AOOA EDITORIAL “NEWSLETTER”
With our website now up and running, we had intended to produce a Newsletter for Q3 2020, but instead we are putting an Editorial “Newsletter” on the website, whilst also encouraging members and visitors to the site to explore it and discover some of the activities we are engaged in.
Importantly, we have noticed a somewhat tired and frustrated response from a few of our “constituents” as we move to regain the level of membership we have lost over recent years. We not only understand but also share such frustrations, but this is exactly why just under a year ago we got a core group of active aviation stakeholders to start an ambitious programme of putting the AOOA back on the map and addressing a litany of challenges to the successful functioning and development of the sector, for the benefit of all, but not least for a growing generation of Zambians who dream of being part of it.
So, to the tired and frustrated, you have not been alone. We can assure you that we have been working tirelessly over the past year to re-establish the AOOA with the organisational credibility demanded of us, we have addressed some of the most pressing issues with ZCAA and ZACL that simply must be resolved for the industry to survive, and we have created media platforms to further our aims and objectives and find solutions to a multitude of challenges. The reality is that the more of you who join us and contribute to our efforts, the greater the likelihood of achieving these sooner rather than later.
Then, to our various aviation sector partners including the ZCAA and ZACL, who are as much a part of the aviation community as the private sector itself, we appeal to you to join us to be part of the “art of the possible” to get things done that have been outstanding for too long now.
In fact, over the past year we have already achieved much consensus on many issues with our partners, and indeed the encouragement of EASA under ASSP I & II, including just some as follows :
With respect to Flight Training, Proficiency, Currency and Renewal Checks, we understand that ZCAA intends to rationalise a range of procedures and implementing standards for the different types and scopes of flight operations, including commercial air charters and private flying; ZCAA has also launched an initiative to establish a Panel or Board of ZCAA-approved Instructors, Designated Check Pilots and Designated Flight Examiners;
The ZCAA has indicated it intends to introduce provisions for approving “Declared Training Organisations” in addition to ATOs in order to provide for and facilitate PPL and other “light sports” aircraft training etc. to be conducted without the requirement for this to be through an ATO;
The ZCAA has indicated it intends to develop a new approach to AOC certification for General Aviation in Zambia (including Commercial Charter, Private, Corporate and Humanitarian flying) by differentiating certification Procedures and Standards under Part 9 of ZCARs for different sizes, types and scopes of commercial air service operations;
After many years’ of collaborative work with the AOOA and with widespread domestic and international acceptance of this principle, the ZCAA has indicated it intends to implement provisions for appropriately qualified CPL and ATPL holders over the age of 65 to continue flying commercial operations subject to agreed limitations in order to increase the quality and safety of flight operations (in particular on otherwise Dual-Controlled Single Pilot certified aircraft below 5,700 kg MAUM), including the mentoring, supervision and maintaining of flying proficiency and currency of less experienced pilots;
The ZCAA has indicated its intention to facilitate the rationalisation of Category, Class, Series and Type Ratings for Dual-Controlled Single Pilot certified aircraft below 5,700 kg MAUM to recognise Class Ratings (the ICAO Standard) subject to Owners’ and Operators’ Differences’ Training according to varying complexities between different Series and Types of such aircraft;
While appreciating there has been some lack of clarity regarding the Light Aircraft Piston Engine 12-Year TBO rule as promulgated by the manufacturers of these engines, the ZCAA has indicated it understands the manufacturers’ provisions for exemptions from this rule, and indeed has issued some guidelines and a limited number of approvals in line with manufacturers’ provisions – nevertheless, we are aware there remains some dissatisfaction among aircraft owners over apparently inconsistent interpretations of the rule, and much work still remains to properly clarify the exemption provisions in order for them to be implemented judiciously and where appropriate by the Authority.
Of course, there are many other difficulties facing the industry, and we will take these on as and when we can. Not least at the moment is the unprecedented challenge of the COVID-19 Pandemic which in addition to its public health implications has brought our economy virtually to its knees. Government including the ZCAA itself have quite rightly set out some initiatives to try to alleviate pressure on the private sector including our industry, but resources are of course severely limited and the economic impact on aviation remains devastating.
It must be said therefore, and hopefully appreciated by all, that this is not the time for Government to be loading new and higher costs on to the aviation sector, which in some cases were already unreasonably high and which had already been brought to the attention of the various Authorities concerned. The literal bottom line is that very little and in some cases zero income is being generated by commercial air service operators in Zambia, and there is a real risk that some will not survive this economic recession.
In the meantime, we can only request that, where at all reasonable, please (i) encourage as many as possible to join the AOOA or renew their memberships, and (ii) encourage Government agencies to resist levying the industry to financial ruin with unreasonable charges and fees.
Our good wishes to all, stay safe, and let’s all work together, not just to survive, but to enable our aviation industry in Zambia to flourish and take its rightful place as one of the oldest and most respected in Africa.
AOOA Executive Committee
Lusaka, 30th July, 2020