Airvans - Clearance Auction...

[Ex FSO GRIFFO]

From the May issue of Aviation Trader, p. 21,

Ex 'Alligator' Airvans and the Partenavia IXE, up for clearance auction.

To be offerred as one lot for the 5 'Vans + Pn.68, or make an offer per aircraft.

I see that the 'Vans have around the 1,500 hrs TT.

Sad to see them all go.
So, who else is doing the Bungles etc these days?

[Wally Mk2]

Hey 'Griffo' I just caught the tail end of the ABC news 2day saying something about Gippy Aero down there in Latrine valley laying off employees.
Might have that all wrong.

Sad to see any airframes sold off under those conditions


Wmk2

[Ex FSO GRIFFO]

NOPE Wal,

Not wrong - On the ball - as usual.
Jobs to go at Victorian aircraft manufacturer - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Between '40 and 100' workers , so they say....

Not Good for OZ industry.

Now, IF they were the car industry...??

[RatsoreA]

Airvans...

Interesting back story... When I was up there, the word was that the airvans were going to be sold back to the manufturer at a certain rate, so there wouldn't be a sudden glut of them on the market, which would reduce demand for new ones, and they were going to be "factory overhauled", then sold off, so they wouldn't have to slow their line down...

One wonders if there is any 'cause and effect' between these two stories?!

The PN68 though.... *shudder*.... PM me for that story...

[Horatio Leafblower]

Now, IF they were the car industry...??

...if it were the Auto industry, the Feral Gummint would hive them several million dollars to stay open for another 2 years and then Mahindra would close the factory and lay everyone off anyway, or hold the government to ransom for another handout.

Did anyone think for a second that an Indian company would buy an Australian maufacturing operation with the intention of paying Australian wages forever?

You will see the TATA Airvan released next year painted in yellow and red with strings of marigolds draped around the fuse, a roofrack for suitcases/goats/tourists and handles on the top of the fuse for those who prefer to hang out the windows. The PA will be upgraded with tinnier speakers so the Hindi pop music will sound right.

Aviation journalists will fall over themselves to do a test flight and will gush about the remarkable handling qualities and performance and how it will revolutionise its sector of the market.

Would the last manufacturer to leave Australia please turn out the light?

[AussieNick]

Have to agree with Mr. Leafblower on this. Had a feeling that when Gippsaero was brought out it was only a matter of time before they started to lay off workers.

How long before the entire production line is shipped to India?

Sad day, but will forever happen when we have a government that gives a rodents rectum about the industry.

[Ex FSO GRIFFO]

Ah so, Guys n' Gals,...

"The Global Village" strikes again.....

"Would you like more grasshoppers on your rice..??"

[Andy_RR]

It's Australia's own fault. There a couple of local entrepreneurs build up a company from scratch, need to sell out of it to move into a retirement phase and who's there to invest into it to see it continue in Australian ownership...?

Which Australian superannuation fund took it on?

Which Australian sovereign wealth fund was there to snap it up and continue building on the shoulders of these giants?

I know that as the stampede to invest was dying down to a trickle, there were still several million Aussies prepared to leverage themselves to their back teeth to bid up an already overpriced shack to keep the rain off.

We do it to ourselves, guys. Blame no one else!

[LeadSled]

Folks,
All the obstructionism of CASA doesn't help, the original investors were bled dry by the costs of CASA delays and prevarication.
Presumably, several CASA people will be happy with the move offshore, they will no longer have to take responsibility for their regulatory decisions ----- never underestimate the costly regulatory obstacles put in the way of certification by CASA, compared with FAA, NZ CAA etc. The costs and delays in certifying the new models are probably the straws that broke the camel's back.
It is not a simplistic matter of relative labor costs.
Tootle pip!!

[Fred Gassit]

Certification costs ruin airframers everywhere, assuming this is the cause, Oz standards are about the same as FAR 23 anyway aren't they?

[Old Akro]

I think I'd look to TATA / Jaguar Land Rover for a model of how Mahindra might behave with GippsAero. Leave manufacturing & engineerring support here (who really wants to buy an Indian aeroplane? - just like who wants to buy an Indian Range Rover?) but instead engage in an aggressive programme to source as many components and sub assemblies as possible from India. Certification will complicate this, but there is probably a fair array of non critical labour intensive components (interior trim comes first to mind) that might be sourced from India relatively easily. Its possible that the job cuts are more about this than lack of sales.

Its what we get with our current industry policy.

[VH-XXX]

I wonder what this will mean for the revamped Nomad.... and the turbine Airvan....?

[aeromariner]

That is the myth of course, but it is completely wrong. There was a lot of money from Australian Investors in that company starting around 1994. From then on said investors just watched their money frittered away. It was all gone by the time the sale to Mahindra came (plus some ie GA was broke). The money in the sale gave a fraction back to the investors. But essentially the investors were burnt. I know the myth perpetuated about two guys designing and building and testing and certifying an aeroplane with absolutely no help from anybody else and not an investment dollar to be seen sounds good ..... but its straight out of Disneyland

[aeromariner]

and more mythical rubbish from leadsled. The problem with certification was that the management of the company was not totally committed to the process. CASA was not exactly speedy gonzalez, but the company often had front running at CASA and then would baulk at the process. The seats were certified in the FAA laboratory in Oklahoma city by CASA despite the best efforts of GA management.

[Wally Mk2]

Not good at all & it's such a shame that aviation in this country is almost non existent mainly due to our Govt's who simply don't see it as anything serious.

The car industry on the other hand employs a LOT of people & we can't have Ford/Holden going under which would hurt the incumbent Govt big time with mass unemployment hurting their figures so WE prop them up.
There's most likely more to it behind the scenes but ya can't help but feel for the employees.

Who the hell is aviation they would say?



Wmk2

[avcraft]

Maybe they could put those 40 employees to work building the parts we need to keep the aircraft flying...

[VH-XXX]

I guess what we all want to really know, is have the employees actually lost their jobs to their Indian counterparts in India.... or are they struggling on hard times? It might be hard to get that answer from any media source.

[aeromariner]

Oh Wally Mk2 did I mention the millions the government poured into the place as well as the investors ..... still continue with your dreaming ............

[Old Akro]

I'm in the final stages of preparing to hire about 20 people in Thailand. Its not until you get to that level of detail that you really understand how unfriendly Australia is to business and how expensive & time consuming our bureaucracy is. You don't pay much less for skilled labour in Thailand, but everything else from phones to corporate tax is a fraction of the cost. And (unlike Australia) government ministers and the heads of public service departments are accessible and interested in helping overcome problems.

[Horatio Leafblower]

They're not all like that, Akro.

The mining minister in NSW was VERY accessible and VERY good at solving problems....