A New Flight Path
A New Flight Path Toll Aviation is taking off, with growing demand and opportunities across its various portfolios, particularly uncrewed. We consider the company’s uncrewed potential with Senior Vice President, Scott Watkins, who also highlights its purpose-built training centre and the need to carefully manage business growth Writer: Jack Salter | Project Manager: Ben Weaver
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e’re Australia’s largest aeromedical aviation operation, and that includes rotary-wing, fixed-wing, and uncrewed – it is a unique proposition for a business to undertake all three.” Utilising state-of-the-art helicopters, aeroplanes, and uncrewed aerial systems, Toll Aviation (Toll) is a trusted provider of crewed and uncrewed specialised operations and training. The company delivers both standalone and integrated solutions to support the government, defence, and civil sectors in Australia. “We focus on aeromedical services for various state and territory governments and similar service provisions around aviation support for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and other defence forces regionally,” outlines Scott Watkins, Senior Vice President of Toll Aviation. 2 | APAC Outlook Issue 82
Watkins has always been interested in military aviation and, for around 25 years, was a helicopter pilot in the Australian Army, one of three service branches that comprise the ADF. In September 2016, he stepped out of the military and joined Toll Group, who at the time was mobilising Australia’s largest aeromedical helicopter contract for NSW Health. “I started working for the business in the early stages of that contract and have been here ever since,” Watkins tells us.
UNCREWED POTENTIAL Toll is currently seeing growing demand for helicopters in the rotarywing space, as well as a number of opportunities in fixed-wing aircraft. Whilst the uncrewed business is currently its smallest function, this is likewise expected to grow over time.
TOLL AVIATION SUPPLY CHAIN
TOLL AVIATION SUPPLY CHAIN
“We acquired a successful drone business in 2023 that we felt could integrate into our business and grow. They’re a key part of our broader strategy and the diversification of our offering,” he outlines. “You don’t need to be an expert in aviation to understand there’s going to be significant growth in this area, so we need to be well positioned to take advantage of that.” As with its rotary- and fixedwing business, Toll is focused on government and defence contracts for its uncrewed portfolio. “From our experience, those customers have been asking us over the last few years to provide an uncrewed solution,” Watkins informs us.
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“They love what they get from our crewed capability and want that replicated in an uncrewed service provision.” The greatest strength of Toll’s uncrewed systems capability lies in its expertise navigating both Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA)regulated and defence airspace requirements, which makes the company unique in the market. However, whilst there’s a lot of potential within its uncrewed portfolio, the industry maturity isn’t quite there yet. “That’s in relation to how it’s going to be funded, what customers actually want, and how much they’re prepared to pay,” explains Watkins.
“I’m sure we’ll see cost reductions over time, but the reality is it’s not just about what you’re going to save in relation to cost. It is another saving in terms of, say, risk; you accept less risk as a result of using a drone for a certain task as opposed to somebody flying an aircraft, so it’s an interesting space,” he notes.
STATE-OF-THE-ART TRAINING Alongside rotary-wing, fixedwing, and uncrewed, Toll’s fourth portfolio is it’s The Aeromedical Crewing Excellence (ACE) Training Centre, which provides state-ofthe-art training for aircrew and aviation clinical staff.
“The ACE Training Centre has an enviable reputation in terms of the quality of training it delivers through simulation” – S C O T T WAT K I N S , S E N I O R V I C E P R E S I D E N T, T O L L AV I AT I O N
This purpose-built centre of excellence, located at Bankstown Airport (BWU) in Sydney, offers world-class aviation and aeromedical training facilities, highly realistic mission simulation technology, and some of the industry’s most experienced instructors.
“The ACE Training Centre has an enviable reputation in terms of the quality of training it delivers through simulation,” acclaims Watkins. Toll has been developing an exciting new training concept, the Mixed Augmented Virtual Reality (MAV) simulator, in a collaborative research
partnership with the University of New South Wales (UNSW). MAV leverages cutting-edge extended reality (XR) technology, allowing crew members to move within a physical cabin of an AW139 whilst being fully immersed in an interactive virtual environment. APAC Outlook Issue 82 | 5
TOLL AVIATION SUPPLY CHAIN
What makes Toll a trusted provider of crewed and uncrewed specialised operations and training? Scott Watkins, Senior Vice President: “That’s a really good question. We see ourselves as a trusted provider; our culture and values inform pretty much everything, and trust comes from that. “I would argue we’re successful because our clients trust us. That means we invest in getting to know our customers; they’re able to speak to us with candour and express concerns or raise issues with us, and we’re able to do the same with them, so it’s a two-way street. “That pays real dividends because the customer is heard and it allows us to work with them closely to deliver exactly what they’ve asked for. “One of the other things that makes us trusted is that we’re always looking to innovate and prioritise investment in innovation. There are a number of examples over the years where we’ve led the industry and brought new innovations into aviation as it relates to aeromedical or even broader aviation training. “We’re always looking to see what we can do in terms of what’s next and better outcomes for our clients.”
This advanced system enables air and medical teams to interact with role-specific equipment, cabin doors, simulated monitors, and treat patients realistically. Meanwhile, aircrew can navigate in real time using electronic flight bags, flying through high-resolution satellite-mapped landscapes to familiarise themselves with local areas and rehearse mission scenarios. “MAV has been years in the making, and our clients are thrilled. It’s great to see our investment in innovation 6 | APAC Outlook Issue 82
“We’re Australia’s largest aeromedical aviation operation, and that includes rotary-wing, fixed-wing, and uncrewed – it is a unique proposition for a business to undertake all three” – S C O T T WAT K I N S , S E N I O R V I C E P R E S I D E N T, T O L L AV I AT I O N
translate directly to training outcomes, and it complements the ACE Training Centre’s Aquatic Rescue Theatre and AW139 Full Flight Simulator,” highlights Watkins.
MANAGING GROWTH Toll is a growing business. This includes mobilising a new contract in South Australia, which will take up a lot of bandwidth and attention for senior management. “We’re also mobilising a second contract next year in a similar time
frame,” Watkins reveals. Concurrent to these contracts, there are a number of fixed-wing and uncrewed opportunities the company will be pursuing. However, Watkins acknowledges that Toll’s growth requires careful management. “We’ve taken a deliberate decision to continue focusing on and prioritising our culture, values, and purpose in a well-managed way because, in the end, that is what has made us successful.
“Trying to retain those elements that have made you successful in a larger organisation poses real challenges, but we’re protecting them as best we can as we grow. I’m sure there are areas where we could do better in that regard, but we’re on the right path,” he closes.
www.tollaviation.com.au APAC Outlook Issue 82 | 7
www.tollaviation.com.au
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