The glossy brochure I recieved states-
"Australian aviation faces difficult times. The once thriving market for private flying is in decline, with flying schools closing as fewer people take up aviation as a recreational activity."
I have to ask how increasing the risk factor is going to affect this? Are they trying to turn aviation into an extreme sport. These changes, rushed in as they have been will only have the opposite effect as people decide it isn't worth the effort. I for one will probably stay out of the skies until I am convinced it is safe and at the moment nothing I have seen comes close to convincing me.
I am a fairly low hours pilot and am still getting comfortable with what I learned to pass the test. One thing I do know is they wouldn't have given me my licence by just giving me a glossy brochure to read and then declaring I knew enough to hold the licence. So what is with the race to bring this in?
We keep coming up on the phrase "Affordable air safety" but the current system is affordable or it wouldn't be in place. What the phrase really means is Cut price air safety but that is too emotive a term and would alert the public to what is really happening here. Again we see the buzz words "International best practice" but that ignores geographical and technological differences. It also ignores the fact that if everyone is doing the same thing, how do you know it is the best?
My personal opinion is that all pilots would be best doing just what I intend to do. Refuse to fly until they have been convinced it is safe to do so, or have been trained fully to handle the new regs. I doubt the necessary training could be carried out in the time remaining.
