James Meager: Associate Transport Minister on the Government's plans to modernise aviation rules

The Government says work to modernise aviation rules is already off the ground.  Its major sector overhaul is promising to update pilot training and safety rules, cut red tape, and ease drone use on farms.  Associate Transport Minister James Meager told Mike Hosking there are 23 projects to get into, with three already started.  He says they're taking 20 years' worth of work and fast-tracking it to get it done in two.  Meager told Hosking an aviation council paper last year showed training organisations could adapt existing programs to reduce pilot training times, and if they can change the rules to make that happen for every provider, they will.   Updating the drone rules will also require more focus, he says, to ensure that people, particularly farmers, don’t get strangled in red tape.   “With the cost of spraying, plant fertilizer and fuel these days it would be good for them to have dome technology and tools to be able to do that effectively, increase their productivity, and get their stuff out to the rest of the world.”  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.