MONTREAL – Canada earned a C grade in flight protection oversight, up from A just two decades ago and well below the peak of its peers, according to a draft report by a United Nations agency.
The confidential audit from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) obtained by The Canadian Press says the country has fallen precipitously to a score of 64 out of 100, with three areas of safety oversight in particular seeing a big drop-off: aircraft operations, airports and air navigation.
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Canada’s score topped 95 per cent in the UN body’s previous report in 2005.
The U. N. framework suggested that the government implement a formula to ensure full compliance with regulations by airlines and airports, certifications as dangerous products, and ensure sufficiently good education and control of air traffic controllers’ fatigue.
The scarcity of the latter and the tendency to shift day-to-day security jobs from government to industry considerations across the continent, said Ross Aimer, chief executive of California-based Aero Consulting Experts.
“Every other day you hear there’s what we call a near miss. I don’t like that term ’near miss’; I would like to call it a near collision,” Aimer said.
In September, two Air Canada planes crashed into the ground at Vancouver airport, tearing off parts of their wingtips in a low-speed collision.
In March, an air traffic controller cleared an Air Canada Rouge plane to take off from Sarasota, Florida, just as an American Airlines plane was making its final advance toward the same runway, prompting the U. S. pilot to stop it, one of half a dozen. incidents of conflicting use of runways that the U. S. National Transportation Safety Board has reported on the U. S. The U. S. Department of Homeland Security was investigating at the time.
However, the Canadian government stressed that the UN report was not a measure of the country’s safety performance and that it did not note any issues requiring immediate action.
“ICAO has known significant security issues with Canada’s civil aviation system, and we know that our country’s aviation sector is among the safest in the world,” said Laura Scaffidi, spokeswoman for Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez.
Barry Prentice, director of the Transportation Institute at the University of Manitoba, said Canada’s record on flight protection speaks for itself, with the number of aircraft fatalities declining in years and no primary injuries to aircraft in decades.
“What are the results? I haven’t seen much in the nature of safety problems in the airline industry for some time,” he said. “That’s an indication the system is working well.”
Last year, the number of air transport injuries decreased by one percent, from 291 in 2012 to 165 (a new 10-year low), according to the Transport Safety Board of Canada.
“Transport Canada is confident in the safety of Canada’s aviation system, and the department will welcome the opportunity to further improve our processes and framework to better align with ICAO (standards and practices),” department spokesman Hicham Ayoun said in an email.
The government had until Oct. 30 to respond to the agency’s draft audit and a final report is expected in the coming weeks.
The report comes amid a persistent shortage of aviation employees, joined by air traffic controllers, pilots and baggage handlers, adding to the demanding situations facing the sector after its crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The overall score measures a given country’s “safety oversight capacity” based on questionnaires, checklists, and visits from industry players, including Air Canada, Nav Canada, and Montreal Airport.
Conducted between May 31 and June 14, the audit examines eight areas, adding legislation, allowing investigations into twists of fate.
In those 3 categories, Canada scored between 67 and 83, and all were down at least 8 points from the previous security audit.
It ranks below other G7 countries, with the exception of the United Kingdom, in top categories, and also below most of the 38 states in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a club of economically developed countries.
Flight operations oversight experienced a drop, dropping to a score of 88 to 23.
Aimer warned that governments delegate oversight responsibilities to airlines and brands instead of taking responsibility for controls and assurances themselves.
“It’s almost like the fox guarding the henhouse. You can’t advertise aviation and control it at the same time,” he said.
Transport Canada’s mandate is to “promote safe, secure, efficient and environmentally responsible transportation,” the department’s website states.
For years, Canada has required aviation organizations to comply with frameworks called “security screening systems” (SMS) established through the International Civil Aviation Organization. In 2007, Transport Canada claimed that the sector “would now be guilty of proactively and systematically managing hazards. “to their operations, and that the number one tool used to do so would be SMS, where possible,” according to a report by the Biblioteca. de Parliament’s inquiry in 2021.
Much of the U. N. agency’s 23-page report focuses on “general procedures” and oversight mechanisms within government for compliance with regulations.
Transport Canada said it conducts in-depth inspections and normal follow-up activities “to get operators to follow the rules. “The branch never hesitates to take appropriate action,” Ayon said.
The International Civil Aviation Organization has raised questions with the government about Canada’s performance.
“The Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program created by state aviation regulators to help them prioritize improving their safety oversight capabilities,” company spokesman William Raillant-Clark said in an email.
The agency has also agreed to carry out a new audit in 2025, “given the work Transport Canada has undertaken to be closer aligned with ICAO’s international standards,” the department said.
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