Affiliation crucial

Press, 7 October 1980, Page 1

Affiliation crucial

Unless the clubs affiliated to the R.N.Z.A.C. “get in behind,” members of the society will not get membership. Without that ancillary membership, the scheme will fail, even under present law. Mr Thompson would not elaborate on , what was likely to bring the clubs in behind the scheme, but he did'say. that the society intended to • “financially support” the third-level operators, to enable them to run the type-of service the society envisaged. This support was - “about $2 million a year.” Presumably? this . sum, would be available for improving club or small charter service fleets, and for pro-

viding scholarships and flying . training to club pilots, for example. According to Mr Thompson, this expenditure could generate as much as $9 million a year in air .travel by way of the feeder services. . It was confirmed yesterday that the R.N.Z.A.C. has already rejected a more direct,system of affiliation — between the proposed Aqua Avia members and the,club itself — and whether the club is prepared to accept the second-hand affiliation through associated aero clubs still remains to be seen.

Subtle Government pressures, a differential on •fuel charges or higher li-

cence fees for instance, could convince the clubs that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. More directly, a Government move to amend the present law and remove the present exemption for clubs from licensing would be unpalatable to most. Whether the new phoenix will get off the ground depends on several matters outside the society’s control: Government reaction, the reaction of Air New Zealand, the _ enthusiasm of individual aero clubs, the blessing of the Royal New Zealand Aero Club, public support, and even a court ruling on the society’s own interpretation of the law. None of these have

come together yet, but the society’s founders appear convinced that, within the next 11 weeks, the fantasy will become fact. The Press Association reports that in Parliament yesterday, Social Credit’s spokesman on tourism, Mr G. T. Knapp, said that the proposed service was “cooperative enterprise at its best.” Service aimed to-help the ordinary man — Page 3