I think we should wish AVM. Skidmore all the best. My guess would be that the poor " Customer satisfaction survey" results followed by the comparison to the latest American air safety audit results were the last straw. To be fair to the good AVM, he does not have the experience necessary to lead CASA through the complete restructure and gutting that is required, anymore than Stalb did at AsA. This is not a criticism of either of them. In addition neither would relish the stress and tension restructuring in the face of bureaucratic resistance at their time of life.
I will not repeat my previous postings on what needs to be done - rewriting the Act to require the regulator to foster aviation in all its forms = jobs, investment, growth etc. Nor the deliberate destruction of the CASA management culture and its replacement with a real customer focused set of values and the FAA rule set.
As for the airlines..they regulate themselves CASA doesn't have the capability to regulate Qantas, etc. and hasn't for at least Thirty years or more.
It is going to be interesting to see the consultant brief for a new head. No one with any brains will take the job unless they understand that this job is going to require bureaucratic infighting skills of the highest order coupled with ruthlessness and the intelligence to drive through a massive change agenda against deeply entrenched opposition.
Needless to say if the Minister wants a "steady as she goes" safe pair of hands to make everything bad go away, then we will get another retired AVM., or worse, a female narcissist who will rejoice in taking us from bad to worse in her lust for power and money........and that folks is unfortunately as real possibility considering gender diversity and all. We could get a perfumed princess, a real black widow spider who knows nothing about aviation at all and proceeds to make things even worse than they are today.
Last edited by Sunfish; 25th Aug 2016 at 08:00.