Irv Lee wrote:Would anyone like to comment further or point POSITIVE things out? Please no menton of any EASA negative results, there are so many threads about those. I'm just trying to genuinely remember if there is anything positive, and I really can't think of anything too significant for the general hobby population, having been chasing the negatives for so long. However, sidetracking my own thinking - what about commercial career pilots, is EASA doing ANYTHING positive for Commercial Pilots? I can't instantly think of anything there either...
This is a perfectly reasonable question to ask, Irv, but the result will be somewhat biased. The benefits of harmonization, standardization and economic level playing fields tend to mature over years and decades, while the disadvantages, whether real or perceived, tend to be much shorter term. I would draw the comparison with the USA, which isn't just an example of how to do aviation, but is, in my opinion, the obvious standard in a successful federation. The US realized early that some things have to be regulated at a federal level, and aviation was one of them. Of course you might believe that it's simply the American attitude to gun control that makes them an economic and political superpower...
My support for such European integration doesn't mean that we should simply accept anything that's thrown at us in terms of legislation. Much of my time is spent battling EASA regarding OPS rules. I'd rather see the project well executed, and the failings of Part M are just starting to bite me in the wallet like everyone else.
The disappearance of UK licence privilege limitations is a double-edged sword. The separation of rules of the air and licence privileges has significant advantages, and a prohibition on PPLs flying under IFR in circumstances where it is appropriate for them to do so is a good example of where important flexibility is swept away for the sack of 'simplicity'.
I would say that EASA pays more attention to stakeholders than the CAA of old -- and I'm grateful, BTW, for a lot of the support that the modern CAA has given in resisting stupidity coming from Brussels and Cologne. But I do think we have the prospect of a better and more appropriate regulatory system than in the past under national regulation.