**3. Results and Discussion**

Table 2 presents a summary of the thematic findings from the analysis. A total of five superordinate themes were identified. They were: (1) Changes to Industry and Working Practices; (2) Role of the Regulator; (3) (Re)calibration of Underlying Values and Philosophies; (4) Work as Imagined vs. Work as Done; and (5) Practical and Operational Challenges for GA. The first and fifth theme were the most represented within the data, each attracting more than a quarter of the overall coding of statements. Each of these themes also featured the greatest number of major (i.e., subordinate thematic) categories (4). The next sections present the findings associated with each theme. Supporting transcript excerpts are given where necessary via an anonymous ID-tag in parentheses where "(P\_x)" indicates "(Participant\_number)".


**Table 2.** Summary of thematic analysis with indication of frequency of statements and theme totals.

<sup>1</sup>*N* indicates the number of individual participants who mentioned the statement (total = 10).

### *3.1. Changes to Industry and Working Practices*

Table 3 decomposes the findings associated with the theme of *Changes to Industry and Working Practices* to show the minor categories in addition to the major ones. The highest represented of all major categories in this theme was *general decline in quality of training and education*, within which the *training changed for the worse* minor category was the most prevalent, both within the data and across participants. As reflected by the title, the consensus was that levels of training and quality had declined: *"the training has changed and I don't think it's been to the benefit of the industry"* (P\_8); *"I think these days [the training is] no good"* (P\_5), such that there was no longer any real e ffort required to enter the industry, *"I've seen it myself, [trainees will] do the exam three or four times, and the instructor will go, 'you're just not getting it. Fifty-one percent, okay, next'"* (P\_10). This was attributed to a variety of systems factors, such as restrictive curricula, *"[trainees] don't have the* ... *as broad of experience s previous times [* ... *] these days [the training curriculum is] a lot more restrictive"* (P\_3), and key gaps in knowledge prior to the development of practical experience:

*I think they should learn an air law before they come out on the shop floor for their apprenticeship. In that way, that's just ridiculous to not have air law knowledge before you actually go and work in the industry. It's not a part of the setup which should be*. (P\_9)


**Table 3.** Summary of findings for the Changes to Industry and Working Practices theme.

A perceived relaxing of training standards was also felt to impact trainee attitudes and competencies:

*[Trainees today] never really learn and they never become accountable for actually [becoming competent]. Since they know that there is—"hang on a minute, if I just cock this up and I don't put any e*ff*ort in, but I keep turning up, I'm going to get through anyway"*. (P\_10)

In many cases, these perspectives explored the tensions between practical work and theory, with views that practical components appeared too late in tertiary education and vocational training, *"there's a lot of university degrees where it's not until the third or fourth year where any practical's done"* (P\_3), practical work coincided with theory in yesteryear, and input from older and more experienced people was needed on practical training to overcome shortcomings:

*I did one year full-time of the Cert IV. That got me, basically, two-thirds of my theory out of the way. During that time, I was doing work experience with four di*ff*erent operators*. (P\_2)

*Younger people coming through with these training organizations need to be trained practically on the job, and they just need the input from the older people*. (P\_8)

Another key aspect to a perceived general decline in training and education was issues with *mentoring*, where opportunities for this were no longer there or no longer the same:

*[Apprentices are] coming out very insecure and very poorly trained, I suppose, because they just haven't had that time being mentored by the good engineers [* ... *] there's just not that same level of mentorship, I feel, anymore*. (P\_2)

Even when opportunities were there, prospective mentors were no longer taking on apprentices because of resistance to new approaches:

*A lot of employers these days don't have the money or the time to baby in a practice. They want them to come in as a second-year apprentice, basically. They are new one year, come in as a second year, and be able to let them go into the work. You can't do that. That happens on a daily basis. That is just how it happens. That's why I don't have apprentices anymore and I will not, I will not, I don't have the time*. (P\_5)

Issues with learning and education were also considered to have impacted regulator knowledge, *"They've all got Bachelors of Aeronautical Engineering, but not one of them actually knew their own rules, which undermined the system"* (P\_10).

A gradual *drift in working practices* within the industry was attributed to changes to various roles. *Unscrupulous* and "dodgy" *operators* and companies was an important perception here, and a loss of moral principles and honesty was being seen, both with respect to how aircrafts were being maintained and how the system was being *"worked."* For example, *"you still find things in aircraft that have been dodgied up and stu*ff*"* (P\_3);

*People in General Aviation either can't a*ff*ord [to maintain their aircraft] or don't want to pay. They will shop around and find the cheapest place, which means that there are unscrupulous organizations out there that will cut corners, that will do it cheaper*; (P\_4)
