At the risk of sounding melodramatic - I see these changes as the greatest threat to the Aviation Industry.
The impact will go all the way up to the airlines.
Qantas, Virgin et al may well ignore what's happening currently in the small end of town but they risk allowing a future where the future pool of pilots will shrink (if the changes are allowed to happen).
Good for those in the short term - for those pilots waiting in the winds over the next decade.
Wind the clock ahead 10-15 years........
Will a future drastic shortage of G.A. Pilots see the likes of Qantas & Virgin forced to set up their own colleges like Singapore, China Southern & JAL in order to have a pool of pilots to recruit from?.
Then again, As New Zealand looks like it's keeping some sanity in G.A. - Maybe QF & Virgin will use the 'shakey Isles' as a source for experianced pilots in the future.
Mr Hat:
I'm not sure if the industry is already screwed on this one but I will attend the FLOT conference in March. I will also be writing to ministers (like p1ssing on a bushfire).
(also mentioned in D & G reporting points)
BTW: The conference is in Sydney and costs $200.
That pretty much counts out a voice from those with the most to lose.
However, pruners concerned with this obviously have computer access.
They can download the proposals, see how it affects them and send as many (free) terse emails to their favourite Transport Minister as they like.
