operations regulations
Flight operations regulations
The flight operations regulations will consolidate the operating and flight rules, as well as certification and management, for a variety of aircraft and operations.
There are ten regulations, Civil Aviation Safety Regulations (CASRs), which will apply to all pilots and operators in Australia.
They will all commence on 2 December 2021. The one exception is Part 149 – Approved Self-administering Aviation Organisations, which commenced on 14 July 2019 and has a final transition date of 13 July 2022.
Six of the regulations were made into law in December 2018 – CASR Parts 91, 119, 121, 133, 135 and 138.
Three more Parts were made in December 2019 – CASR Parts 103, 105 and 131.
How we are supporting you
Between now and commencement on December 2021, CASA will develop other legal documents to support the regulations as well as detailed explanatory and guidance material. This includes:
a comprehensive Plain English Guide to
the general operating and flight rules (Part 91) – now available in draft form
as an interactive PDF
a
Plain English Guide to Part 103 – Sport and recreation aircraft and Part 131 –
Manned free balloons – available in 2020
a
mapping tool showing where a rule is in the current legislation compared to
where you can find it in the new rules - available in 2020
the
transitional policies for the new rules - open for public consultation until
30 June 2020.
Why we are changing
These regulations update and consolidate the existing flying operations rules within the CARs and CAOs and other parts – modernising the rule set to deliver safety improvements and align with international best practice.
One of the main aims of the new rules is to improve the safety of charter operations. There is a significant statistical difference in accident rates between charter and regular public transport (RPT) flights. There are also, currently, different regulatory requirements for RPT and charter. The new rules reduce this difference by creating one category of air transport, but scale the requirements to the size and complexity of the operations.
Rather than relying on multiple exemptions, and a confusing proliferation of Civil Aviation Regulations 1988 (CARs) and Civil Aviation Orders, the new rules consolidate existing requirements into activity-based parts and supporting MOS’s.
Working with industry
CASA is consulting extensively with industry – we’ve taken on feedback and improved the rules as a result.
For Parts 91, 119, 121, 133, 135 and 138, technical working groups were established for the separate parts, made up of industry representatives affected by the new rules. They recommended that all six flight operations regulations were ready to be made. Some matters were highlighted as needing further review prior to commencement and work is being conducted to review certain matters. These working groups were appointed by the Aviation Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), which also provided a letter of support for CASA to make the regulations.
For Parts 103, 105 and 131, CASA engaged directly with the impacted industry organisations. For sport and recreational aviation groups, we hosted two forums during consultation to answer questions about the proposed rules. For the balloon sector, a working group will initially work on helping develop the Part 131 MOS and then consider how the additional regulations for licensing and training, balloon maintenance and safety management can be transitioned to Part 131.
CASA thanks those members of the aviation community who took the time to provide your feedback to our consultation activities or participated in industry working groups.
CASA will continue to provide updates on the progress of the implementation and involve industry during the implementation.
For the latest information subscribe to our mailing lists, flight operations and sport and recreational aviation.