Aviation Groups Warn $100 Annual Cost May Impact Safety

In the US, the federal government subcontracted weather briefings to Lockheed Martin a few years ago, but kept them free to pilots. In New Zealand, the Civil Aviation Authority has pulled its funding for the briefings, and pilots now have to pay $100/year to get them. Since the change took place on August 1, the number of pilots subscribing to the service, called Metflight, has dropped from 5,000 to 277.

TV New Zealand reports aviation groups in that country are concerned the trend will lead to more general aviation accidents, since weather is a causal factor in one-in-five mishaps there.

TVNZ quotes recreational pilot Evan Wheeler, who says he'll get his weather from more generalized forecasts available free. "It's a matter of principle from my perspective, I consider as a taxpayer I'm already funding the government to supply those services. The cost of flying is increasing all the time and it's getting beyond the pocket of a lot of retired pilots, and younger people not wanting to get into the industry or recreation because of the sheer cost."

Don Ryder of the New Zealand Aviation Federation urges pilots to reconsider. "You look at the costs of search and rescue exercises and they run into millions straight away and here we are talking about tens of thousands of dollars to contribute towards an important safety issue to avoid this sort of thing."

Bill Sommer of the CAA commented, "I find it surprising that people are willing to fly around in a quarter million dollar aircraft and not be willing to meet their safety responsibilities, and pay $100 a year to get a very, very good MET product."

Winter is nearing its end in the Southern Hemisphere, and the CAA believes more pilots will resume using the service as summer nears. But, if they don't? ONE News was told by Metservice that if the number of subscribers remains low, a rate increase beyond the $100 fee is not off the table.

FMI: www.caa.govt.nz/meteorology/metflight_ga.htm