Canada Plans to Give Airlines More Control over Inspections

Feb. 21, 2007
Airlines with Safety Management Systems are now permitted to develop and maintain their own safety protocols with occasional auditing by government inspectors.

Is the safety of Canadian air travellers in jeopardy?

That's the question at the heart of a debate raging over who should inspect the planes that fly millions of passengers a year.

A major change is happening in the way the federal government ensures the safety of Canadian airline passengers.

Traditionally, federal inspectors conducted annual airline audits and on-site checks, including boarding planes, riding along on flights and studying logbooks. While Transport officials say some of that oversight continues under the Safety Management Systems, it is more targeted.

In its place, airlines with SMS systems are now permitted to develop and maintain their own safety protocols with occasional auditing by government inspectors.

The new regime, which has been welcomed by the airline industry, is being gradually phased in across the country and is expected to be in full force by 2008.

Aviation inspectors and their managers were advised by Transport Canada officials in November 2006 to close any active investigations into airlines that have adopted an SMS system, says Holbrook.

"Unless expressly asked to do so by the accountable manager, aviation enforcement shall no longer initiate an investigation into a contravention committed by an SMS (airline)," reads an internal Transport Canada memo.

Asked to respond, Vignola said any "intentional" violations by airlines would be investigated but no enforcement action will be taken if the Transports officials feel the airline is taking its own corrective action.

Michael Wing, president of the Union of Canadian Transportation Employees, which represents air worthiness, maintenance and manufacturing inspectors, says the move toward greater self-regulation "contravenes any standards of accountability that are now part of government policy and legislation."

"This will compromise public safety," he said yesterday.

"Transport Canada is more concerned about being partners with industry than keeping the public safe... They're giving the responsibility to industry and saying, 'We're going to rely on you to govern yourselves.'"

Another new protocol for inspectors advises that, "Transport Canada agrees to promote voluntary compliance with regulatory requirements, without necessarily resorting to punitive action. (It provides airlines) governed by an SMS, the opportunity to determine, by themselves, proposed corrective measures to prevent recurrence of a contravention, as well as the best course of action to help foster future compliance."

It's an approach that concerns even some pilots.

"If (inspectors) become aware of a particular safety concern, they should be able to focus their attention on it and review that aspect of the airline's operation without limit," says 34-year veteran Air Canada pilot Raymond Hall.

Transport Canada officials acknowledge cost-cutting is partly behind the move to SMS.

Merlin Preuss, Transport Canada's director of civil aviation, said in a 2006 speech that nearly half of the department's workforce will be retired or eligible for retirement by 2013.

"Replacing these employees, let alone adding to the workforce, to continue the oversight regime given the predicted workforce demographics, is not feasible," he said.

Holbrook says SMS won't threaten the jobs of inspectors. But his members are concerned about the impact on public safety and the lack of public debate about such a fundamental change in safety regulations. The union is expected to release today the details of a poll of aviation inspectors in which they express "serious safety concerns."

An analysis of aviation incident and accident data by The Hamilton Spectator, Toronto Star and Record of Waterloo Region in 2006 revealed troubling safety lapses.

More than 80,000 passengers were placed at risk between 2000 and 2004 when airplanes they were travelling in came too close together in Canadian skies, the investigation found.

Analysis of Canadian aviation data also showed mechanical malfunctions, from engine fires to parts falling off in mid-flight, rose steadily in the same time frame.

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