By Skies Magazine | October 24, 2011 Estimated reading time 10 minutes, 46 seconds.
The Canadian Business Aviation Association (CBAA) has launched a public awareness and political lobbying campaign Business Aviation Works to address what it says are urgent service and regulatory issues the industry is encountering with Transport Canada (TC).
The main campaign message is that business aviation is a vital driver of the economy. In fact, says the CBAA, studies have shown that companies of all sizes outperform their peers when they use business aviation as a tool to access customers and reach far-flung locations. The smallest communities (with an airport) are kept connected to the global village and this is critical to the competitiveness of key sectors such as oil and gas, mining, financial services and more.
The CBAA initiative points out that a viable business aviation sector is vital to the aerospace industry and to the competitiveness of all business in a global economy. The goal of the campaign is to focus attention on issues surrounding service levels and regulatory burden.
Prior to April 1, 2011, CBAA partnered with Transport Canada in the administration of the Private Operator Certificate (POC) program, under TC oversight. The Minister of Transport cancelled that delegation; yet, it appears that TC was ill-prepared to reassume the duties that had been performed by CBAA. Since the changeover on April 1, the CBAA reports on its website that the situation has further deteriorated: Our repeated efforts to resolve issues related to service levels and the new regulatory regime with Transport have been met with a very worrisome lack of understanding or responsiveness.
Slow Service
The operator of an aircraft needs an approval for almost everything they wish to do. Transport Canada publishes its service standards for processing approval applications. According to those standards, an initial Temporary POC will normally take a minimum of 60 days but a maximum of 120 days to process (those are business days, so that is six months). The concern within the business aviation community is that they have effectively spent millions on business equipment, knowing it could take six months to get permission to use it! What more, the maximum service standard is no guarantee, leaving an operator unable to plan for timing or eventual total cost.
David Anstett, Chief Pilot for Bluewing Aviation Inc. in Waterloo, Ont., became the first test case under TC administration when he imported a new Phenom 100 directly from Embraer. He submitted his completed application once the deal was done in April. The aircraft was delivered July 1, but the (temporary) POC only got issued on August 26, with the aircraft sitting on the ramp for almost two months, unable to fly. Anstett reported that the whole process was a long drawn out ordeal. He said he resubmitted his application form three times and that a huge amount of email was exchanged between TC and the CBAA. Yet, despite his frustrations, Anstett experience was in fact well within the published level of TC service standard! (The level of service is an issue affecting all sectors of aviation; it a subject that may be tackled in a future article.)
Prescriptive Regs
Even more worrisome for the CBAA and its members who use business aircraft is the new regulatory framework emerging from Transport Canada. The direction is to base it on Part 704 standards, those used for commercial air carriers in the commuter category of 10 to 19 passengers. And, TC plans to add SMS requirements, even though SMS is not yet a requirement for the equivalent commercial operators. While CBAA has always been a strong supporter of SMS, the issue is the regulatory burden associated with treating a private operator like a commercial operator. It would mean that a businessman buying a new D-Jet now under certification by Diamond in London, Ont. even flying it himself single pilot would need a Company Operations Manual detailing his Flight Department, Dispatch System and his Fatigue Risk Management program.
Why should Canada have a framework far more onerous than those in the U.S. or the European Union? Merlin Preuss, vice-president government and regulatory affairs at CBAA, suggested that there are better models for TC to use for its private operator regulatory framework, beginning with an update of the old 604 standards. The International Business Aviation Council, working with authorities around the world, developed International Standards for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO), a code of best practices designed to help flight departments worldwide achieve a high level of safety and professionalism. Why not use that for a new regulatory framework? The prescriptive regulatory framework on the horizon is far in excess of what any reasonable risk analysis would support, Preuss claims.
Canadian Skies spoke with some CBAA members about the impact of the new TC POC framework. The first was Ken DeWyn, president (and accountable executive) of Q Jets Aviation in Calgary. DeWyn is a 704 certificate holder operating biz jets on charters, as well as an aircraft management company operating aircraft on behalf of owners under part 604 POCs. He understands how 604 operators are suffering, but as a 704 commercial operator he already knows about the issues with TC service levels, feeling they are largely due to the government agency retention and recruitment challenges. Because DeWyn knew the uncertainties involved with how long it could take to add a new aircraft type to his certificate, he lost an aircraft deal to another operator who already had that aircraft type on its certificate. As an aircraft management business, QJets can only grow by adding aircraft. The problems with getting TC approvals effectively limit DeWyn to the types of aircraft he already has, thereby limiting his ability to grow his business. It is just not practical to have a $20 million aircraft on your ramp when it could take up to a year before you are allowed to operate it that is not the speed of business. As a 704 operator, with SMS already in place, TC can hardly bring in a more onerous regulatory burden than that under which DeWyn already labours. But he feels the pain for a single aircraft owner-operator who could soon be faced with an overwhelming burden.
Miguel Mendes of Image Air Charter reports similar experiences because TC does not seem to have established processes and procedures. Mendes notes that everyone is frustrated, both aircraft owners and Transport inspectors. In the meantime it may be wise for the entry level business aircraft operator to buy a TBM instead of a D-Jet (the turbo-prop can still be operated privately without a certificate whereas it is required for the turbo-jet).
Transport Canada role is safety should its regulations be affecting business decisions like which aircraft to buy? Transport Canada needs to do the risk analysis to show what we gain from a new regulatory framework for business aviation.
To learn more about the CBAA campaign, go to http://www.cbaa-acaa.ca/en/advocacy/business-aviation-works.
Transport Canada Response
Martin J. Eley, Transport Canada Director General, Civil Aviation, provided the following statement when asked to comment on the launch of the CBAA Business Aviation Works campaign:
On April 1, 2011 the Minister of Transport repatriated, through an interim order, the responsibility for business aviation from the Canadian Business Aviation Association (CBAA) back to Transport Canada. We plan to publish the new regulations for business aviation in Canada Gazette, Part I, later this year for consultation. Interested parties will have an opportunity to comment on the regulations. We will consider all comments received before we finalize the regulations. Our goal is to publish the regulations in Canada Gazette, Part II, within a year, possibly before spring next year, making them effective.
Despite the convenience the previous model afforded to the members of the business aviation association, safety must always trump convenience. That is the only course of action for Transport Canada and for Canadians.
A few months ago, Transport Canada published a level of service standard for the business aviation community. It outlines timelines for issuing a temporary certificate, amending an existing certificate, and so on. This standard normalizes our services and gives the sector a basis as to what they can expect under the oversight structure of Transport Canada. The service delivered by Transport Canada is quite different than that previously provided by the CBAA. We must balance not only the sector expectations with our rigorous processes, but also the sector operations in relation to our overall responsibility for all sectors of the aviation industry.
Transport Canada provides more than 200 services to the aviation community and other government departments. To enhance the services we provide, we will not only strive to strengthen the delivery systems, but also find the right balance between speed and process. This is true for existing and new services.
We are committed to a high standard of service excellence, one that factors in speed and satisfaction, while always maintaining safety as the core of what we do and how we do it.
