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Transport Canada to publish new flight & duty time regs in spring 2017

By Oliver Johnson | June 27, 2016

Estimated reading time 6 minutes, 51 seconds.

Last week's update from Transport Canada revealed it is now aiming to introduce the regulatory changes as one amendment covering all air taxi, commuter, and airline operators (CARs Subparts 703, 704 and 705, respectively). Heath Moffatt Photo
Last week’s update from Transport Canada revealed it is now aiming to introduce the regulatory changes as one amendment covering all air taxi, commuter, and airline operators (CARs Subparts 703, 704 and 705, respectively). Heath Moffatt Photo

Transport Canada has told industry leaders to expect a new draft of flight crew fatigue management regulations in Canada Gazette I in spring 2017, but has not revealed what may be in the latest version of the controversial proposals that have now been six years in development.

But while the extent of the proposed changes to flight and duty time regulations is unknown, Transport Canada has laid out a clear timeline for the regulatory process going forward — with helicopter operators having at least until 2022 to bring themselves into compliance with the new regulations.

In a meeting held June 21 with stakeholders, and in a subsequent letter to Canadian Aviation Regulation Advisory Council (CARAC) members, Michel Béland, director of policy and regulatory services at Transport Canada, said the regulator was “now in a position to confirm the policy direction being taken by the department to develop regulations that will respond to pilots’ and air operators’ concerns, as well as Canada’s international obligations.”

Béland said Transport Canada is proceeding with the amendment of the prescriptive flight and duty time limitations as well as the introduction of fatigue risk management systems (FRMS) that were first announced in a notice of proposed amendment (NPA) in September 2014.

That NPA received staunch opposition from a dozen industry associations that quickly mobilized against it, with many claiming that they had been “blindsided” by its publication on 48 hours’ notice, Helicopter Association of Canada (HAC) president Fred Jones told Vertical at the time.

Among the contentious provisions in the NPA were a drop in the maximum length of a flight duty period (FDP) to between nine to 13 hours (depending on the start time of the flight duty); a reduction in the maximum tour length from 42 days to 15; and a removal of the ability to reset a pilot’s accumulated 30-consecutive day, 42-consecutive day, and 90-consecutive day flight times to zero after five consecutive days free of duty.

The FRMS suggested by the NPA gives operators the option of implementing that rather than adhering to the prescriptive requirements. Similar to a safety management system, an FRMS would need to satisfy specific requirements and be approved by Transport Canada, but could afford operators with challenging scheduling needs some much needed flexibility.

HAC’s Jones, who was present at the June 21 meeting, said he was told by Transport Canada that it had adjusted the provisions in the amendment to reflect industry feedback from the NPA.

“We don’t know how many changes have been made, but my belief is they will be tinkering around the fringe of this, they will not have addressed the substantive concerns that have been raised by HAC and others,” said Jones.

He added that his biggest concern is the implementation of a “one-size-fits-all” approach that is designed primarily with airlines in mind. “They claim that it’s because pilots are pilots are pilots — and they need the same regulation and same working hours, but it doesn’t recognize the unique circumstances of the different industry segments,” said Jones. “They’re treating float[plane] pilots and helicopter operators the same way they’re treating airline pilots, and they’re very, very different. And even if you still respect the principles as they relate to human fatigue, you can address them in different ways for different segments of the industry to avoid forcing a round peg into a square hole the way they have been doing, I believe, with helicopter operators and others.”

In August 2015, the NPA was followed by a notice of intent (NOI) to amend the Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARs) to address flight crew fatigue management, which suggested a change to the flight and duty regulations in two phases: the first phase to apply to CARs Subpart 705 airline operators; the second phase to apply to all air operators.

In last week’s update from Transport Canada, it revealed that it is now aiming to introduce the regulatory changes as one amendment covering all air taxi, commuter, and airline operators (CARs Subparts 703, 704 and 705, respectively). The amendment will not apply to private or aerial work operators (CARs Subparts 604 and 702).

“They want the same rules, more or less, to apply to 703, 704 and 705 operations and it just doesn’t work,” said Jones.

According to Transport Canada’s timeline, the industry will have 60 days from the publication of the draft proposals in Canada Gazette I to submit written comments to the regulator. Transport Canada will then take a period of time — likely several months — to work through the comments, and provide their rationale for accepting or rejecting each one. It will then publish the final regulations in Canada Gazette II, which will mark the start of a phased implementation process — with CARs Subpart 705 operators having 12 months to bring themselves into compliance, and CARs Subpart 703 and 704 operators having 48 months to do so.

“The idea that it is probably going to be 2023 before it touches the helicopter community at all is some comfort,” said Jones. “However, HAC’s own view is, unlike wine, bad news never gets better with time.”

Jones said that the advance notice would at least give the various associations an opportunity to get ready ahead of the amendment’s publication in Gazette I.

“This has been, for the last three years, the single biggest regulatory catastrophe affecting our industry,” said Jones. “If it looks like the September 2014 NPA with some window dressing, it’s just going to be devastating to our industry. We already have a shortage of experienced helicopter pilots — and this is just going to aggravate it.”

With files from Elan Head

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4 Comments

  1. Fatigue management? If that is what this is all about why only look at duty times and flight time? What about accommodations proper diet and easy access to gym facilities! In the Helicopter industry when it comes to duty days, hrs and flight time we are all pilots, however helicopter pilots more often than in the fixed wing world have accommodations ranging anywhere from posh ( Rare!) to storage sheds in the Arctic freezing our asses off providing our own sleeping bags! Lol
    Too many paper pushers here not really looking at the route causes of fatigue in my opinion! Good nights sleep, exersise, healthy diet, sets me up for an easy 14hr duty day with lots of hrs flying. Simple! I’m definately up for some changes but a 15 day tour is going cause financial issues for both employer and employee, and a 42 day tour with only 5 days off for a reset is silly. Reasonable hours with proper accommodations, sleep food and exercise.
    Crazy that we cover this in human factors during annual training and it all goes out the window once the rush of the season starts.

    Just saying

    Devin

  2. Experienced helicopter pilots? How about providing those existing “low-timers” jobs they can gain valuable experience, instead of sitting them on the couch…Just sayin’

  3. Unfortunately, this will push helicopter operators to require a higher number of experienced pilots, which are few and far between when it comes to speciality work ie: mountain, longline, skiing ops. This, in turn, will cause a shortage of available experienced pilots. Helicopter operators will then be forced to hire less experienced pilots in order to cover their regular / equal scope of work. This, in my opinion creates a serious detriment to the helicopter industry in terms of safety. I am somewhat bewildered at the proposed changes. Certain areas in Canada, particularly the northwest are no place for inexperience, which has been demonstrated. If safety is the true concern then we are headed in the wrong direction with the proposed regulatory changes…..no question.

    Helicopter Association of Canada’s (HAC) president Fred Jones is absolutely correct…. “We already have a shortage of experienced helicopter pilots — and this is just going to aggravate it.”

  4. It will devastate the industry but in many ways the operators have done this to themselves.
    As pilots we get sent out to day base in some mosquito infested swamp or gravel pit sitting in the hot sun!! Talk about fatigue setting in?? Go tell the tanker pilots that they can sit in a lawn chair under the wing of the tanker and you have a revolt on your hands.

    I have more resumes on my desk from low time Canadian pilots who call up and are going to help me out.
    Oh I forgot they want to live in the city and work 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off and they will stay until they get 500 hours on turbine. Fellows you need a reality check and subsequently I have hired Auzzies or Kiwis as these fellows usually have 1500 hours but they have work ethics and they are not moaning and complaining.

    Last but not least and probably the most important is the Canadian Peso. Christ the Mexicans charge out in US dollars.
    In the Yukon this winter we saw intermediate helicopters go for low $600.00 per hour wet and then go buy your parts in USD.
    The Canadian operator has to start charging in U S Dollars and quit this cutting the rate.
    Talk about risk management there is none at those rates and the crews are not getting the proper training at those rates.
    Wake up and smell the green back fellows make 2018 the year we all go to US Dollars.
    Bill Karman
    Owner, Kluane Helicopters

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