Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Dear members of the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, we thank you for the invitation to appear today and for the opportunity to present our statement.
I provided a brief description of our organization with our briefing notes yesterday, and I assume that the committee would prefer that I move directly to our statement and the question period.
Our industry is experiencing the biggest change in aviation in our lifetime, perhaps since deregulation. The dramatic drop in demand for passenger air transport due to the COVID-19 pandemic and containment measures cut capacity even deeper, as approximately half global air cargo was carried in the belly hold of passenger aircraft.
At this point, there is great uncertainty as to how changes will shake out in the long term, although we are conscious of the fact that the aviation sector will experience severe long-term disruptions and perhaps ever-changing consequences.
Canada is recognized globally as a strong, stable and reliable trading nation, and one of the best places in the world to invest and start a business. The availability and security around cargo capacity in the air sector assist in providing trade and economic prosperity.
We come today to this committee on behalf of our freight forwarding members, concerned with the following current trends facing the aviation industry relating to the movement of cargo: one, the elimination of cargo capacity in passenger jet belly holds and the recent elimination of certain large aircraft types from route circulation, which has led to significantly increased costs and the addition of ad hoc charter flights; two, network changes and reduced schedules will affect the smaller and/or remote centres, which will be disadvantaged; and three, additionally, supply chain hand-offs for dangerous goods, ground handling services, and additional fees and surcharges to recoup business losses at airport facilities and/or by carriers.
We understand that the first item on the agenda will be relating to the impact of the Air Transat sale on the aviation sector. This is of little consequence to our freight forwarding members, as a carrier traditionally has little capacity for cargo movements. But we look forward to the other items on the agenda.
We would like to thank the committee for recognizing this as an area of rapid and nerve-racking change and challenges. We respect the committee's involvement in following the developments closely and anticipate the recommendations of policy changes as they become necessary.
Thank you very much for the opportunity.