Competition
Finally CASA is thawing and realizing that unless they reduce complexity and cost they wont have anything left to regulate. RA AUS has been running joy flights under the guise of Trial Introductory Flights for 20+ years and people are not dying like flies. Of course the old guard will trot out the alarmist scaremongering but the fact is that joy flights are not that complicated as to justify the cost of an AOC. Simple registration and CASA actually regulating instead of legislating are all the oversight that is needed. It provides a much needed bottom rung for operators to get started and move on with cash flow to more complex operations. It also provides new revenue to justify aircraft ownership so they are not just a burdensome toy. Another benefit is getting new punters hooked on Aviation. I would surmise that there are not currently that many operators with an AOC solely providing joy flights, they would have to have other revenue streams to justify the cost of the AOC. Bottom line is the bad eggs will rort the system AOC or not.