NUNAVUT/NWT
Airlines are saying airfares could rise next year after the federal government recently put forth a document officially stating its intention to change how many hours pilots can be on duty.

A First Air plane taxis at Yellowknife Airport. The company's vice-president of operations, Vic Charlebois, said amendments to aviation legislation limiting the time pilots may spend in the cockpits could see the cost of flights rise. - NNSL file photo

On Aug. 8, Transport Canada published a notice of intent to amend the Canadian aviation regulations on the limitations concerning the flight and duty hours. The proposal is to bring pilots' duty time to nine hours down from 13 hours a day.

These regulations state how many hours pilots can be on the job prior to needing rest, and how much rest they are required to have prior to going back to work. According to the Air Canada Pilots Association and First Air's vice-president of operations, Vic Charlebois, many in the airline industry have been working with Transport Canada since 2010 to try and upgrade these regulations to worldwide industry standards.

The president of the Air Transport Association of Canada, John McKenna, said this notice of intent does not have any legal standing.

"I strongly suspect the minister (of Transportation, Lisa Raitt) really wanted to be on the record as having done something on aviation on the issue of fatigue."

Charlebois, said that if the Conservatives win, the likelihood of the change officially happening through the normal process could be as early as June of next year.

"It's not a surprise that this is coming," he said.

Charlebois said he understands why there has been a push to move Transport Canada's regulations on how many active hours a pilot can be on duty toward international standards, especially in regard to arguments about reducing fatigue and increasing safety.

However, he pointed out if this becomes federal legislation, it would result in a domino effect of additional costs, such as parking space at airports for the grounded planes, hotel rooms for additional nights and financial reimbursements for meals. Flight schedules would also be affected, in terms of scheduling, frequency, as well the strong possibility of a larger number of cancellations.

Charlebois said that due to lobbying efforts from the Air Transport Association of Canada and the National Air Transport Association, the changes would initially apply to pilots at major airlines including First Air and Canadian North. There's also a request for a phase in period for everyone to be able to go through the hiring process and adjust other aspects of their operations, such as scheduling.

However, Charlebois pointed out it would still eventually hit smaller, regional carriers such as Air Tindi twice as hard. In addition to hiring the extra required staff to support existing schedules, he said many of the existing pilots at those smaller airline companies could also be poached by the larger airlines.

"If a company like First Air needs to find 15 pilots, Westjet's going to need 415 pilots ... everyone's going to need pilots," he said. "The smaller airlines will be decimated. Where are these pilots going to

come from?"

By calling it a notice of intent with a consultation period, Charlebois said the federal government is positioned to avoid criticism because airlines can't oppose the legislation without looking bad.

Normally, having legislation published in the federal government's official newspaper, the Canadian Gazette, in three different parts of the paper at each stage of the amendments progress. That hasn't happened just yet.

Ultimately, Charlebois said that even with a two-year implementation period, it is currently too difficult and uncertain for any of the airline companies to estimate the degree to which their costs, staffing and even computer scheduling systems will be affected by the new amendments.

"All of the rules have not been given to us in the final format," he said. "They still could be changed."

However, Charlebois also noted that operating costs for many airlines are higher in the North and that any increases in fares as a result of the changes would hit Northern fliers much more than clients who only fly in southern Canada.

"The number is up to 30 per cent in (extra) flight crew costs," he said of current estimates.

"Nobody will stay the same. Nobody."

Charlebois stressed that it won't be a straight 15, 20 or 30 per cent increase in fares because airline companies won't need to add flight attendants, fuel or maintenance, just flight crew positions and ability to use the aircraft.

"We might be able to do one way, but we might not be able to do the way back," he said, explaining that pilots may not have enough time lift on their daily limits for the return trips.

"All of those efficiencies as an airline will decrease and your flight crew costs will increase. How much that will add to a ticket, until we see the final numbers and run a schedule, each airline will be different."

Canadian North's flight operations team is also aware of this notice of intent from Transport Canada.

"The safety of our passengers and crew is always our number one priority, and we follow all Transport Canada regulations, including flight time, duty time and rest period requirements," stated spokesperson Kelly Lewis in an e-mail. "We will await further direction from Transport Canada on these proposed changes to the Canadian Aviation Regulations."

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