CJAM
spot on.
There is a correlation between pilot wages and safety in General Aviation.
The ability of a company to pay the award or better is an indicator financial health and depth.
It is no surprise that the companies who pay well also spend a lot more on maintenace.
Taking Cairns as an example, the majority of operators there pay at or above the award,
and have high standards of maintenance.
Unfortunately they also all have very high minimum experience requirements, i.e. they are prepared to pay for quality and experience.
There are other GA centres with a similar history.
What is tough is that the good companies that have higher overheads have to
compete at a cost disadvantage with the shonks.
Fortunately their established clients understand and accept that a premium service comes at a premium price.