Shortage of Charter Aircraft in QLD
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Shortage of Charter Aircraft in QLD
Apparently...
"...Tim Nicholls has admitted the Queensland opposition's election campaign has been hamstrung by the cost and availability of charter planes..."
Nicholls campaign hampered by plane problems
.....
.
"...Tim Nicholls has admitted the Queensland opposition's election campaign has been hamstrung by the cost and availability of charter planes..."
Nicholls campaign hampered by plane problems
.....
.
Join Date: Jul 2005
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All are indications that GA is in a death dive. Perhaps Qld LNP will have a whisper in Darren Chester's ear or perhaps ,given the timing even more effectively in Barnaby Joyce's NZ ear. Seeing sweet FA came out of the Tamworth meeting now is their chance to redeem themselves.
A couple of more examples of the demise of GA.
1 The Courier Mail had real problems hiring an aircraft anywhere between Rockhampton and Bundaberg to cover the recent trawler sinking due to the almost non existence of charter companies.
2 The difficulty and cost of finding anywhere to land close to where you want to visit. In the day I used to frequent Middlemount, Blackwater and Moranbah airports. These airports were either owned and operated or just operated by local councils for modest landing fees.
Then came the coal companies. Up went the landing fees and in came parking fees. Worst of all in came the requirement to obtain landing permission. Sometimes a day or two was required to chase up Bazza or Johnno or whoever was the only person who could issue that permission. Sometimes you had to email all your details and a small window of time when you would arrive and depart. Gone were the days when you could get an urgent call to service a u/s machine, grab a few tools flash out an have it going a couple of hours after the call. Effectively these towns no longer have a viable airport.
Anyone who doubts this should see for themselves how long it takes to organize a visit to these places. Last time we went to Moranbah we flew to Emerald and drove a hire car the last 190 km. It was easier and more certain.
Now there is one more reason not to go to Moranbah. The following is taken from Avdata's information sheet which they include with every invoice.
My invoice is dated 20/10/17 and the extract is found under
CHARGE RATE SUMMARY
Airport parking and usage
Check it out for yourselves if you have a very recent Avdata invoice.
RIP GA
A couple of more examples of the demise of GA.
1 The Courier Mail had real problems hiring an aircraft anywhere between Rockhampton and Bundaberg to cover the recent trawler sinking due to the almost non existence of charter companies.
2 The difficulty and cost of finding anywhere to land close to where you want to visit. In the day I used to frequent Middlemount, Blackwater and Moranbah airports. These airports were either owned and operated or just operated by local councils for modest landing fees.
Then came the coal companies. Up went the landing fees and in came parking fees. Worst of all in came the requirement to obtain landing permission. Sometimes a day or two was required to chase up Bazza or Johnno or whoever was the only person who could issue that permission. Sometimes you had to email all your details and a small window of time when you would arrive and depart. Gone were the days when you could get an urgent call to service a u/s machine, grab a few tools flash out an have it going a couple of hours after the call. Effectively these towns no longer have a viable airport.
Anyone who doubts this should see for themselves how long it takes to organize a visit to these places. Last time we went to Moranbah we flew to Emerald and drove a hire car the last 190 km. It was easier and more certain.
Now there is one more reason not to go to Moranbah. The following is taken from Avdata's information sheet which they include with every invoice.
My invoice is dated 20/10/17 and the extract is found under
CHARGE RATE SUMMARY
Airport parking and usage
Moranbah Aerodrome (YMRB) from 01OCT2017 OVERNIGHT PARKING $500.00 FLAT.
RIP GA
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Rutan the situation in the Bowen Basin is really quite sad. As you state the only option now is to fly to Emerald and hire a car.
I used to use Moranbah and Blackwater airports on a regular basis. All too hard now thanks to a socially responsible and community focused mining company.
I used to use Moranbah and Blackwater airports on a regular basis. All too hard now thanks to a socially responsible and community focused mining company.
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Rutan Around, do you think these landing fees will moderate once they have dug up all that there is to mine?
How very short-sighted of the community...
How very short-sighted of the community...
Mining companies don't give a stuff about their effect on small towns or GA. They're only in there for a quick megabuck and besides they're not used to dealing in small dollar amounts. I believe they can barely tell the difference between $5 and $500.
As to whether the fees will moderate in a few short years when the miners pull out as coal is displaced by cheaper totally clean energy I don't know. Big coal and FIFO have torn the heart out of these small towns. Unless they find a viable business to give them growth they're doomed and there will be no reason to fly there to use the decommissioned airport. Many of the old core citizens of these places have gone for good.
Short sighted is right. The first thing needed is legislation that says in essence that no big business can take over a towns only airport without making it available to all at reasonable rates based on prices before they spent squillions on upgrading for large FIFO aircraft. Also normal rules of the air should apply. None of this BS notification and time slots. FFS they only have a few FIFOs a week. O'Hare airport they aint. Finally they should by law have to hand the airport back to the council intact and free of charge once they no longer want it.
If these laws prevented even one mine operating FIFO and instead used locals plus imports in new housing it would be a very good thing .
New business model.
I'm going to start a GA charter outfit in Queensland. I am going to have surplus aircraft sitting around so the Government can choose if they want to use me or not once every four years. Also because the aircraft are sitting around doing nothing and not costing me money while I wait for the phone call, I will happily do it at cost to return the favour for a flourishing GA sector.
I plan to crowd fund this venture and investors/government can enjoy a free instant coffee while I try to find an unemployed LAME or pilot who shares my vision.
I am also hopeful that the odd 'off airport' landing might contribute to the success of this venture by way of reducing landing and parking costs
I'm going to start a GA charter outfit in Queensland. I am going to have surplus aircraft sitting around so the Government can choose if they want to use me or not once every four years. Also because the aircraft are sitting around doing nothing and not costing me money while I wait for the phone call, I will happily do it at cost to return the favour for a flourishing GA sector.
I plan to crowd fund this venture and investors/government can enjoy a free instant coffee while I try to find an unemployed LAME or pilot who shares my vision.
I am also hopeful that the odd 'off airport' landing might contribute to the success of this venture by way of reducing landing and parking costs
Last edited by troppo; 1st Nov 2017 at 13:45. Reason: Fun
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The reason there are no Charter Companies is because they are too bloody expensive so hardly anyone can use them. It is NOT the fault of the Charter Company because they operate on very skinny margins .
There are a whole raft of reasons why flying is so expensive which could be the subject of another thread but here I will just say many or most of the expenses are unnecessary or unnecessarily high.
There are a whole raft of reasons why flying is so expensive which could be the subject of another thread but here I will just say many or most of the expenses are unnecessary or unnecessarily high.
Ahh but Rutan
One of my Lefty mates was telling me that Australian regulations are a good thing.
"Would you want Australia to have gun laws like the USA? Look at how effective it is at saving lives!"
One of my Lefty mates was telling me that Australian regulations are a good thing.
"Would you want Australia to have gun laws like the USA? Look at how effective it is at saving lives!"
Rutan - I too used to frequent those airports. .Long gone are those days once the sheer madness came about. No wonder these towns are struggling.
I had a word to the Isaac council about it one time (Moranbah). They said "you can use Clermont"
Sad but true.
Last I heard there was no longer even a twin charter out of Mackay
I had a word to the Isaac council about it one time (Moranbah). They said "you can use Clermont"
Sad but true.
Last I heard there was no longer even a twin charter out of Mackay
it is not commercially feasible to invest in new GA businesses in Australia under current regulations and CASA policies. End of story. GA investment should track GDP growth if all was kosher.
Meanwhile, in millionaire’s monopoly land...
The owners of the Canberra airport have called for government intervention on flight cancellations. The government should set “national standards” for cancellation rates and investigate shortfalls. This is typical for the owners: They’ve previously called for the government not to cutback on public service travel.
My suggested solution is to simply schedule flights e.g. Canberra/Sydney on which public servants permanently travel back and forwards as a job. This would bolster the profits of owners at both ends.
After all, the purpose of these airports is to siphon taxpayers and gouge private citizens to ensure millionaires make more millions. Millionaires are entitled, in a free market, to a reasonable return for the enormous risks they take in buying monopoly airports and politicians.
The owners of the Canberra airport have called for government intervention on flight cancellations. The government should set “national standards” for cancellation rates and investigate shortfalls. This is typical for the owners: They’ve previously called for the government not to cutback on public service travel.
My suggested solution is to simply schedule flights e.g. Canberra/Sydney on which public servants permanently travel back and forwards as a job. This would bolster the profits of owners at both ends.
After all, the purpose of these airports is to siphon taxpayers and gouge private citizens to ensure millionaires make more millions. Millionaires are entitled, in a free market, to a reasonable return for the enormous risks they take in buying monopoly airports and politicians.
Millionaires are entitled, in a free market, to a reasonable return for the enormous risks they take in buying monopoly airports and politicians.
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There's more to this than a shortage of charter aircraft. A few weeks ago Tim Nicholls was on the news demanding that an election be called and to stop messing around with the date. Well an election was called and they were caught short and had nothing organised and of course they want to do it on the cheap.
On top of this, the carriers which used to be predominately charter are now operating RPT, so there is a shortage of SAAB's, EMB135's and F70's to go around. I also don't think that REX has anything spare because apparently they are struggling with crew to conduct their own scheduled flights.
Also, since the last election the B200 and Chieftain charter aircraft at Brisbane Airport are almost non-existent.
On top of this, the carriers which used to be predominately charter are now operating RPT, so there is a shortage of SAAB's, EMB135's and F70's to go around. I also don't think that REX has anything spare because apparently they are struggling with crew to conduct their own scheduled flights.
Also, since the last election the B200 and Chieftain charter aircraft at Brisbane Airport are almost non-existent.
Well an election was called and they were caught short and had nothing organised and of course they want to do it on the cheap.
The next complaint would be "why is Nicholls wasting taxpayers dollars by having an aircraft on standby in the off chance an election will be called"
Maybe he should have asked the TL refueller for advice on when he should booked the charters.
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Maybe they should check New Zealand, plenty of charter aircraft over there, a lot cheaper as well.
One thing puzzles me. Given the collapse of GA and the massive decline in pilot numbers and aircraft, one would have thought CAsA would be initiating staff redundancies.
Yet they prop up the Friday Australian page every week with huge ads for more staff. What do all these new staff do?
One thing puzzles me. Given the collapse of GA and the massive decline in pilot numbers and aircraft, one would have thought CAsA would be initiating staff redundancies.
Yet they prop up the Friday Australian page every week with huge ads for more staff. What do all these new staff do?
Canberra Airport owner among nation’s richest
Story on page 2 of today’s Canberra Times:
We need to set national standards for flight cancellations, and make public servants travel more, to ensure that Mr Snow makes it to the top of the list.
Canberra Airport owner Terry Snow has ranked among Australia’s 50 richest people with an estimated fortune of $US1 billion.
...
After the family business was sold he used his share to buy the 99-year lease on Canberra Airport, paying just $65 million in 1998”, Forbes said.
...
...
After the family business was sold he used his share to buy the 99-year lease on Canberra Airport, paying just $65 million in 1998”, Forbes said.
...
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I'm not saying that they should have had aircraft on standby, but they had not even made any preliminary calls to potential operators re: upcoming availability etc. The LNP were caught short with the announcement, even though a few weeks ago they demanded the date of the election be given.
Folks,
Once again, Sunfish puts the problem succinctly and accurately.
Despite what Lookleft thinks of me and my views on CASA, the "regulatory regime like no other" (as those of us who regularly deal with US, NZ,CA,UK well know) is the biggest by far inhibiting factor in the survival of GA.
And the gulf becomes wider all the time. Personally, I think traditional private GA and its support services has shrunk below what others have called a "critical mass". Availability of friendly airfields, maintenance services, fuel, training --- all getting harder to find --- and CASA makes it progressively harder.
You don't have to go far to see a huge contrast, just across the ditch, and I have never come across an aviator, in the last 40 years, who has compared Australia favorably to US or Canada. Australians flying for the first time in US really have their eyes opened to what GA can be really like -- affordable and fun!!
We really are the smart country, aren't we??
To GNP we should add a new index of GNS -- Gross National Stupidity.
Aviation is not the only sector that is being buried in an avalanche of "rules" --- but the "mystique of air safety" makes it the most vulnerable.
Hence the "power" of CASA, and the position, in which the whole industry (not just GA) finds itself.
Tootle pip!!
Once again, Sunfish puts the problem succinctly and accurately.
Despite what Lookleft thinks of me and my views on CASA, the "regulatory regime like no other" (as those of us who regularly deal with US, NZ,CA,UK well know) is the biggest by far inhibiting factor in the survival of GA.
And the gulf becomes wider all the time. Personally, I think traditional private GA and its support services has shrunk below what others have called a "critical mass". Availability of friendly airfields, maintenance services, fuel, training --- all getting harder to find --- and CASA makes it progressively harder.
You don't have to go far to see a huge contrast, just across the ditch, and I have never come across an aviator, in the last 40 years, who has compared Australia favorably to US or Canada. Australians flying for the first time in US really have their eyes opened to what GA can be really like -- affordable and fun!!
We really are the smart country, aren't we??
To GNP we should add a new index of GNS -- Gross National Stupidity.
Aviation is not the only sector that is being buried in an avalanche of "rules" --- but the "mystique of air safety" makes it the most vulnerable.
Hence the "power" of CASA, and the position, in which the whole industry (not just GA) finds itself.
Tootle pip!!
