Regulation is a part of the issue but not the only barrier to the sort of aviation activities referred to.
Lookleft
CASA has spent a fortune persecuting and prosecuting Air Tour operators against the stupid interpretation of CAR 206. The best example is the Direct Air/Polar decision in Darwin where CASA decided that a charter flight in a C310 or a Navajo was "RPT" simply by virtue of the fact it ran frequently enough to be deemed "regular" and the fact that anyone could jump on a seat. The fact that the passengers were all traveling as a group to participate in an indigenous art tour was immaterial to the Courts.
The CASA decision was overturned in the AAT by Ergon Fice (an ex Mirage driver) in a rather creative re-interpretation, which was of course itself overturned on appeal.
Similar stupidity and CASA Dogma has dogged operators such as Heron Airlines and Silver City Scenics, shutting down tourism and aviation for fear of falling foul of numb-skull rules.
If I own a bus company I can buy 70 tickets to Shania Twain or Andre bloody Rieu, advertise the f*ck out of it, and fill the coach full of screaming Matrons keen for a night out.
Can't do the same on an aircraft. That's RPT.
How many BILLIONS in lost tourism dollars have been lost, how much economic growth has been denied to our regional towns, simply because of this one stupid dogmatic rule?
How much capital investment did we have to make as aircraft owners on early ADS-B implementation, ensuring our technology is twice as expensive as that used in NZ and the USA to achieve the same or lesser outcomes? To add insult to injury, the FAA and now the NZ CAA are SUBSIDISING the installations (to the tune of $2500 in NZ).
How much could have been spent on fleet renewal, fleet refurbishment, or marketing effort had we not been forced to spend that?
Vag227
Let me congratulate you on an excellent post. I especially like the final para:
GA might be succeeding in spite of itself. When was the last time the participants in industry worked together to:
· identify and quantify credibly the contribution the sector makes to the economy and community well being?
· promote aviation as a challenging, rewarding and enjoyable recreation?
· create an impression of being a well organised, professional and enthusiastic group?
It is unlikely that we will see sustained and widespread improvement if we do not understand and penetrate the market represented by the entire population of what is a very prosperous country.
I for one would like to see the warring egos in RAAus and AOPA come together and re-jig that relationship to the ultimate benefit of ALL PILOTS IN AUSTRALIA. As implied by the OP - United we stand, Divided we fall.