• Australian general aviation: is it being represented well in Canberra? (Steve Hitchen)
    Australian general aviation: is it being represented well in Canberra? (Steve Hitchen)
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Australian Flying's GA Representation Survey hit the maximum number of 100 responses during the week, forcing us to close the survey. We asked you five questions relating to who you think is best representing general aviation on political issues in Canberra, and whether or not our coverage of aviation politics was appropriate. Here's what you thought.

Question One: Who's got your back? Which organisation do you feel is the best to truly represent the needs of general aviation both in government circles and to the general public of Australia?

AGAA: 43%
AOPA Australia: 21%
RAAus: 13%TAAAF: 8%
Other: 15%

Selected Comments

I am a member of RAAus, but given AOPA's attack and hatred of raaus, I will not be joining AOPA at any stage soon.
None of the above truely represent GA - that's a big part of the problem!
I don’t believe any of them do adequate representation
We need to consolidate our efforts between the different organisations. The aviation industry in Australia is too small to have multiple factions with different agendas etc. We need to consolidate our efforts in order to effect change.
Unfortunately no single organisation fully represents GA across the board
No one should. CASA & Fed Gov are insane for thinking any one group can provide a united front as we're all too different (even without the damned egos)
Not convinced any are particularly helpful.
I really don't care. This whole thing is a shambles

Question Two: Are you a member of a representative organisation? If so please nominate below. If not, please say why not.

AOPA: 47
RAAus: 30
No: 18
Yes, but not stated: 5
Other: 12

Many comments were submitted for this question, mostly vitriolic. However, as we did not ask people to identify themselves in the poll, it would have been unfair to publish them totally anonymously. The overwhelming reasons given for people not being a member of any association was dissatisfaction with the boards and managers. Several stated they were members of more than one organisation with AOPA-RAAus the leading combination.

Question Three: What is your level of interest in the politics of general aviation?

Very Interested: 56%
Mildly Interested: 22%
Not Interested: 8%
Very Uninterested: 8%
Other: 6%

Selected Comments

Interested in the politics only to the level of getting competent administration and growth in GA, RA and associated industry groups
I would be very interested in seeing people working together for the common good rather than all the grand standing and pursuit of ‘What’s best for me’
Forget pilots, it is us engineers who are important & we need to keep up with all the politics and CASA's rants.
Interested but only so I can see which idiots are screwing it up for the rest of us

Question Four: In how much depth should Australian Flying report on politics?

The coverage is about right: 61%
I want more political stories from Australian Flying: 23%
I want fewer political stories: 8%
Australian Flying should ditch political coverage: 8%

Question Five: Do you believe Australian Flying's reporting on politics is fair?

Yes. It seems very balanced to me: 76%
No. Australian Flying is clearly supporting CASA and the government too much: 4%
No. Australian Flying is biased too much against CASA and the government: 4%
Other: 16%

Selected Comments

AF needs to write more stories rather than simply looking to industry associations for quotes.
No - Australian Flying is biased and looks to dig dirt on those who are progressing the industry. It’s editior is biased and is a dinosaur with his views. The landscape has changed - that’s a fact. The magazine need to change or else like a AOPA - it will die a death by 1000 cuts!
Thev aviation industry needs Au Flying to help all the alphabet groups, CASA, ATSB & the Gov't honest for the sake of the Industry.
I don't know as I have not done any independent research that would allow me to have a sensible opinion.
Need to emphasise that the severe decline of GA is mainly the fault of successive governments persisting with a flawed model of aviation governance.
This seems to vary from issue to issue, which probably indicates that it is balanced. Previously (2-3 years ago) I always felt that your attitude towards CASA was too combative, however this appears to have softened and to me is now pitched appropriately.

Thanks to all those that responded to this survey. Your thoughts are very much valued.

 

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