I had one of those “something made me check” moments a week or so ago. You know the ones, where you haven’t checked something for ages and for some reason you think to just before it would have caused a meltdown had you not done so?
In my case it was my AVID. I don’t think I have even looked at it since it was issued; tucked away in my kneeboard it just came along on every flight regardless. So when the universe bade me to pull it out, I found to my shock that it had expired. I was not secure! With an expired AVID, how was I to know whether or not I was a security risk?
Okay, that’s a bit cynical. My real first reaction was to let loose with a colourful tirade at CASA for not sending out a renewal notice. Apparently they don’t do so and CLARC, CASA’s licensing centre, didn’t know why. So, as soon as you have finished reading this blog, whip out your AVID and have a look to see if yours is still current. It is illegal to fly with an expired AVID unless you have a valid ASIC.
For some pilots who didn’t know there was a difference between the two, that last sentence may come as a bit of a wake-up. AVIDs are not ASICs and vice-versa. An AVID is a CASA document and clears you to fly. An ASIC, regardless of who did the initial issue, is a governmental document and is needed if you want to stroll the tarmacs of security-controlled airports. The ASIC has more stringent background checks attached to it and can stand-in for the lesser AVID, but not vice-versa.
And there is another difference: an AVID will cost you $181 and is valid for five years; an ASIC will cost you $186 and is valid for only two years. Theoretically, the extra investment in the ASIC gets you access to big airports. Without one you are shut out of the major regional airports like Broken Hill, Wynyard, Launceston, Gold Coast, Albury, Broome … anywhere with regular public transport (RPT) services.
So my dilemma is: do I renew my AVID, or go the whole hog and get an ASIC?
When it comes to complying with silly legislation, I do so only with much gnashing of teeth. As the ASIC is some of the silliest legislation I’ve seen, I’m not sure my molars would survive me kowtowing to the idiocy. I don’t mind paying for something that returns a level of value, but there is much doubt that the ASIC is doing anything but swelling the tax coffers. Certainly it provides no level of security for anyone at all.
Fortunately, many airport operators around Australia are showing a great deal more commonsense that the government is, and not having an ASIC is not necessarily a barrier to using RPT airports. All you may need to do is ring ahead and ask. CASA’s website states this: “Responsibility for access to the secure areas of a security controlled airport has not changed. It remains at the discretion of the airport operator.”
What is not clearly understood by many is that CASA’s statement remains true whether you have an ASIC or not! An ASIC is NOT permission to be airside, only an indication to an inspector that you have been checked.
But there is a chance that you will get the okay even if you don’t have the card, especially if you’re dropping in to buy fuel or spend some money at the airport tuck shop. However, some of the larger airports will stick to the absolute letter of the law and demand you have an ASIC. Other operators will spout the legal line at you, with a contrary, thinly-veiled message woven among the words. It’s a bit of a lottery.
Ask around the aero club or flying school and you will be inundated with yarns about ASICs and security-controlled airports. What they bring to light is that the ASIC is not working the way the government is trumpeting that it is. In short, it is an expensive failure. Us pilots are spending dollars on a government folly that could otherwise be spent flying.
Is the extra cost of an ASIC worth it? I expect there are quite a few people out there that have faced this in the recent past, or are going to in the near future. Tell me your stories, it will help make up my own mind.
In the meantime I am tied to the earth. With neither in my pocket I can’t fly, and if your AVID has expired and you don’t have an ASIC, neither can you.
May your gauges always be in the green,
Hitch