Even with privatization, the government will still be screwing up its own ultimate control of dispatch etc
that will lead to even more cost ineffectiveness let alone politicians dictating
their delusional ideas of cost savings which will create new threats to aviation safety.
...
Even with privatization, the government will still be screwing up its own ultimate control of dispatch etc
that will lead to even more cost ineffectiveness let alone politicians dictating
their delusional ideas of cost savings which will create new threats to aviation safety.
Not true. I've heard of well-founded rumors that the government is in the process of making enormous changes to the dispatching process for air ambulance which is going to save the gov't big $$$.
The government is engaging in delusional reasoning. The cost of pilots, aircraft, fuel does not change with operator unless one operator is not playing by the rules.
This is not true. Cost of gov't unionized employees is far higher than the private sector. Furthermore, large operators (like Babcock) have large pools of resources to draw from that enables a more competitive bid. They can use tooling, engineers, hangars, administrative employees across multiple sectors and contracts increasing the efficiency of all the HR/asset dollars spent.
Rumour at SkyNorth is that the new RFP has performance requirements that would eliminate the King Air 90 and MU2 from available service. Court flying has not been done in Navajos for a few years.
This is true. The performance requirements are steep and additional points are handed out for modern aircraft with advanced avionics. The RFP actually gets quite specific about this. Trust me, operators bidding with old junkers will be ignored. Look at the job postings Babcock has put out. IIRC, they're looking for time on Beech 200, Twin Otters, and Citation 560 XLS. My gut tells me is that EIC is scrambling on this one, and that this RFP is Van Guard's to lose.
In summary, there are pros and cons to gov't vs private. I've seen lots of ebbing and flowing over the years. From my perception, Manitoba's air services (particularly air ambulance) has been stuck in a rut for a long time. I for one think it'll be good to shake things up.
Great conversation all!