Outrage at China-controlled Aussie airport
Thread Starter
Outrage at China-controlled Aussie airport
The Australian Wednesday, December 27, 2017.
Outrage at China-controlled Aussie airport
Andrew Burrell – Exclusive
The Port of Darwin, the Aussie cattle industry, now an Aussie airport controlled by China?
Outrage at China-controlled Aussie airport
Andrew Burrell – Exclusive
Merredin airport in western Australia is effectively under the control of a Chinese government enterprise, prompting outrage in aviation circles, as safety concerns shut down its pilot training school.
The airports’ runways, control tower, hangars and all it’s assets are 50 per cent owned, and may soon be fully owned, by China’s biggest airline, state-owned China Southern Airlines.
In 1993, the3 secretive company quietly paid $1 to the WA government to lease the airport for 100 years to use as a base to train thousands of Chinese pilots for employment in the world’s fastest growing aviation market.
In recent years it has owned the flight school with Canadian company CAE. So far, more than 2000 pilots have graduated from the facility, making it China Southern Airlines’ biggest training base in the world.
For an Australian town’s sole airstrip to be effectively controlled by the Chinese government is unusual.
Anyone wishing to land at the aerodrome, 260 km east of Perth, must seek approval from the flying school. Locals say permission has never been denied, but aviation veterans and businessman Dick Smith believes the airport should not be owned by a foreign company of government.
“It is outrageous that an Aussie pilot can’t go to a country airport without getting approval from the Chinese to land there,” he said.
“I’ve never heard of this happening anywhere.” In recent months, however, the Chinese flying school has suspended its operations in WA after the Civil Aviation Safety Authority raised safety concerns.
Aviation industry sources say the company has continued to pay millions of dollars in wages – without any students – since March this year.
One source said he believed a dispute between Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines and CAE could lead to China Southern taking full ownership of the flying school within months.
A spokesman for China Southern West Australian Flying College declined to comment.
Merredin Shire president Ken Hooper said nobody in town had been able to find out when the flying school would reopen.
“Its quite important to our economy here but we just can’t get any information,” he said.
A CASA spokesman said the regulator would not publically discuss details of it’s dealings with aviation organisations unless serious action was taken, such as suspending or cancelling a certificate.
“CASA and China Southern have been working to address identified safety and regulatory issues over a period of time,” the spokesman said. “CASA is hopeful that China Southern can meet all requirements as soon as possible.”
There is a broader concern in the aviation industry about growing foreign ownership and control of pilot training schools in Australia.
With a looming shortage of commercial pilots predicted, there are fears Australia will have to import pilots while foreign-controlled pilot schools in this country send their graduates to China and elsewhere in Asia. At the same time, flight schools claim they are being crippled by skyrocketing costs and over-regulation.
The airports’ runways, control tower, hangars and all it’s assets are 50 per cent owned, and may soon be fully owned, by China’s biggest airline, state-owned China Southern Airlines.
In 1993, the3 secretive company quietly paid $1 to the WA government to lease the airport for 100 years to use as a base to train thousands of Chinese pilots for employment in the world’s fastest growing aviation market.
In recent years it has owned the flight school with Canadian company CAE. So far, more than 2000 pilots have graduated from the facility, making it China Southern Airlines’ biggest training base in the world.
For an Australian town’s sole airstrip to be effectively controlled by the Chinese government is unusual.
Anyone wishing to land at the aerodrome, 260 km east of Perth, must seek approval from the flying school. Locals say permission has never been denied, but aviation veterans and businessman Dick Smith believes the airport should not be owned by a foreign company of government.
“It is outrageous that an Aussie pilot can’t go to a country airport without getting approval from the Chinese to land there,” he said.
“I’ve never heard of this happening anywhere.” In recent months, however, the Chinese flying school has suspended its operations in WA after the Civil Aviation Safety Authority raised safety concerns.
Aviation industry sources say the company has continued to pay millions of dollars in wages – without any students – since March this year.
One source said he believed a dispute between Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines and CAE could lead to China Southern taking full ownership of the flying school within months.
A spokesman for China Southern West Australian Flying College declined to comment.
Merredin Shire president Ken Hooper said nobody in town had been able to find out when the flying school would reopen.
“Its quite important to our economy here but we just can’t get any information,” he said.
A CASA spokesman said the regulator would not publically discuss details of it’s dealings with aviation organisations unless serious action was taken, such as suspending or cancelling a certificate.
“CASA and China Southern have been working to address identified safety and regulatory issues over a period of time,” the spokesman said. “CASA is hopeful that China Southern can meet all requirements as soon as possible.”
There is a broader concern in the aviation industry about growing foreign ownership and control of pilot training schools in Australia.
With a looming shortage of commercial pilots predicted, there are fears Australia will have to import pilots while foreign-controlled pilot schools in this country send their graduates to China and elsewhere in Asia. At the same time, flight schools claim they are being crippled by skyrocketing costs and over-regulation.
Last edited by Torres; 27th Dec 2017 at 04:12.
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Well, if the original Australian owners are dumb enough to sell/lease/whatever these facilities in the first place........
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1. It is a lease there is so many protections from it becoming "Chinese" property
2. Why doesn't an Australian airline start up a school there?
3. Many airports require permission especially the private ones
4. If there is. looming pilot shortage then it would be a savvy investment for an Australian right?
5. Other option would be for them to lease space at a major city and clog that airspace, give them some sort of credit for making students learn to balk a landing
6. Imagine the cash this generates in the region!
Talk about putting money where your mouth is... Let's shut everything if an Australian doesn't want to buy it
2. Why doesn't an Australian airline start up a school there?
3. Many airports require permission especially the private ones
4. If there is. looming pilot shortage then it would be a savvy investment for an Australian right?
5. Other option would be for them to lease space at a major city and clog that airspace, give them some sort of credit for making students learn to balk a landing
6. Imagine the cash this generates in the region!
Talk about putting money where your mouth is... Let's shut everything if an Australian doesn't want to buy it
And how many aviation professionals are actually “outraged” at this beyond Dick? I’m glad someone is investing in high quality training, jobs for low time pilots and support for regional communities. Even if a foreign company (jointly owned by Canadians) gets the land for a cheap price which they upgrade and maintain at their own cost.
Merredin Shire president Ken Hooper said nobody in town had been able to find out when the flying school would reopen.
“Its quite important to our economy here
“Its quite important to our economy here
Australia for sale...
This is why we cant have nice things anymore. We dont deserve the place!
The guys & girls that gave their lives for us 100 & 75 & 55 & 40 odd years ago would be ashamed of how we are selling the place off to short term profit and greed in recent times.
They are creeping this way...long term, long time.
It is easier for them to deal with CASA and buy off the Australian government than do anything in their own backyard with their own regime.
Anyone who has operated there understands.
Australians are like fat ×@@# frogs in the water and the heats been turned up.
This is why we cant have nice things anymore. We dont deserve the place!
The guys & girls that gave their lives for us 100 & 75 & 55 & 40 odd years ago would be ashamed of how we are selling the place off to short term profit and greed in recent times.
They are creeping this way...long term, long time.
It is easier for them to deal with CASA and buy off the Australian government than do anything in their own backyard with their own regime.
Anyone who has operated there understands.
Australians are like fat ×@@# frogs in the water and the heats been turned up.
Anyone who thinks that this $1 lease was “selling out” to foreign interests is a fool.
This was a great deal for WA and for Merredin. CSA have injected hundreds of millions of dollars into the WA economy over the last 20 years.
The “control tower”... CSA paid for and built it.
The sealed runways - CSA paid for and built it.
The fuel facilities - wouldn’t be there at all without CSA, like most aerodromes where the fuel companies have pulled up stumps.
The buildings .... you guessed it.
The parking facilities, the sealed taxiways, the housing both at the airport and in town... CSA again.
Those facilities which Dick Smith is dying to get his hands on - they were built and paid for by CSA. Had this “selling out” not occurred, you wouldn’t be landing there anyway - because it’d be a 500m dirt strip with no facilities.
Complete BS. Another “Won’t somebody think of the children!” moment.
There’s the rub.
This thread should be bookmarked so that in twenty years when no one wants to invest a cent in Australia, we’ll look back on alarmist crap like this and know why.
This was a great deal for WA and for Merredin. CSA have injected hundreds of millions of dollars into the WA economy over the last 20 years.
The “control tower”... CSA paid for and built it.
The sealed runways - CSA paid for and built it.
The fuel facilities - wouldn’t be there at all without CSA, like most aerodromes where the fuel companies have pulled up stumps.
The buildings .... you guessed it.
The parking facilities, the sealed taxiways, the housing both at the airport and in town... CSA again.
Those facilities which Dick Smith is dying to get his hands on - they were built and paid for by CSA. Had this “selling out” not occurred, you wouldn’t be landing there anyway - because it’d be a 500m dirt strip with no facilities.
“It is outrageous that an Aussie pilot can’t go to a country airport without getting approval from the Chinese to land there,” he said.
Locals say permission has never been denied
This thread should be bookmarked so that in twenty years when no one wants to invest a cent in Australia, we’ll look back on alarmist crap like this and know why.
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There is every need for concern at Chinese "owning" Australian infrastructure.
There is a possibility that they will drag these assets over to the South China Sea and use them against us in the up coming World War Three.
There is a possibility that they will drag these assets over to the South China Sea and use them against us in the up coming World War Three.
This news is so old I put it in the category of fake news. Let's move on, there is nothing new here.
What should be of more concern is CASA giving them such a hard time they're likely to pull up stumps and move the whole shebang to Canada. The trainees will never exercise the privileges of their Australian license once they go back to China. They just get a CAAC license, a type rating on an Airbus, or Boeing or Embraer, and then they get captured in the recurrent company training system.
And yes, to declare my slight conflict of interest I have just finished a 3 year contract with China Southern as a TRI in China. They treated me very well and are a great bunch of people to work with. China Southern has nothing to do with CAE any more, and it's been like that for more than 6 months now.
What should be of more concern is CASA giving them such a hard time they're likely to pull up stumps and move the whole shebang to Canada. The trainees will never exercise the privileges of their Australian license once they go back to China. They just get a CAAC license, a type rating on an Airbus, or Boeing or Embraer, and then they get captured in the recurrent company training system.
And yes, to declare my slight conflict of interest I have just finished a 3 year contract with China Southern as a TRI in China. They treated me very well and are a great bunch of people to work with. China Southern has nothing to do with CAE any more, and it's been like that for more than 6 months now.
Why can’t a competent Aussie businessperson get a big and successful flying school going and make millions where the profit stays in Australia ?
Or are all Aussie s involved in aviation not very competent?
Or are all Aussie s involved in aviation not very competent?
This jingoism is a joke. Foreign investors such as CSA as stated cannot pickup the airport and place it on an atoll in the South China Sea. Same goes for cattle and other agriculture where by the way the buyers actually invest more to recapitalise these places unlike many Australian operators who do not re-invest and things run down and then become uncompetitive.
Remember Dick is now Pauline Hanson's "political" advisor. Expect more of this..
What about Virgin being owned and controlled by foreign interests? Do we hear any complaints?
Remember Dick is now Pauline Hanson's "political" advisor. Expect more of this..
What about Virgin being owned and controlled by foreign interests? Do we hear any complaints?
China Southern have invested in an ab-initio to CPL + IR pilot training resource in Australia to supply it with the pilots it needs to maintain the growing pilot requirement of its domestic and International RPT flight operations in China. The pilot trainees are recruited off the street and given all the training they need to be competent FO on A320/330/340, B737/787 or EMB190.
The cadets live off a meager allowance, enough to buy noodles and tea and the occasional pizza as a luxury. They are bonded to the company for about half a life-time to pay back the money invested in their training. They show up on-time prepared for the lesson, they work hard, and you never hear them complain about anything. As long as WeChat works on their phone they are happy.
And when they get to China with a freshly minted CASA CPL they enter a training pipeline with about $500+ million USD of facilities and hardware to make them job ready.
Name me one Australian airline that does that?
Oh yeah, Jetstar tried to bond pilots who they invested training in and they got rolled in Court for it.
The cadets live off a meager allowance, enough to buy noodles and tea and the occasional pizza as a luxury. They are bonded to the company for about half a life-time to pay back the money invested in their training. They show up on-time prepared for the lesson, they work hard, and you never hear them complain about anything. As long as WeChat works on their phone they are happy.
And when they get to China with a freshly minted CASA CPL they enter a training pipeline with about $500+ million USD of facilities and hardware to make them job ready.
Name me one Australian airline that does that?
Oh yeah, Jetstar tried to bond pilots who they invested training in and they got rolled in Court for it.
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I’d be more concerned with the airports that were once hubs of pilot training in this country that are nothing more than shopping malls with a runway attached.
Want to know why nobody is being trained privately in this country any more? Greedy owners of these once buzzing (literally) training airports don’t want pesky light aircraft detracting from their core business of fleecing customers so they make it very clear they’re not welcome. Sky high leases, parking fees, movement charges all make the business of training the next generation of aviators a non sustainable business. Throw in a ridiculous amount of red tape from CASA bureaucrats and is any wonder places like Bankstown and Essendon are ghost towns compared to 20 years ago.
I applaud any investor willing to spend money here to train pilots. The Chinese aren’t the problem. Westfield and CASA are.
Want to know why nobody is being trained privately in this country any more? Greedy owners of these once buzzing (literally) training airports don’t want pesky light aircraft detracting from their core business of fleecing customers so they make it very clear they’re not welcome. Sky high leases, parking fees, movement charges all make the business of training the next generation of aviators a non sustainable business. Throw in a ridiculous amount of red tape from CASA bureaucrats and is any wonder places like Bankstown and Essendon are ghost towns compared to 20 years ago.
I applaud any investor willing to spend money here to train pilots. The Chinese aren’t the problem. Westfield and CASA are.
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Damn competant actually, the problem is CASA, they hound / pound all participants to the point of surrender. And they ( CASA ) don't give a **** doing it.
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The Australian Government (read that as, Australian Government as the puppet of the Australian Airlines puppet master) solution to pilot shortage in Australia is to open our borders to foreign pilots to work here. But the catch is, you must pay them the same as Australian pilots, and there is no real obligation on the Australian airlines to train Australians to do these jobs.
The China Government solution to pilot shortage in China was to train their own national pilots in Australia. But CASA did the ground and pound on them so they shut up shop and went elsewhere. China still gets the pilots it needs, and Canada gets all that training revenue from 40,000 training flight hours per year that was once flown at Jandakot and Merredin.
And about the South China Sea dispute mentioned earlier. China went and built stuff on it whilst everybody else just talked about it. And the stuff they built was probably built with steel made from Australian iron ore. And a China Southern A320 went down there and landed on the runway they built with it. Wouldn't it be a dose of karma if the pilot of that A320 had done his basic training at Jandakot airport. Imagine the headline, "Australian trained Chinese pilot first to land on disputed South China Sea island".
Singapore Airlines flight training school will be the next to go. Then you can sell off Jandakot Airport for residential development and make millions and millions of dollars in revenue. All you need to do is park the Police helicopter in the city, and the RFDS at Perth Airport, and no more need for Jandakot airport. Jandakot is prime real estate, Spud Shed and the bottle shop next to it will do a roaring trade.
The China Government solution to pilot shortage in China was to train their own national pilots in Australia. But CASA did the ground and pound on them so they shut up shop and went elsewhere. China still gets the pilots it needs, and Canada gets all that training revenue from 40,000 training flight hours per year that was once flown at Jandakot and Merredin.
And about the South China Sea dispute mentioned earlier. China went and built stuff on it whilst everybody else just talked about it. And the stuff they built was probably built with steel made from Australian iron ore. And a China Southern A320 went down there and landed on the runway they built with it. Wouldn't it be a dose of karma if the pilot of that A320 had done his basic training at Jandakot airport. Imagine the headline, "Australian trained Chinese pilot first to land on disputed South China Sea island".
Singapore Airlines flight training school will be the next to go. Then you can sell off Jandakot Airport for residential development and make millions and millions of dollars in revenue. All you need to do is park the Police helicopter in the city, and the RFDS at Perth Airport, and no more need for Jandakot airport. Jandakot is prime real estate, Spud Shed and the bottle shop next to it will do a roaring trade.
Last edited by gulliBell; 27th Dec 2017 at 09:47.
It’s sad you’ve resorted to this tactic, Dick.
Many (many) millions have been invested and spent, over many decades, in Australia by the lessees of this land. They get the same rights as any other lessee. And the lease will eventually expire.
But I concur with your overarching point: Aerodromes should be owned and maintained as a community good.
Many (many) millions have been invested and spent, over many decades, in Australia by the lessees of this land. They get the same rights as any other lessee. And the lease will eventually expire.
But I concur with your overarching point: Aerodromes should be owned and maintained as a community good.
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CASA is a law unto themselves, they damn well know that. A "royal commission" into their gross misconducts, the decept, the lies, the coverups, the standover tactics etc etc, would be too alarming to see the light of day, govts are complicent in this protection of casa. We need a "CASA"......but not this one, it's rotten to the core.
Could it be that in 5 years a lot of these Chinese pilots will be back in Australia on 457 visas flying our Aussie owned airlines?
I am told they are well trained not to cause any industrial troubles!
I am told they are well trained not to cause any industrial troubles!
And if they were to come here on a 457 visa, the plane they end up flying in Australia is probably half full (or more) of Chinese anyway. Just like my VA flight was last week. They could make all the announcements from the cockpit in English and Chinese.