SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - One Northern aviator says the way Transport Canada monitors aviation safety practices at his company is crippling business and focuses on paperwork instead of safety.

Joe McBryan says Transport Canada's new safety management system focuses too much on paperwork and interferes with business. - NNSL file photo

Joe McBryan, owner and operator of Buffalo Airways, doesn't take issue with the theory behind a new safety-regulation system, which allows carriers to develop their own safety management system that is then monitored by the federal department, but he says the way Transport Canada deals with violations doesn't account for the challenges of operating small, Northern airlines.

"There's nothing more disruptive in bringing Northern aviation to a halt," said McBryan of the controversial Safety Management System (SMS), implemented in 2005.

McBryan estimated he's spent more than $1 million since 2005 on courses, consultants and wages fitting SMS standards. He said the system relies too much on putting companies on the defensive by threatening to shut down operations if they don't comply.

McBryan said every time there is a compliance issue, the airline has 30 days to meet Transport's standards. He said the notices haven't been issued for safety violations, but for shortcomings in documentation, an issue he said could be resolved better through direct communication.

"It destroys your reputation because you have to advise your financing, your contractors of a general notice of suspension," he said.

McBryan said Transport Canada's approach to safety monitoring is bogged down by red tape and puts too much focus on how safety practices are documented, as opposed to the safety practices themselves.

"The aviation industry in the North is inherently safety conscious, we would not have survived 40 years of flying if safety wasn't paramount. They give us no credit for that. Documentation has taken over," he said.

McBryan said if it wants to improve safety, Transport Canada should consider using experienced inspectors to monitor operations instead of panels of bureaucrats who rely on subjective reports. Previous to 2005, Transport Canada performed compliance inspections. Now, the SMS website says inspectors will identify safety hazards before they become a safety risk and audit the way a company monitors operations. The department did not return calls by press time.

Not all Northern airlines are critical of the safety practices. Teri Arychuk, vice president of operations at Air Tindi said the transition to SMS has been positive.

Arychuk said an online reporting system makes it easier for employees to report problems and said the new system offered some flexibility, which she said would benefit the airline in the long run.

"You can design your own system and what works best for your company," she said. "They're still accountable."

But criticism of the system has been heated in Ottawa, where members of the aviation community gave the department feedback at a Transport Committee meeting last month. The department also announced it was delaying the transition to the system for air taxis and commuter operations one year, until at least January 2011, citing concerns within the department.

NDP Transport critic, Western Arctic MP Dennis Bevington said he's concerned about Transport's shift away from monitoring by cutting the number of inspectors.

"The inspectors they've had working for them in the past three or fours years have been engaged mostly in paper exercises and not out doing random inspections," he said.

He said that particularly for smaller operations, inspectors can add another professional opinion and assist with operations, adding aviation inspectors should be professionals experienced in the field. In addition to the pilots and mechanics who testified at the hearing, Bevington said he's heard specific concerns from Northern companies about the challenges of operating under the same regulations as larger companies.

"Northern carriers could have one person who is in charge of an SMS implementation and if that person leaves, then they are back to square one," said Bevington. "It is a problem."

"They're not all big companies but they have big planes and they have to apply SMS," said John McKenna, president and CEO of the Air Transport Association of Canada. He said his organization has been working with Transport Canada to recognize the challenges smaller airlines face.

"You can't expect from a small operator what you expected from AirTransat or WestJet," he said. "It's a bit of a shared responsibility. Transport Canada can't put things out there that aren't clear. But once that's done, it is the responsibility of carriers to adapt, to conform. What we've been saying is that what (Transport Canada) has been asking of them is not in their language, in their environment."

Bevington said there needs to be more consultation with Transport Canada to ensure safety remains a priority.

"People shouldn't be scared of flying, the point is not to have a system that could lead us in the wrong direction," he said.