Air Safety Round Table: The Issues
The following are the key issues that emerged from the Air Safety Round Table, a landmark event held in Ottawa on April 21st, 2009:
- There is a consensus among industry experts, pilots, mechanics, inspectors and others that air safety in Canada is already degraded and is getting worse, as a direct result of the actions of government agencies, particularly Transport Canada
- Transport Canada has embarked on a progressive dismantling of its inspection programs, turning over inspection and reporting of problems to the carriers themselves
- Transport Canada is also handing off its oversight responsibilities to other organizations: business aviation oversight has already been put in the hands of an industry lobby assocation (see CUPE's Analysis - opens .doc)
- Transport Canada has no mandate to take these steps and is ignoring both its mandated responsibilities under Canadian law and its obligations to the international regulatory body, the ICAO (see CFPA's Analysis - opens .doc)
- Transport Canada is promoting 'safety management systems' (SMS) as an 'extra layer' of safety, but is in practice using SMS as a rationale for dismantling its regulatory oversight activities
- Transport Canada is promoting legislation that will retrospectively authorize the actions that it has already taken, and will allow even more radical steps to be taken
- A veil of unnecessary and unacceptable secrecy is being cast over the aviation safety system, preventing the public (or even the regulator) from knowing what safety violations and problems are taking place
- There is no functioning 'whistleblower' protection for honest employees, such as pilots, mechanics, inspectors, air traffic controllers and accident investigators, who typically suffer career-ending reprisals if they report legitimate concerns.
more information:
The Role of the Judicary in Aviation Safety: The Inside Story and Legacy of Dryden (.pdf)
Also see: Research & Reference Material
