Transport Canada: Fatigue management regs won’t be delayed


HAC has described Transport Canada’s new flight and duty time regulations as a “catastrophe” for the helicopter industry because they do not take into account unique aspects of helicopter operations. Mike Reyno Photo

Trevor Mitchell was on the job for four days before he found himself addressing members of the Helicopter Association of Canada (HAC). He was introduced as the organization’s new president and CEO during its 26th annual general meeting and convention, held virtually for the second year in a row. From Nov. 22 to 24, members of the Canadian helicopter community gathered around their screens to listen to a variety of informative sessions in a year that outgoing president Fred Jones described as “extremely challenging.”

For Mitchell, who admitted he has “big shoes to fill,” the conference was a chance to get acquainted with some of the most pressing issues facing the country’s helicopter industry. This includes new fatigue management regulations that will come into effect for Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARs) 703 (air taxi) and 704 (commuter) operators one year from now, in December 2022.

Despite combined protests from various sectors of Canadian aviation, Nick Robinson, director general, Civil Aviation at Transport Canada, told conference attendees in no uncertain terms that the new fatigue regulations will not be delayed.

“There are no plans to delay that regulation from coming into force at the end of December 2022,” he said during a presentation on Nov. 22.

“I really do hope that individuals have that on their radar, that they are working towards what that implementation looks like for their business. I encourage them to reach out early through their association or POI [principal operations inspector] with questions on implementation.”

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Robinson said 705 (airline) operators had also requested a delay in the new fatigue management regime, which came into effect for them in December 2020. They were also denied.

“Any disruption has been managed to date with the 705 operators, and we continue to work with them on any implementation challenges,” he said. “Helicopter operations is a perfect example of a unique industry segment. We are prepared to work with operators on correcting non-compliance and not penalizing right away. We are hoping to help operators come into compliance instead of taking the heavy stick right off the bat.”

Here, Robinson referred to the possibility of adopting a more flexible Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS). Instead of the more prescriptive regulations as they are written, he said the FRMS route will recognize an operator’s unique circumstances.

Jones asked whether Transport Canada will be open to addressing “specific chafing points” with the new regulations if “it’s apparent that it’s going to result in an extremely difficult scenario for operators to deal with.” As an example, he mentioned anticipated crew shortages as the new regulations necessitate double- or triple-crewing a single-engine helicopter in the field.

“We issued 240 exemptions during Covid, exemptions to the CARs,” replied Robinson. “Some will be codified into the CARs. Even before Covid, we had a series of longstanding exemptions. The exemption process is a tool we can use in civil aviation, but first a risk assessment has to be done and it has to be clear [a course of action] is not creating additional risk. Then, there has to be a public interest.”

HAC is preparing a submission outlining “pain points” with the impending regulations. However, Jones said Canadian helicopter operators are reeling as they face costs associated with several new legislative requirements, including not only fatigue management but also gender-based pay regulations and mandatory vaccine requirements.

“We’ll experience some real challenges in the industry, recovering from the pandemic, with new fatigue management rules and additional costs shouldered by the airport and air carrier community,” he told Robinson. “Our industry is reeling from all of this. I hope you’ll understand that the association will continue to push to have these regulations delayed, and have clarification for the helicopter industry.”

An “upstart” of regulatory activity

Transport Canada, too, is emerging from pandemic mode, according to Robinson.

“We didn’t lose focus on aviation, but we had to incorporate public health risks into the discussion,” he said. “We want to shift to a more absolute focus on aviation moving forward. As we move into the winter and spring, you will see an upstart of regulatory activity again.”

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With inspectors now returning to the field, Robinson said the focus will shift from the pandemic to other important issues such as safety management systems, approach bans and icing regulations.

During the pandemic, Transport Canada issued about 240 different exemptions specific to Covid-19, on top of regularly issued exemptions. Robinson said many of them were related to the extension of proficiency limits, but “we are now down to about 40 active, live exemptions with regards to Covid-19. There is a movement to regularize the industry moving forward.”

Likewise, some Transport Canada employees have returned to the office, with more coming in the new year. Robinson said the regulator has remained at the same staffing level as when the pandemic began, but conceded manual approvals were delayed by Covid-19 processing procedures.

“Our service standard is set by headquarters. It has been absolutely devastated by Covid and I understand the delays individuals have had with regards to that,” he told conference attendees. He said Transport has initiated several improvements, including an electronic system for aviation medical assessments that is now handling about 90 percent of the 50,000 to 60,000 medical assessments received each year.

“My first message to all of you is to find a CAME [certified aviation medical examiner] that uses the eMER [electronic medical examination report] system. The other piece is that we’ve gone to an e-secure post [secure digital file sharing] through Canada Post. We’ve also completed a quality assurance pilot to triage the more complex cases. Month over month, we are now decreasing the backlog and will continue to do so as we digitalize medical records.”

In Atlantic Canada, an electronic service will cut the time required to book an aviation exam. The department is also taking steps to streamline exam administration and flight test processing.

Changing of the guard

At the HAC AGM on Nov. 23, Jones told attendees he would be leaving his post at the end of November.

“It’s been an intensely interesting but busy 13 years in service to an industry I have a passion for,” he said. He thanked HAC staff, board members, corporate sponsors and individual members for their “unwavering support for HAC.”

HAC chair Jacob Forman applauded Jones for his service to the industry.

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“Fred helped lead the development of HAC’s best practices and codes of conduct,” said Forman. “He managed template employment and training agreements and grew the HAC convention to over 800 delegates at its peak. He led the board to purchase the HAC condo and spearheaded the fatigue management campaign, which he will continue to be involved in. HAC’s board would like to thank him for his work and we look forward to continuing our work with him in his new role.”

Jones will remain associated with HAC as a part-time consultant, as Trevor Mitchell steps into the lead role.

Mitchell started flying in 1996, training in Saskatoon. Since then, he has accumulated about 7,400 hours of helicopter pilot-in-command time, with a varied flying background that includes mountain operations, law enforcement and medevac missions. For the past several years, he has acted as a consultant for heliports throughout Canada, Europe, Fiji, Central and South America.

“I am going to try to get out and see as many of the operators as I can in the next few months,” he said during a Nov. 24 session alongside Fred Jones.

When asked about his priorities, Mitchell said, “FRMS is huge and it will stifle our industry, if not completely stop it at times. The one that really concerned me was the pay equity issue — the amount of work that will be required by operators to get that completed. The simple task of writing a job description will create opportunities but also pitfalls we will have to deal with. These are dollars and cents that operators won’t get back — they are costs of doing business that weren’t there yesterday.”

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As for how he will measure his success, Mitchell reflected that it will come through collaboration with the HAC board and Transport Canada. “If I could get some form of recognition from the [Transport] minister and we start to get traction on things we can change — that would be success.”

Mitchell takes the reins from Jones at a challenging time.

HAC was most adversely affected by the pandemic in membership year 2020-21, when revenues declined by 52 percent overall, including a sharp 30 percent drop in membership dues.

“We really felt the effects of the pandemic with the drop-off in member renewals,” said Jones during the association’s AGM.

HAC treasurer Brian Clegg reported a loss of $57,000 for the 2020-21 fiscal year and projected a $168,000 deficit in the current year due to lost convention revenue and membership renewals.

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“Our progress will depend in large part on member recovery and membership renewals,” he said, adding that Jones and the HAC staff have done a good job cutting expenses. In addition, the HAC condo was sold this year to further reduce expenditures.

Jones said the association opted to hold a second virtual convention and AGM because “the board felt face-to-face conventions are a high-stakes game.”

“We are still in good financial circumstances, but the next few years will be a rebuilding process,” he continued. “We did not raise our fees this year and offered a free online conference. We are trying to keep members engaged and costs at a minimum.”

For his part, Mitchell is enthusiastic about rolling up his sleeves and getting to work.

“I’m looking forward to starting to tackle some of these issues that face our industry as whole, and working with the regulator to get positive outcomes on what we need to see happen.”

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