Good morning, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee.
I am Sam Barone, president and CEO of the Canadian Business Aviation Association. With me today, Mr. Chairman, are Mr. Ian Epstein, legal counsel, and Mr. Art LaFlamme, special adviser.
I am grateful for this opportunity to appear before you today. The CBAA commends the committee for holding this important hearing to discuss aviation safety and security.
The CBAA is a non-profit organization that was incorporated in 1962 to act as a collective voice for the business aviation community in Canada. The CBAA is constantly working to improve, refine, and ensure that aviation remains a safe, secure, dependable, efficient, and sustainable form of transportation, not only within Canada, but around the world.
By its very nature, business aviation embraces a strong safety culture and is enhanced through ongoing leading-edge technical innovation and a strong commitment to safety management. In Canada the business aviation community has endorsed and uses the concept of SMS to proactively help mitigate aviation risks.
Globally and within Canada, business aviation is a key economic enabler, providing employment to Canadians at many levels, with the result being significant contributions to the local and national economies through aircraft manufacturing, sales, and service, and support, maintenance, repair, and operational activities, all of which contribute positively to our national balance of trade. The use of an aircraft as a business tool has enabled many Canadian firms to establish, manage, and maintain a competitive and productive edge, both in the domestic and the international marketplaces.
Our members are Canada's largest employers. They represent every economic sector in Canada and play a vital role in ensuring that Canada's economic action plan is realized, both in urban centres and in northern and remote communities.
The CBAA is a founding member of the International Business Aviation Council in Montreal, which has been awarded observer status at the General Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization, ICAO, a UN agency also in Montreal.
CBAA and its members strongly believe in giving back to the community through work with the air cadets and with Hope Air, a volunteer organization that arranges air transport for Canadians who need medical treatment outside their home community, including family members who wish to travel with the patient.
Today, CBAA speaks for more than 400 companies and organizations in all sectors and operates over 500 aircraft. The CBAA acknowledges Minister of Transport Baird's authority under the Aeronautics Act to take back responsibility for the private operator certificate program. We, of course, are disappointed with the decision, but will work with Transport Canada and the government at all levels, on behalf of our members, to effect as smooth and as safe a transition as possible.
First of all, I wish to dispel two misconceptions: that safety has been lessened under the regulatory authorities given to CBAA in 2005, and that this is a form of self-regulation.
Business aviation has an excellent safety record. In our review of the safety data provided by IBAC over a five-year period from 2005 to 2009, there were only two occurrences involving privately operated business-type jet and turboprop aircraft operating under a POC issued by CBAA. Conversely, there were 43 occurrences involving Canadian commercially operated aircraft in the same category. It is worthy of note that commercial operators in this category are not yet required to have an SMS.
Mr. Chairman, the CBAA views its most important responsibility as advancing business aviation safety and fostering the development of industry safety best practices. As part of its quality assurance program, CBAA is committed to continuous improvement, working in concert with Transport Canada, the TSB, and other stakeholders. As part of this process, CBAA has made significant enhancements to its policies and standards. Unfortunately, with the minister's decision, further planned improvements have been put on hold.
As you are aware, CBAA has had an authority from Transport Canada for the POC program through regulations promulgated in 2005. Transport Canada announced, in 2005, regulatory amendments that allowed the CBAA to establish a new approach to safety oversight and certification of business aircraft operations. In his release, the then minister announced, “This innovative approach to safety in the business aircraft sector combines effective regulations with enhanced responsibility for safety systems within this community”.
Moreover, as stated in the Canada Gazette in 2005, the initiative was undertaken in recognition of the very low accident rate in the business aviation sector and with the expectation that departmental resources assigned to the day-to-day monitoring of this sector would be reassigned to areas of higher risk.
However, with the amendment, the Minister of Transport retained regulatory responsibility for business aircraft operations and also retained responsibility for providing regulatory oversight of auditing the CBAA and its systems and procedures. The primary new provision to be met by an operator under the new framework was the establishment of an SMS.
As Transport Canada states on its website, safety management systems are not self-regulation. Rather, they are an extra layer of safety to create a more comprehensive, robust, and demanding regulatory framework.
There has been an evolution of safety practices in transportation over the last decade. Traditionally, safety has been addressed through prescriptive regulations and standards by ensuring compliance. Prescribing safety is becoming more difficult and more demanding of limited resources. It is true that an entity can comply with regulations without effectively managing risks to acceptable levels. A more comprehensive approach, which includes systematically understanding and managing risks in the system, will enable us to make progress on safety objectives.
Safety management systems are formal frameworks designed to integrate safety and risk management into the daily operations of an aircraft operator. It is important to put responsibility for safety where it properly lies, that is, with the aircraft operator. Accountability has to be with the managers who are responsible not only for complying with the regulations, but also for making risk management decisions that are in the best interests of safety.
CBAA is of the view that this can best be achieved through performance-based regulations built on an SMS foundation. Moreover, CBAA fully supports a strong and robust oversight system and presence on the part of the regulator, Transport Canada.
Given that resources are not unbounded, it is CBAA's view that this oversight must be system based, but with a capacity to drill down as required to address areas of safety concern. To state the extreme, it is not possible to have an inspector examine every aircraft before every flight, nor is it possible to have an inspector on the flight deck for every flight.
Canada has been a world leader in the adoption of SMS. The International Civil Aviation Organization has recognized the benefits of the SMS approach and is requiring states to implement SMS as an international standard. In fact, the safety standards established by the International Business Aviation Council, which are SMS based, have been built on the CBAA's leadership work in this area.
Dr. Vernon Grose, a U.S.-based expert on the application of systems methodology to managing risk, described Canada's approach to SMS as “A Place in the Sun”. He lauded Canada for its worldwide leadership in aviation safety by shifting responsibility from government to aviation executives and for placing accountability for safety in their hands. It would be regrettable if the attacks on SMS were successful in undoing Canada's innovative approach and global leadership role in this area.
CBAA cannot undo the minister's decision. However, there is an opportunity for Transport Canada to continue its global leadership role by adopting performance-based regulations for business aviation that are based on safety management systems and industry best practices.
As I stated earlier, IBAC has established the international standards for business aviation operators. It is a code of best practices designed for business aviation operators to achieve a high level of safety and professionalism. Again, SMS is a fundamental part of these standards.
These standards have also been adopted by the European Aviation Safety Agency, EASA, for European business aviation operators. These standards have also been accepted by Air Safety Support International, which is a not-for-profit, wholly owned subsidiary of the United Kingdom's Civil Aviation Authority.
It is our recommendation, Mr. Chairman, that Transport Canada issue a certificate to Canadian business operators that meet the highest standards established by the CBAA and IBAC, with Transport Canada oversight. This approach will be the most successful in ensuring the continued excellence and safety record of this sector while allowing these companies to achieve their business goals in the most effective and efficient manner possible.
Once again, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today.
In summary, business aviation in Canada has had, and continues to have, an excellent safety record.
The POC program administered by the CBAA is a performance-based regulatory framework built on SMS, and it has not been and is not self-regulation.
CBAA supports the strong and robust Transport Canada safety oversight of aviation in Canada.
Canada should maintain its innovative approach and leadership role in requiring SMS in the aviation industry.
Finally, Transport Canada should adopt performance-based regulations for business aviation that are based on SMS and industry best practices.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee.