Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and good afternoon.
I'd like to start by thanking the committee for the invitation to appear.
I'd also like to acknowledge the very important comments from the first witnesses today, Mr. Njoroge and Mr. Moore, and offer my condolences for their loss.
My name is Rob Giguere. I am the CEO of the Air Canada Pilots Association.
While I graduated as a mechanical engineer, I've been a pilot throughout my entire professional life. Additionally, I've also held senior executive positions at Air Canada and Skyservice Airlines. Over the course of my career I have been qualified on a wide range of aircraft, including the Douglas DC-8 and DC-9; the Airbus 320 series, including the 330 and the 340; and the Boeing 727 and 737.
I've been directly involved in developing, implementing and overseeing pilot training during my time at Air Canada. Additionally, I have been seconded to other airlines during my career. Today in my capacity as CEO, I am very proud to represent the Air Canada Pilots Association.
I'd like to offer a bit of context on our membership and our interest in the 737 Max.
When the committee first contemplated this study earlier this year, it was before the full impact of the pandemic was felt around the world. At that time, our association represented 4,500 active pilots of Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge. Today we have about 3,800 active members, with another 600 on furlough.
Our members operate aircraft built by Boeing, including the 737, 777, 787, as well as the Airbus 320 and 330 and the brand new, state-of-the-art Canadian-made Airbus A220.
Air Canada currently has 24 Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft in its fleet, all of which were taken out of commercial operation in March of 2019 when the transport ministry issued the flight restrictions on grounding.
Airline flight operations are extremely complex; hence, pilots are only trained and qualified to operate one equipment type at a time. Our Boeing 737 Max pilots, of whom there are about 400, have not flown passengers since March of 2019, keeping up their skills with limited periodic simulator training.
As professional pilots, our primary interest is always the safety of our passengers, our flight crew and our aircraft. Well-trained and highly skilled pilots are the first and last line of defence when it comes to the safe operation of commercial aircraft.
Overall, commercial aviation endures an extraordinarily high level of safety by managing and mitigating risk. While these broad statistics are important, they in no way lessen the tragedies in our thoughts, and our thoughts go out to everyone affected by these tragedies.
As pilots, we think particularly of those flights, as those pilots found themselves in a situation with little time and knowledge to understand the best course of action. We need to do the right thing for those lives lost.
Having been heavily involved with aviation safety for my entire career, I can tell you that every professional pilot wants to know and understand the technical details of these two accidents so we can address issues and improve aviation safety going forward, not just for the Max but for aviation more broadly.
In the nearly two years since these accidents, significant work has been done by regulators around the world, including Transport Canada, to closely examine the circumstances of the accidents. As we now know, these two tragedies exposed some deficiencies in how new models of aircraft are certified. They also exposed the critical importance of ensuring that active pilots are both considered and involved in the process.
I will first speak to the certification process. Following the accidents in early 2019, ACPA called for Transport Canada to undertake an independent review of the 737 Max to assess its airworthiness. We are happy that Minister Garneau ordered a full recertification of the 737 Max in Canada before it was to fly again.
In general, we're very concerned with the practice of delegating the certification of aircraft to manufacturers. This can amount to self-certification and relies on the behaviour of manufacturers to make responsible decisions. Canadian aviation authorities have the world-class expertise to independently certify the aircraft flying in our skies. We should not solely rely on what may be a flawed regulatory process of another jurisdiction.
Going forward, we should not outsource this critical safety task to the United States or any other country, which may in turn outsource chunks of its own regulatory oversight to the industry.
I'd like to acknowledge the work done to date by Transport Canada in re-examining the 737 Max. We're broadly satisfied with how this process has unfolded and urge the department to increase its capacity to undertake such examinations on any new aircraft introduced to the Canadian market going forward. That capacity should involve pilots who have extensive experience on the front line of the industry.
We'd also like to thank Minister Garneau for ensuring that Canada's recertification process is proceeding with great care.
Second, I want to talk about the importance of considering and involving pilots in the process, specifically as it relates to training. What we in aviation call “human factors” are a key element of the safety equation. Considering human factors ensures that humans and technology work effectively together. That is not simply about design but also includes training, policies and procedures. This is especially important, as modern aircraft have evolved to incorporate increasingly complex software systems. All these advances contribute to overall safety improvements in aviation.
We must also have a clear understanding of the pilots and their operating environment. Aside from the operational issues around the 737 Max, which appear to have been resolved to a large degree, we would point to the importance of pilot training in general and in particular with certification of new aircraft.
Pilot training is a significant cost for airlines. Pilots engage in an extraordinarily high level of training throughout their careers. This includes ongoing recurrent training and requalification, as well as extensive indoctrination training when they qualify on aircraft of different types.
The 737 Max was a variant of an aircraft already in operation for many years, and as such, an extensive training course was not required for existing 737 operators. There should be no shortcut for pilot training.
I should note that as Air Canada was not previously a 737 operator, the situation of our pilots was somewhat different, in that each Air Canada pilot underwent specific 737 Max training on dedicated 737 Max simulators. Air Canada is one of the few airlines in the world that has two simulators that it designed specifically for the 737 Max. This will be helpful and important as we move forward with the recertification of the aircraft in Canada.
As I noted earlier, Canada's professional pilots are the first and the last line of defence in aviation safety. As such, we believe it's vital for us to have a voice in the regulatory process. This is important not just on behalf of our profession but on behalf of the passengers we are charged with keeping safe on every single flight that we operate.
We should never take for granted the critical role pilots play in the very complex man-machine interface of today's commercial aircraft. It's our view that experienced front-line pilots should be an integral part of certification and of training design.
To that end, we are pleased that Transport Canada included active line pilots in the Joint Operations Evaluation Board as part of the recertification process. This ensured professional pilots, well versed in day-to-day demands of line operations, contributed to the assessment.
I'd like to specifically acknowledge Transport Canada's director general of civil aviation, Nick Robinson, and his team for maintaining regular consultation with groups like mine, groups that represent the interests of professional pilots. This is an important measure, and one we would like to see continuing on an ongoing basis.
Finally, when the 737 Max is certified in Canada, it will be important to consider the reintroduction of the process and how it's managed. Operators need to slowly and thoughtfully reintroduce the aircraft into service, ensuring that the highest standards are maintained and achieved. I'm not aware of the approach of other operators; however, my understanding from my briefings is that Air Canada has developed a very careful and thoughtful plan for the 737 Max recertification and reintroduction to service in Canada.
Thank you. I welcome any comments or questions.
