit on a security guard, the group of young thugs that decide to intimidate a lady at a train station, the group that decide to steal someone's Jet ski ( not mine), the driver that decides to drive on ice and kill an innocent lady, or the jerk that decides to try and steal stuff out my glovebox. I don't like people that actually decide to act inappropriately, and those close to me will confirm that. If you after an interesting story pop down the airport and ask about the Jetski fellas that pulled a gun on me. Its my favourite. But I do back up my words, and the issue is no different with CASA.
Its about decisions, and accepting the responsibility for decisions. As I say to all my learn to fly inquiries. Pilot training is simply a course of "decision making", and the Industry's safety depends on good decision makers. Every employee, and I mean every employee. From the CLARC office (who I find exceptional by the way) right through to the CEO and Board, need to stop before they walk through those doors at CASA, and actually commit themselves to Safety.That needs to drive every decision they make, and I mean every decision they make. If they think their decision potentially compromises safety in any way, or doesn't at least maintain or improve safety, they should stop. That should be the driver behind every decision. That combined with a genuine commitment to CASAs own Regulatory philosophy, and I mean a real commitment.
That alone is all CASA need to do, to improve safety outcomes. Those well intentioned within CASA will concur, because they probably already do it!!!