President's Opinion

The ALAEA won a significant victory this month with the right to access CASA's audits of the overseas maintenance facilities it accredits. This long-running case began when the ALAEA applied for access to CASA's reports under Freedom of Information laws.

CASA would not release the reports saying they were commercially sensitive, but the judge in the case finally ordered CASA to release them and to pay our costs. The reports revealed serious concerns about engineering standards at some of the overseas maintenance facilities used by Australian airlines, particularly in Hong Kong and Singapore.

The outcome is a big win for the Australian travelling public, who deserve to know where and how the aircraft they travel on are being serviced. This case also has international ramifications, as concerns grow about the aviation industry's increasing reliance on outsourcing to low-cost maintenance facilities. On the strength of our win Aircraft Engineers International is asking questions of the European Aviation Safety Agency, who have also accredited these facilities.

Protecting the highest possible safety standards in aviation is one of the most important aspects of our work here at ALAEA. That's why I was very concerned about the story that broke last week about corruption within RMIT's aeronautical engineering department.

After being tipped off by a whistleblower, Victoria's Ombudsman found students had been able to bribe their way through exams on structural stress and fatigue. Any incompetency in these areas puts safety at risk. As a result of my media exposure on this topic I was contacted by the whistleblower who informed me that the Ombudsman report, whilst a good start, did not go deep enough into the corruption that they had exposed; and that they had received little or no support from RMIT hierarchy. Armed with this knowledge the ALAEA will be asking serious questions of CASA, the Victorian Government and RMIT.

In other matters I'd like to congratulate Steve Purvinas on being returned to his role as Federal Secretary in our recent elections. Steve has worked tirelessly with the executive to bring the ALAEA back to the fore on all aviation issues representing all Australian LAMEs and that is only possible through having him as a full-time Secretary. On the same note, Steve Re our resident Technical Officer's full-time role enables us to tackle CASA on every issue that threatens our livelihood from a regulatory perspective.

As for the Federal Election, the ALAEA is supporting the ACTU's 'WorkChoices: Whatever the name, never again' campaign. Like working people across Australia, aircraft engineers saw their conditions cut under WorkChoices through AWAs and content disallowed from agreements. A fair and just industrial relations system is essential for aircraft engineers.

Keep safe,

Paul Cousins, President