QUOTE]
From CEO Bruce Byron
John McCormick will take over as the new chief executive officer of CASA from 1 March 2009. Infrastructure and Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, announced the appointment of Mr McCormick today. Mr Albanese said:
"The Rudd Labor Government places the highest importance on aviation safety and is very pleased to have someone of Mr McCormick’s calibre and experience taking the reins of CASA. Mr McCormick will take up his responsibilities at an exciting time for the nation’s civil aviation industry. The Government has provided a framework for the industry’s future development with the release last week of our Aviation Green Paper, the next stage in the development of the nation’s first ever long term Aviation Strategy or White Paper.
Safety is at the forefront of the Green Paper and as the independent safety regulator, CASA has a crucial role to play in maintaining Australia’s proud safety record. To improve its governance arrangements as well as provide stronger support to the CEO and the Minister, I recently announced the Government intends to put in place a small, independent Board for CASA.
An early priority for Mr McCormick will therefore be to prepare for the establishment of this Board in July 2009. The Government acknowledges and thanks Mr Bruce Byron for his outstanding contribution as CASA CEO over the past five years as well as his personal commitment to the highest of safety standards and necessary internal reforms. He leaves CASA well placed to meet future challenges."
John has worked for Cathay Pacific since 1987, having been with Qantas as a second officer on the B747-200 from 1984 to 1987. Prior to that he held various positions within the RAAF, serving a number of overseas tours. At Cathay Mr McCormick started as a first officer on the B747-200 and rose to become chief pilot and manager training for the airline's Boeing fleet, before taking over as general manager Operations in Hong Kong. This role included responsibility for the airline's air operators certificates and all applicable regulatory matters. For the last two years he has been a Brisbane-based line pilot and is a senior training captain on the A330/340s.
Mr McCormick brings a wealth of up-to-date and international industry experience to CASA which will further strengthen our senior management team. I have no doubt his fresh perspective and ideas will drive continued improvements to CASA, building on the success of our change program which has been strongly endorsed by the Government. I can report that the field of candidates for the CEOs position was strong and in itself this speaks volumes for the respect CASA now has in the Australian and international aviation communities.
I know you will all look forward to meeting John McCormick and will give him your full support and loyalty. In the meantime, I look forward to the next few months as I complete my term as CEO and get our organisation ready for a smooth transition to a new leader who will bring a commitment to building on our current successes and striving for continued improvement.
Hopefully he will be able to achieve more in regulatory reform than Byron - shouldn't be too hard given that Byron achieved absolutely nothing