Ottawa, May 7, 2018. The Air Transport Association of Canada (ATAC) and the Helicopter Association of Canada (HAC) are asking Minister Garneau to review his proposed changes in Flight and Duty Time regulations to consider aviation sector differences.

“We are inviting the Minister to pause and sit with industry before implementing changes that would have disastrous consequences on commercial aviation in Canada”, said John McKenna, ATAC President and CEO. He went on to say “None of industry’s concerns voiced over the past eight years have yet to result in an iota of change in the proposed regulations. This is unacceptable and goes against the mandate given by the Prime Minister to engage in ‘constructive dialogue with Canadians, … stakeholders, including business… and identifying ways to find solutions and avoid escalading conflicts unnecessarily.’”

Industry considers that the Minister has Gazetted the most important regulatory changes to occur in aviation for the past decade. ATAC and HAC say that these changes will cause prices to go up for all Canadians, put smaller carriers out of business, and will seriously threaten service to Indigenous, northern, and remote regions of Canada - hurting those who depend the most on aviation as a lifeline. This will inevitably lead to serious job losses in the regions.

To make matters worse, a recent government funded study indicates that the proposed set of regulations will require 26% more pilots to offer the current level of service. This at a time when industry is already grappling with a serious pilot shortage.

Fred Jones, HAC President and CEO stated that “This set of proposed regulations doesn’t take into account the many different sectors in Canadian aviation. You can’t impose regulations designed for the ultra-long-haul carriers on seasonal, business, or remote helicopter operations. The Canadian Aviation Regulations were conceived with these different types of operations in mind, so why now impose a one-size-fits-all set of rules? Both the USA and Europe have excluded vast sectors of the industry from their new Flight and Duty Time regulations, for now - including regional carriers, cargo, medevac and the helicopter industry - until they can prepare regulatory solutions that fit different types of commercial operations.”

The two national association presidents pointed out that Canada has one of the best safety records in the world, and that pilot fatigue has never been identified as a causal factor in any commercial accident. They also pointed out that fatigue has never appeared on the Transportation Safety Board Watch List for aviation. Jones said, “Canada is a world innovator in Safety Management Systems - a process whereby carriers can manage their own risks – including pilot hours of work”.

“We are not asking the Minister to back down from his intention to modernize Canadian regulations on Flight and Duty Time”, concluded Mr. McKenna, “we are simply asking him to pause, to work with all stakeholders to draft a revised set of regulations that will not threaten our competitiveness, and minimize the impact on Canadians everywhere - but particularly to those northern, remote, and indigenous communities who depend on aviation the most. Let’s put our heads together to make this work while protecting the best interests of Canadians.”

For more information, please contact:

John McKenna                                          Fred Jones

President and CEO                                   President and CEO

Air Transport Association of Canada        Helicopter Association of Canada

(613) 233-7727                                         (613) 231-1110

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.                                  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

ATAC has been very active over the past year urging Transport Minister Garneau to pause in his intentions to impose drastic changes in Flight and Duty Time regulations. We are faced with the incredulous fact that Transport Canada is charging ahead with the most important regulatory changes of the past decade while maintaining a deaf ear to industry, indigenous, and regional concerns as to the detrimental impact of these changes.

This past week, however, has been particularly important in getting the government to appreciate our serious concerns on these proposed set of regulations.

As a result of stakeholder lobbying, delegates at last weekend’s Liberal National Convention in Halifax called on Minister Garneau to pause and work with stakeholders in order to minimize the socio-economic negative impacts of these changes.

ATAC, in cooperation with HAC, held a press conference on Wednesday at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa. A delegation of five carriers representing different industry sectors met with members of the press with the clear message of asking the Minister and his department to go from a transmitting mode to a receiving mode. We insisted on the fact that industry’s legitimate concerns, voiced repeatedly over the past eight years, have never been incorporated in the proposed changes. The press release is attached.

On Thursday, ATAC and HAC met with a senior staff member of the President of the Treasury Board to voice our concerns over the lack of transparency and disregard for the regulatory process and total absence of legitimate stakeholder consultations.

There isn’t a Flight and Duty Time crisis in Canada. Why then is the Minister steamrolling these changes with total disregard to their impact on Canadians, particularly those living in regional, remote and indigenous communities.

ATAC will continue to represent your interests in this most important file. Many other meetings are planned in the next few weeks. Please join us at the ATAC Spring Event to lend your voice to this effort.

Transport Canada Aviation Security has rescinded Security Notice R/R - 009 which effectively banned "Bear Bangers" onboard aircraft in Canada. Bear bangers make a loud gunshot style noise to scare away bears when fired into the air. Bear bangers are often used by hunters to protect themselves from bear encounters and are often used in the north.

ATAC is a certificate holder of "equivalency certificate SA 6651" which is issued by the Transport of Dangerous Goods Directorate (TDG) "authorizing the air operator members of ATAC to handle, offer for transport or transport, by aircraft, dangerous goods, in the case of UN0312, cartridges, signal, class 1.4G, Packing Group ll, (animal deterrent such as Bear Bangers) subject to certain conditions of carriage".

With the help of ATAC the Transport Canada departments of Aviation Security and TDG have communicated leading to new language being released allowing the transport of "Explosives-Bear Bangers" in harmony with the TDG SA6651 (Ren7) Equivalency Certificate" which is currently in effect until 2019-11-30.

Security Notice R/R - 009 on the carriage on "Explosive - Bear Banger" transported by air carriers