I was very surprised at how slack the LBA were.
I know.... remember an accident, were a Citation 2 SP went from A (over weight, established by the fuel upload) to airfield B, tried to land at B to fly then (over weight, since the flight with 8 pax/650nm in a IISP cannot be done with out being over 12500lbs) to Port C, arrived at B and tried to land during Cat III, left parts of the of airplane there (hit the ground before THR, in the missed almost hit the terminal) and as a result went back and did land minus one main gear at port of origin. A/C was substancially damaged
The operator was not shut down. The boss himself flew this very trip.
'My' guy from the LBA was the auditor there as well at the time. I asked him several times what one would have to do to have his AOC revoked. Apparently - and that happened to a friend of mine who had an AOC at the time as well, the only time they really react if you canīt produce the 80.000. THEN they pull the plug. And quick.
BTW, the question why they donīt pull plugs at airlines that have annonced losses into hundreds of millions of went unanswered.
JAROPS, EU-OPS and the proposed EASA-OPS delegate control into the companies. Its all about paper, and the ability of the authority to explain, - should the train derail - that all requirements were fulfilled and checked by the authority. Checks are done only - as you say - at the annual auditing events/checks and when SAFA checks are conducted. I personally know an AOC operator that was caught twice without a MEL and proper checklists and had a very hard time to stay in business. This seems to be an effect of EASA.
I donīt share your view that we are under regulated. I think there is some regulation that does not make too much sense or is just aimed at airlines and not at biz aviation (e.g.FDR), most of it does and is there.
I also think that less regs, but more clear ones are the way to go. And they have to be enforced.
In my experience there is underpunishing of repeated offenders, in case of the LBA some operators are cut way to much slack. Some individuals that have crossed my career path belong anywhere, but not in a cockpit, let alone in the chair of a CEO or DO or the like, but thats exactly where they sit. It seems, that being responsible and knowing what one does is out of fashion.
What you can see in legislation and I feel its very obvious especially in aviation, is how lobbying on the European level works and in whos favour it goes.Look at minimum requirements for command, look at the MPL,why are PPLs/CPLs/ATPs to be renewed etcetc.? Look at the States, there the licence stays with you for life - but then the individual pilot isnīt so dependend on an employer and the checkrides he needs to stay current or attractive on the job market. Class/typeratings: the same.
Of course I follow all the rules to the letter of the law
Me too, me too! :-)