By Lisa Gordon | April 29, 2013 Estimated reading time 12 minutes, 18 seconds.
As members of Canada’s corporate aviation community prepare to descend on Vancouver for the 2013 Canadian Business Aviation Association (CBAA) convention, the association is carrying on with business as usual, while simultaneously searching for a new president and CEO.
The CBAA leadership team recently sat down with Canadian Skies to talk about the biggest challenges currently facing the association’s 426 members. It’s no surprise that red tape tops the list.
The biggest issue is still the new set of regulations in the works for business aviation, said Merlin Preuss, the CBAA’s vice president of government and regulatory affairs. It’s been a long time in the process, but as of right now it appears they’re going to come up with something that will make sense.
It’s been two years since Transport Canada took back the certification and business aviation oversight function from CBAA, and many in the industry believe the regulator moved to fix something that wasn’t really broken. Indeed, the government’s proposed revisions to business aviation regulations are causing concern amongst operators. Modelled on the rules for large commercial operators, the CBAA says the regulations go above and beyond the oversight that is required for the safe operation of business aircraft. Canadian corporate aviation already labours under what the association has described as an onerous regulatory regime. In fact, it is currently one of the most heavily-regulated sectors of its kind in the world. Moving forward, the CBAA is advocating a new regulatory approach that is more tailored to the needs of business aviation.
Business aviation is not like any other aviation sector, said Debra Ward, who handles marketing and industry relations for the CBAA. A lot of our time and effort is spent trying to make that clear to government and regulators. We’re a business tool. Because of that distinction, our requirements are different, and the framework under which we operate needs to be different.
The CBAA advocates structuring the sector’s new regulations according to the International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO), a universally recognized and industry-developed framework that is customized for the world of corporate aviation.
But no matter how the final regulations are developed, Preuss said they must meet government requirements for certification and oversight, while also making sense for operators. It must leave the business aviation sector in a position where it can compete with Europeans and our neighbours to the south.
Preuss added that draft legislation is expected this fall, and the new regs should be in place within the year. In the meantime, business aviation is still operating under an interim order that he said the association is quite happy to leave in place until we get it right.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANGST
Along with the uncertainties surrounding regulation, Frank Burke, CBAA chairman and interim president, said another big issue for Canadian business aviation is the European Union’s emissions trading scheme (EU-ETS), which would see all flights into Europe hit with a levy that in theory would compensate for each aircraft’s emissions.
They’ve backed off now, said Preuss. But they’re waiting for ICAO (the International Civil Aviation Organization) to come up with a compromise. Right now, we’re getting killed by the overhead, the bureaucracy. It’s a big burden for operators.
Burke explained that smaller companies wishing to fly into Europe must create custom operations manuals that explain the process they will use to track their flights and carbon emissions. An external audit must take place every year to examine the operator’s flights to and from the continent.
There are significant costs associated with it, said Burke. It’s designed to deal with larger operators, and they can’t seem to get a handle on how to deal with smaller operators who will be over there once or twice a year.
TIRESOME TOPIC
The other hot subject on CBAA radar is flight crew fatigue management. The Flight Crew Fatigue Management Working Group [struck in 2010 by the Canadian Aviation Regulation Advisory Council (CARAC) Technical Committee] has proposed a series of amendments to the Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARs) relating to the management of flight crew fatigue. Once again, the problem is that the working group’s recommendations are based on the operational needs of commercial airlines. Industry representatives say they do not take into account that small operators are unique. Along with a number of other aviation industry associations, the CBAA has filed a joint dissent to the proposed fatigue risk management regulations.
Said Preuss: They structured a working group that was commercial airline and union-centric, and ended up with a set of regulations that would literally kill our industry. There’s no doubt. We couldn’t operate efficiently using airline regulations, and there’s no risk assessment indicating we need to change the way we operate now. He added that this is the first time in his experience where the entire industry, with the exception of the major airlines, has banded together to say do this right.
Preuss expects that in the face of the joint opposition, one of two things will happen. They’ll either go back to the drawing board and rewrite recommendations for us; or, they’re going to sit back and re-do the regulations for the airlines, and exclude smaller operators from the report.
Although the working group’s recommendations are far from becoming law, Preuss said it’s like any other important regulatory issue. You don’t want to let the government pick up speed and momentum going down this path. We have to make sure we are heard.
In order to be heard, the association speaks with a clear voice on Parliament Hill. The goal is to educate legislators about the unique operating requirements of Canadian business aviation. Ward explained that change happens slowly in Ottawa and government ministers come and go; oftentimes, the CBAA is the only voice maintaining an institutional memory about the industry’s past regulatory challenges and accomplishments.
Preuss sums up the value of a unified voice: If you do not have an association, you do not have a way to approach government. Government doesn’t want to speak to 426 operators. But they will speak to one association. Without CBAA, there is no business aviation voice in Ottawa.
CBAA 2013
In other association news, the CBAA is currently searching for a new president and CEO after Sam Barone left the position on March 17.
The search for a new president is going well, commented Frank Burke. We put together a selection committee and have advertised, and are now reviewing those files. We hope to have someone selected in time for the convention, but that may not happen. I have no doubt that we’ll be successful in finding the right person.
The right person is someone who understands the unique business case supporting corporate aviation and will work hard to grow the sector, he concluded.
It remains to be seen whether the new president will be hired in time to be introduced at the upcoming CBAA annual convention, scheduled for June 25-27 in Vancouver. It’s been several years since the event has been held there, and Ward is looking forward to a successful show hosted by London Air Services in its state-of-the-art hangar. She added that the association has made some exciting changes this year that are aimed at bringing in an even wider audience.
We’ve come up with a program that looks very different this year, she said. We have a conference planning committee which represents pretty well all the segments from our industry, plus also a regional base, to assure us we’re getting really good input. The key difference is that we’re increasing our educational seminars to provide more information, and to attract more people from each company.
The convention program will feature four different educational streams this year, targeted to pilots, flight management, schedulers and dispatchers, and maintenance personnel. Ward said there is something for everyone.
We’re also increasing exhibit time by hosting an opening reception in the exhibit hall. That’s standard for a lot of trade shows, but CBAA is doing it for the first time this year. As well, we’re looking at holding a VIP event for our static partners, the OEMs, for guests who are not attending the convention but may be interested in purchasing corporate aircraft, she said.
There is sure to be plenty of buzz on the show floor about Transport Canada service levels, pending business aviation regulations, and the effective management of flight crew fatigue. Although the path ahead is far from certain, CBAA leadership is optimistic about the future, and will continue advocating on behalf of Canada’s business aviation community
In some ways, our growth is being restricted right now because of how the regulations are structured, concluded Preuss. It’s really very difficult to get into the business right now. But once we get over this hump, I think you’ll see energy being put into growing the sector again.
