The Australian administration has proposed that airlines are set a carbon dioxide reduction target as part of the treaty that will emerge from the Copenhagen summit this year. The latest plan would see responsibility for any aviation deal handed over to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is overseeing the treaty talks.

The proposal is one of four suggestions for dealing with aviation emissions that will be discussed in Copenhagen. If the Australian plan is accepted, it is likely that airlines will join a global emissions trading scheme. British Airways backed a global scheme last week and its chief executive, Willie Walsh, said it would force up fares as airlines pass on the multibillion-dollar cost of acquiring carbon credits.

Under a carbon trading scheme, airlines would be set an emissions limit – for instance, no more than 97% of the total amount of carbon dioxide emitted by carriers in 2005 – and would be given free carbon credits equivalent to 85% of that total. The rest would be acquired in an open auction, with the proceeds being handed to developing countries.

The Australian proposal is gathering momentum because the body representing airlines at the talks is struggling to form its plan due to internal wrangling.

Environmental campaigners welcomed the Australian proposal. Joss Garman, of Greenpeace, said: “Scientists project that unless world leaders take action, ships and planes would eat up 50% to 80% of the world’s carbon budget by 2050, making it essential that governments end these industries’ special treatment and include them in a strong Copenhagen treaty.”
From http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jun/14/airlines-emissions-trading-australia

On his first day in the job, CASA chief executive John McCormick beefed up a review to ensure that the air safety regulator’s resources were being directed towards its key function.

And he indicated in Sydney this week that non-safety activities would be given short-shrift under his regime.

“Like everything else in this sort of economic climate we’re in today, we’ve got to go back and critically look at what we’re doing and why we’re doing it,” he said.

“Our job boils down to regulating aviation safety and if it’s a function within CASA that is not contributing to safety or contributing to the support of the people who are contributing to safety, then it’s not a job that CASA should be doing.”

Mr McCormick took over the reins at CASA early last month after a long career with Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific.

He has already indicated he intends to take a higher public profile during his five-year stint than his predecessor, noting that he would take the brickbats that came with what can be one of the industry’s most controversial jobs.

A veteran pilot with more than 10,000 hours experience and a master’s degree in aviation management, he began his career in the RAAF in 1974 and became a combat fighter instructor.

He joined Qantas a decade later as a second officer on the Boeing 747-200 and flew with the carrier for three years.

He joined Cathay in 1987 as a first officer on the B747-200 and was appointed captain on the Lockheed Tristar before becoming flight training manager for the type. He co-managed the introduction of the Boeing 777 to Cathay before becoming the airline’s 747-400 flying training manager and later chief pilot of the Hong Kong carrier’s Boeing fleet.

In 2002, he was appointed Cathay’s general manager, operations, before returning to the air in 2006 as the company’s senior training captain for the Airbus A340 and A380 fleet.

He joins CASA as the federal Government is finalising its aviation white paper and after the authority came under fire in a Senate report last year.

The report raised concerns about whether the air safety watchdog was too close to the industry it was supposed to regulate, had adequate governance and that the pace of regulatory reform was too slow.

It recommended returning to a board structure with a small body of up to five members to oversee the authority, a review of its funding and to make sure it was up to meeting regulatory challenges.

It also called for the authority’s regulatory reform program to be brought to a conclusion as quickly as possible and said the Australian National Audit Office should look at CASA’s safety management systems approach to industry oversight.

To read more see http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,25376066-23349,00.html