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NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
The Northern aviation industry is bracing itself for the potential effects of new Transport Canada regulations.

In the final stages of being officially established, the regulations would require private and commercial airplanes with six or more passenger seats to be equipped with alert equipment known as the terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS), which is already on large airliners.

"That's going to affect a huge segment of the aviation community," said Brian Harrold, operations manager and co-owner of Fort Smith-based Northwestern Air Lease Ltd.

One concern is the cost to install the system.

"I estimate probably close to a hundred grand per airplane," Harrold said, noting his company would have to install it in five aircraft - four 19-passenger Jetstreams and a Beech 99.

The company's other two Jetstreams already have the system.

Harrold doesn't know if the new regulations will improve safety in the aviation industry, which he noted is already very safe.

The warning system will not prevent all fatal accidents, but may prevent some, he said.

"Is it worth destroying the aviation industry in Canada to do that?"

Harrold said that is a difficult question that has to be answered by the industry, the government and the travelling public.

"Do we want to maintain a cheap airfare system where people can fly for relatively cheap rates or do we regulate ourselves to the point where the rates are going to be increasing, but our level of safety is also increasing? It's a balancing act," he said.

Harrold said there would be price hikes at Northwestern Air Lease because of the new regulations.

"You will see an increase in rates to pay for it. We'll have to jump our ticket prices up a little bit," he said, estimating approximately $1 a ticket.

Richard Taylor, chief pilot and operations manager with Wolverine Air Ltd. in Fort Simpson, is not convinced the proposed regulations are necessary.

"I just don't know if the cost involved is really going to make aviation that much safer," he said. "I find aviation is very safe as it is."

Taylor said, if pilots stick to standard operating procedures, the type of accidents that might be prevented by TAWS shouldn't happen.

"We all want to go that extra step to make it even safer," he said. "Is TAWS going to do that?"

Wolverine Air would have three aircraft affected by the new regulations - a Twin Otter, a Navaho and an Islander.

Stephen Nourse, executive director of the Northern Air Transport Association (NATA), said the proposed regulations will impact smaller companies.

"A lot of the larger companies have, for various reasons in anticipation of this coming out, already gone ahead and equipped a substantial amount of their fleet," he said.

Nourse said smaller aircraft would be affected, such as Twin Otters, King Airs and Caravans. Part of the concern is the regulations have been discussed for years since being proposed by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB), but seemed to be going nowhere, he said, adding the previous proposed implementation period was five years. "Now it's suddenly popped out with a two-year installation requirement."

Nourse said the shorter implementation period was a significant surprise.

"I don't think you're going to see anyone go out of business simply because of the fact that everybody is required to comply," he said. "So it's not as if somebody is going to have a competitive advantage by not installing the equipment. It basically means that rates will go up across the board."

However, he added that may be a problem for small operators with lower passenger volume because, as rates go up, market forces tend to reduce the number of people flying.

As for whether TAWS increases aviation safety, Nourse said, "It certainly makes absolute sense on the larger aircraft. We're not sure how much of a difference it will actually make on the smaller aircraft, and those are the ones where we have cost concerns."

The proposed regulations won't affect float planes operating under visual flight rules, nor will they cover helicopters.

Nourse doesn't think the timing of the proposed regulations was influenced by recent crashes in the NWT and Nunavut.

"I think it's more of a reaction to recent policy whereby Transport Canada is very seriously looking at dealing with all of the items on the TSB watch list," he said. "This has been on the watch list for a while."

The federal government is touting the value of TAWS.

"Using TAWS will significantly reduce the risk of airplane crashes with land, water or obstacles," stated Denis Lebel, the minister responsible for Transport Canada, in a Dec. 2 news release announcing the regulations.

The warning system provides acoustic and visual alerts to flight crews when the path of their aircraft is predicted to collide with terrain, water or obstacles - a situation that can occur when visibility is low or the weather is poor.

The risk is even greater for small aircraft, which fly farther into remote wilderness or mountainous areas.

The proposed regulations were officially published on Dec. 3 and stakeholders have a 75-day consultation period to comment before they are finalized.

The federal government estimates the proposed regulations would save approximately $215 million over a 10-year period by preventing deaths, serious injuries and material damage.

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