The president of the Canadian Air Traffic Controllers Association (CATCA) is calling for the release of an audit report issued by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) that reportedly rated Canada’s oversight of aviation safety a ‘C’, which represents a dramatic fall from the A+ Canada rated almost 20 years ago.
The audit covered areas of responsibility shared by both Transport Canada and Nav Canada, the private company formed to manage the air navigation system.
“I haven’t actually seen the report, and that kind of bugs me,” said CATCA president Nick von Schoenberg. He said he wondered what Nav Canada and Transport Canada might be hiding, since they received copies of the report from ICAO last December. The Canadian Press has reportedly seen the report which led to the poor rating score being leaked.
Von Schoenberg defended his members, saying Nav Canada is understaffed and his members are overworked.
“I think what the audit shows is we can’t demonstrate that we’re safe, and we don’t have the processes in place to ensure that we’re safe,” said von Schoenberg. “And that’s a very different thing from saying we’re unsafe,” he added.
In 2005 Canada scored 95 points out of 100. Last year, the score reportedly dropped by 31 points to 64.