Commercial regulation by stealth???
The present regulations relating to the classification of RPT, charter etc are very vague and it appears that is how they want them.
One court decided that any flight that was planned the day before takeoff was in fact a "scheduled flight"!
So almost every charter operator in Australia has benn carrying out "scheduled flights" for decades. Apparently this is ok until CASA decide they don't like you.
Surely a scheduled flight, carried out on a regular basis is just as safe, or probably safer than one that operates without preplanning. So how can this be safety regulation? It appears to be commercial regulation.
And the confusion about "closed charters" is rediculous. I know of mail runs that have been operating for decades as charter that were deemed to be RPT and then prevented from carryng anything but mail. They are now called "closed charters" because they only carry what is needed by the people who live at the places they fly to!!!! So what changed? Nothing. Just the paper.
It appears to me that the lunatics are in charge of the assylum.
But maybe not. The present system presents lots of opportunities for shutting down an operator. Is this the purpose of the tules? Is this why they are so vague?
I once metioned to a senior CASA man that they could shut down any operator they liked, and he agreed.
And some of these weird rules will result in lack of air services to remote regions, or only "illegal" ones.
It has been said that you can prevent aviation accidents by preventing the aviation. Is this what it is about? How can they sleep at night.
Why don't we licence them as "Licenced Light Aircraft Services" and have these words printed on any advertising they do, and tickets they issue so the public will know what they are getting. And then let them operate under the charter rules whether they are regular services or not.
There will be screams from some, as light aircraft activity will be increased, and be better because operators will have more certainty.
And remote communities will have air services again.