ATAC News - June 2014

Vol. # 2014-06-E

ATAC NEWS

June 17, 2014

ATAC 80th annual general meeting
and tradeshow

Monday, November 17 - Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Westin Bayshore Hotel

Vancouver, BC

~ The premier national gathering for operators, suppliers to the industry and government stakeholders involved in commercial aviation and flight training
in Canada ~

Exhibitor package and sponsorship opportunities are available on our website. Book early for best selection!

For further information please contact Debbie Simpson at tradeshow@atac.ca.

A special thanks to the following Exhibitors to date

Acorn Welding Ltd.	Labelmaster Canada
CQFA Chicoutimi College	Latitude Technologies Corp.
Cryotech Deicing Technology	NAV CANADA
Discovery Air Technical Services	Prairie Aircraft Sales Ltd.
Falko Regional Aircraft Ltd.	Pratt & Whitney Canada
FlightSafety International	Pulselite Canada
Frasca International, Inc.	Skeye Aviation Systems
Intelisys Aviation Systems	SkyTrac Systems Ltd.
Kelly Western Jet Centre, Epic Aviation	Sprung Structures

A special thanks to our Sponsors to date

ATR North America, Inc.	NAV CANADA
Boeing Company (The)	Porter Airlines
Emond Harnden	Pratt & Whitney Canada
FlightSafety International	Seneca College
Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP	WINGS Magazine

The paul mulrooney memorial award of excellence

The deadline to submit nominations for The Paul Mulrooney Memorial Award of Excellence (PMMAE) has been extended until June 20, 2014. Application package available.

The award will be presented at ATAC's Annual General Meeting in Vancouver on November 18.

"Passenger Rights - A Shared Responsibility". The ATAC Symposium Addressed the Question of Responsibility Towards Passengers

ATAC Director Bruce MacDougall of Paterson, MacDougall reviewed recent regulation brought by the European Union and the U.S. with regards to the development of rules on passenger rights and regulation of airline operations. Greg Sheahan, General Counsel for Porter Airlines, focused on recent decisions by the CTA regarding the reasonability of airline tariffs. He fears that these decisions could potentially move airlines to a "strict liability" regime with respect to liability and passenger rights regardless of whether or not the irregular events were within the airlines control.

Gord Kenny, Director, Commercial Operations, Sunwing Airlines, reviewed experiences with passenger rights practices and questions which need to be clarified by regulatory agencies. He also pointed out that flights are a shared responsibility among a range of service providers and that any of them could be the root cause for any delay or flight cancellation.

A consensus on the general principles supporting passenger rights needs to be reached in our industry. The air transport industry's position should be clear as the political attractiveness of this popular issue could unfortunately result in costly and unrealistic legislation.

ATAC Advocates for Amendment to Flight Attendant Requirements

During the CARAC consultation meeting on May 22nd ATAC, with the support of its members, advocated for the ability of airlines in Canada to choose between two equally proven safe options in determining the number of flight attendants onboard transport category aircraft. ATAC continues to clearly show the equivalent level of safety provided under the current Canadian requirements versus those used by the US and the Europeans. ATAC is supportive of the majority of the recently proposed changes and will submit comments to TC on the Notice of Proposed Amendment (NPA). ATAC will continue to encourage the department and the Minister to move this regulatory improvement forward as quickly as possible so that Canadian airlines can finally operate on an even playing field with US and European airlines!

ATAC Welcomed Minister Raitt's Initiative to Expand Onboard Use of PEDs and Implement Improved Manual Approval ProcesS

The global exemption issued by TC on May 26th, to allow use of non-transmitting Portable Electronic Devices (PEDs) during all phases of flight, is a great move forward. Previously PEDs were only allowed to be used inflight during the cruise portion of the flight. The simplified manual approval process, included within the exemption, adopts in principal what ATAC has been advocating for many years. ATAC is very pleased to see this excellent example of an efficiency improvement of documentation approvals come to fruition and looks forward to it being used more broadly as soon as possible.

CIC regulatory changes to Canada's International Student Program came into force this June 1, 2014

New, updated information now available on the CIC website including:

The list of provincially and territorially designated educational institutions (except Quebec);
Information on study permit application forms;
A new self-assessment tool to assist students in determining their eligibility to work off-campus without a work permit;
Information on how study permit holders can apply for a Social Insurance Number;

This has been a long and complex process which will deliver results with international students using the Education au/in Canada brand, and representing the broader Canadian interest.

If you plan to train international students you must register your company on the CIC website immediately to be eligible.

ATAC Flight Presentations Now Available on Website

Presentations from the May 29th, 2014 ATAC Flight Training Committee meeting are now posted in the Members Log-in section of our website.

CTA Announces New Interline Baggage Rules

The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) issued a decision and an interpretation note on April 15, 2014 regarding a new Interline Baggage Rule. This rule would apply to flights originating or terminating in Canada. The intent is to standardize and make transparent the rules that apply in interline flight.

CTA had a choice between two options, that of an existing rule promulgated by the U.S. Department of Transportation and a proposed method advocated by the International Air Transport Association. The U.S. rule is relatively easier to understand by passengers and, more importantly, the costs of CRS and ATPCO coding has already been borne chiefly by U.S. carriers. At a consultation held by the CTA in the spring of 2013 virtually all carriers present preferred the U.S. rule.

ATAC is pleased with the CTA's ultimate selection of a rule very similar to the U.S. rule.