Flight Operations

The effects of COVID-19 continued to impact flight operations in 2020 and 2021, with all RAAus Flight Training Schools, instructors, pilots and aircraft being affected, to a lesser or greater extent. RAAus office staff moved to working completely from home and the number of times Flight Operations left the office to complete flight tests or reviews, audits or delivery of professional development dramatically reduced. We turned to alternative means of communications including video programs like Zoom to interact with CFIs and Instructors, providing online courses and resources for pilots and instructors and as far as possible, tried to continue what we had always done to support RAAus members. Internal changes included welcoming a new CEO Matt Bouttell and new Assistant Head of Flight Operations (AHFO) Jordan Portlock. Former AHFO Neil Schaefer moved to a new role Head of Training and Development. The changes within Flight Operations have resulted in excellent collaboration and tangible outcomes. We created new resources in the form of training and information videos, a new online course intended to provide standardisation for our Examiners, called the Flight Examiner Course (FEC) and additional resources on the RAAus Instructor Portal. RAAus also introduced an exam specifically for new Instructor candidates, to ensure the appropriate level of knowledge was present for topics such as Air Legislation, Radio, Basic Aeronautical Knowledge, Human Factors, Navigation and Meteorology. We approved an additional 12 new or reactivated Flight Training Schools and 2 Satellite Flight Training Schools during the financial year, providing a good level of activity. CFIs pivoted to deliver much of their training content online while COVID-19 limitations or restrictions existed, and RAAus pivoted to ensure support was provided were possible. We look forward to private flights and flight training to resume “normal” levels as vaccination rates improve and would like to wish all members safe flying, remembering if there has been a break in their flight activities to check the updated COVID-19 information on the RAAus website RAAus COVID-19 updates to ensure they, their aircraft and flights are as safe as possible.