As an airline pilot who left Australia as a result of the 89 dispute, and has never flown in Auastralia since (thankfully) - I think one area has changed.
The AFAP was an umbrella organisation that represented GA pilots as well as airline pilots. It still does of course but with one distinct difference. There is a dearth of people, expertise and money at the 'top end' of the organisation.
Remember that prior to 89, the majority of AFAP members were GA pilots. However, the VAST majority of the money came from the airline pilots. And, the and even VASTER majority of the time and expertise came from the airline pilots.
As a GA pilot in Darwin I once had need of some help. It was an Ansett 727 Captain, who,in his own time, came to Darwin and gave me the help I needed. I subsequently saw this 'big brother' assistance offered by airline pilots to GA pilots many times.
Even at the time (89) I thought one of the saddest aspects of the dispute was how it decimated the AFAP which would thus have a flow-on effect to the GA pilots who needed the AFAP most. Correspondingly, one of the most disgraceful acts of the scabs was that they selfishly closed the door behind themselves. They did not try to set up anything other than a union for themselves. The least they could have done was take a more generous view of the world and try to give something back to the most needy members of our pilot fraternity. Instead they cherry-picked the rich and resourceful end of the industry and locked-out the people who were now trying to survive in the inhospitable arena of Australian GA.
This is, in my opinion the ultimate reason why I wish a pox on the scabs.
So, to return to the thread at hand. Conditions of employment have deteriorated in Australian GA as a result of the weakening of the AFAP.
