Aviation Industry “Symposium 2005”

Friday 8 April 2005

Welcome to Christchurch, New Zealand's largest trading city and active world citizen. Our economy depends on trade with the world This activity hinges on efficient global transport systems, central to which is aviation. We are a trading city that is also hugely involved with manufacturing, tourism and aviation support industries.

Christchurch is also a key point for the exploration of the Antarctic. Since the 1950's, Christchurch International Airport has been the main air transport base for the Antarctic programmes of the USA, New Zealand, Australia and lately France and Italy.

Aviation contracting in New Zealand has played a significant, and rising, role in both up-skilling our over all work force and also in bringing in more export dollars. Through concerns like the Air New Zealand Engineering Services of Auckland and Christchurch, the Christchurch Engine Centre and the Pratt and Whitney Air New Zealand services partnership we have hefty involvement in helping these industries of the future grow.

On the education front we have the flight training programmes by aero clubs, as well as universities, that bring many foreign students here to do their commercial pilots licence in New Zealand.

I note with some jealousy that Hamilton is home to aircraft manufacturing with Pacific Aerospace making their utility planes for export and another general aviation manufacturer about to set up shop there as well.

As the Low Fare Carriers seem to breed like rabbits worldwide, Christchurch is directly involved in this huge growth phase for aviation. With this comes a big demand for qualified staff, air crews, maintenance services, engineering and design services, not to mention airport upgrades. It is a time of major change for the aviation industry.

The challenge for Christchurch and the rest of New Zealand is to use these changes to our advantage. The potential for new jobs is huge. So too are the chances to build on a pet obsession of mine as the founder of the national Mayors Taskforce for Jobs.

Aviation offers an excellent industry to really rev up the number of apprenticeships. Remember them? They used to be what people did before everyone wanted to be an MBA and start at the top rather than the bottom.

Aviation will turn out to be another industry where the time to get cracking was about five years ago. There is no time to waste with apprenticeships. As our long, golden economic summer starts to show some signs of economic autumn, what stopped us making the most of it all was simply a lack of skilled workers. We need to avoid this hitting us again in another key emergent industry.

I was thrilled with the hard data your organisers gave me ahead of today. Before I sunk into politics I was higher in public esteem as an accountant. My flinty heart still loves numbers. Aviation numbers are impressive.

New Zealand now has over 900 pilots, and about 1800 Licensed Aircraft Maintenance Engineers. We have nearly 3500 registered aircraft in New Zealand. Each year our airlines carry more than 5 million domestic passengers, and there are more than 3 million international arrivals. These are big numbers.

Aviation needs to get the message out about how much economic muscle it now has. I hope this Symposium helps you get a few steps further with that goal.

Thanks