96 SA Flyer
Against the backdrop
of the burning and
looting of Pretoria
townships and
shopping malls,
and the tumbling
currencies and stock
markets in the wake
of Brexit, it is perhaps
difficult to take
an upbeat view of
general aviation, both
in South Africa and
the rest of the world.
T
HE doom, gloom and
shock is almost palpable.
When we see the news,
the feeling is similar to that
of an airshow pilot who
realises too late that he
has run out of altitude as
he pulls out of a daring vertical manoeuvre.
In just a few moments all that will be left is a
reball and smoking crater.
But is it really that bad? Is there no
hope for the future? Let’s take a step back
and look at the big picture. A wide-screen
view of the classic theme of the good, the
bad and the ugly – but instead let’s play the
movie backwards.
THE UGLY
There is now no question about it.
General aviation is tanking badly, here and
everywhere else. Sales of new GA aircraft
are almost non-existent. Sales of used
aircraft are stagnant. It’s the symptom of an
economic downturn.
Our government is at war with itself –
not just in the townships. Our Civil Aviation
Authority and Department of Transport are
escalating their long-drawn-out turf battles
with the Department of Environmental
Affairs over restricted airspaces in
environmentally protected areas. The
opening salvos are being red against
the Department of Science & Technology
over proposed limits over the new Square
Kilometre Array in the Karroo.
These are all issues where legislation,
the Constitution and court decisions
have made it easy to reach swift
compromises between the needs of
aviation, environmental protection and the
advancement of scientic research. But
have our appointed protectors of aviation
sat down and worked something out that
will keep everyone happy? No. Instead, our
regulators have been maintaining battles
with other government departments for over
14 years now.
Any person or business who relies on
aviation for a living and speaks out against
the CAA is mercilessly victimised and risks
being put out of business by ofcialdom.
Those who cannot have their operations
grounded by edict are attacked by other
means. Even the Hawks are seconded into
harassing those who are vocal.
THE BAD
Perhaps one of the main factors behind
CAA’s current condition is its funding
model. During their 2014/2015 nancial
year, ‘passenger safety charges’ accounted
for 74 percent of their income. This
proportion has been steadily increasing
while other revenues decrease, and is
believed to be around 80 percent today.
The downside is that, since the airlines
collect this money on CAA’s behalf
without any effort by CAA, this places
the airlines in a position to dictate to
CAA – a position they are not shy of
using, often to the detriment of GA.
This ‘easy money’ collected from
passengers by the airlines causes
severe imbalances in catering to GA’s
needs and results in the neglect of
many of CAA’s administrative functions,
some of which have serious safety
implications.
CAA cannot even issue invoices,
let alone timeously issue certicates of
airworthiness, maintenance engineer
and organisation licences. Instead, they
rely on annual expiries which have been
imposed on almost every conceivable
licence or other document issued by
CAA.
CHRIS MARTINUS, PRESIDENT AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION – SOUTH AFRICA
Bo of the lp
The key sector that keeps the South African general aviation
community vibrant is non-type certified aircraft (NTCA).
This creates unconscionable delays
and aircraft standing on the ground. The
impact upon businesses that rely upon their
aircraft is devastating.
There are unforeseen complications
too: annual expiry of certicates issued
to aviation training organisations causes
bizarre problems. We are fortunate to
have a large number of foreign student
pilots being trained in South Africa.
However, student visa applications require
a certicate from the Approved Training
Organisation (ATO) for the period the
student is in SA. With ATPL training easily
taking two years, and in the instance where
an ATO certicate is due to expire within a
month or two, visa applications are being
refused. Indeed, many students already in
the country are being sent home.
A number of aircraft are still grounded,
sometimes for years, awaiting approval of
modications for even simple matters such
as the installation of an ELT antenna.
Most aviation maintenance
organisations and engineers polled by
AOPA indicate that renewal and issuing
of their licences and certicates have now
stalled for many months.
It is feared that some aircraft are now
being own illegally and maintained by
organisations that lack valid documentation.
This has massive insurance implications.
THE GOOD
The key sector that keeps the South
African general aviation community vibrant
is non-type certied aircraft (NTCA) that
make up more than half the aircraft that are
ying in the country.
As the only country in the world which
permits production-building of kit aircraft,
aviation is still accessible to the non-
homebuilding recreational pilot and has
provided training organisations with an
inexpensive alternative to using certicated
aircraft for training new pilots.
Good work is being done by industry
bodies to develop regulatory infrastructure
to support this aspect of general aviation,
but there are some concerns that
government may smother this country’s
leadership position.
Taking a wider view again, when we
look at our township unrest and the surprise
of Brexit, what is actually happening? Quite
simply, it is a manifestation of smaller
communities taking back the power to
decide their own future. The world is
changing towards a smaller model. A ‘de-
globalisation’, if you will. The world is in a
transition towards greater autonomy for
the little guy and a lifting of the oppression
of big government and big business. It is
probably a good thing.
PULL UP! PULL UP!
CAA faces a comprehensive audit from
ICAO next year. ICAO has been using a
‘continuous monitoring’ approach for the
past few years, so a full audit may not
change much.
The local aviation industry has
expressed some concerns that we risk
failing this round, which could eventually
lead to South Africa being ‘black-listed’ – as
nearly happened ten years ago. This would
have a catastrophic impact upon other
commercial operations, particularly those
operating internationally.
As you read this, we will be conferring
with our counterparts at the IAOPA World
Assembly in Chicago. The International
Council of Aircraft Owners and Pilot
Associations now proudly is a worldwide
afliation of AOPAs in 76 countries.
Our World Assembly is held every
two years. This time we are fortunate to
have three important keynote speakers:
the Secretary-General of ICAO, the
Administrator of the FAA and the Executive
Director of EASA. This will provide a
wonderful opportunity to exchange views
and ideas on keeping GA alive and well.
And herein lies the nub, AOPA’s
relationship with the Regulator is much
like the oncologist considering radiation
and chemotherapy: enough poison must
be administered to kill the cancer, but not
enough to kill the patient.
CHRIS MARTINUS, PRESIDENT AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION – SOUTH AFRICA
AOPA BRIEFING
ABOVE - During their 2014/2015 financial
year, ‘passenger safety charges’ accounted
for 74 percent of the CAA’s income.
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