Cross-border conundrums

Avatar for Ken PoleBy Ken Pole | December 11, 2012

Estimated reading time 4 minutes, 34 seconds.

A pair of aviation law experts used a recent “cross-border issues” conference in Ottawa to put a folksy twist on the challenges Canadian pilots can face on entering the United States despite the good intentions at higher altitudes in the post-9/11 bureaucracy.

Gary Garofalo, president of Garofalo Goerlich Heinbach in Washington, D.C., suggested that there are always risks of getting confrontational with a Customs & Border Protection (CPB) officer wearing “a bullet-proof vest and the rest of the things that go with that.”

William Clark, whose Toronto partnership, Clark & Company, handles issues on both sides of the border, chuckled that for every “Billy Bob” who might be on duty at a U.S. point of entry, there’s a “Jean Francois” at home. Clark said he fields midnight calls about “very delicate” situations in which pilots are having to explain to their corporate bosses or other clients why an officer on the ramp is threatening to seize their airplane!

The underlying serious message to Canadian Business Aviation Association members at the conference, which was organized jointly with the U.S. National Business Aviation Association, was that companies and their crews can’t afford to overlook the smallest details.

Eric Rodriguez, the CPB agency’s Houston-based General Aviation Program Manager, said it can be as simple as providing initials rather than full names ahead of time or using “Bob” instead of “Robert” on a form. Although the CPB is “looking to be reasonable and responsible,” that’s“the type of challenge we have” in the post 9/11 environment of increasingly tight security.

Even as small a discrepancy as transposed birthdate numbers on a passenger list can ground corporate or charter operators if they encounter an overzealous local official. The command pilot is usually “left holding the back” – literally and figuratively.

Rodriguez pointed out that while general aviation is just part of the CPB’s mandate, “we are listening” to the GA community, which evidently has resisted growing demands for information.

However, he cautioned, “until we’re satisfied, we’re going to be here discussing this,” acknowledging that sometimes operators need “a decoder ring” to work through the U.S. bureaucracy’s requirements. 

He said that while the CPB has been asking the industry to help to frame clearly-worded documentation, the onus remains on operators to provide “absolutely reliable” data if clearances are to be handled smoothly. “That’s what we both look for,” he said, stressing that Canadian crews “do not want be on the wrong end” of a non-compliance issue, especially when penalties – which must be approved by CPB headquarters – can run into the thousands of dollars. 

Laura Everington, Manager of Universal Weather & Aviation Inc., also based in Houston, pointed out that all aircrews can expedite the arrivals and clearance process by using the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS). That means filing all documentation well ahead of departure; the $27.50 fee pays for, among other things, a decal which can be fixed inside the aircraft door so that it’s the first thing a local CPB sees on boarding. An additional $3 will see the decal expedited in three days. 

Everington also said that the Guide for Private Flyers, on which many visitors have depended, is basically a “dead document” because it had become too cumbersome to keep current. Moreover, the welter of outdated and “bad” information in the guide could exacerbate problems for Canadian pilots and their passengers. 

“It comes down to a partnership that relies on good data,” Rodriguez said during a second-day roundtable discussion. “Give us the answer before we ask the question.” 

 

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