The NACC has issued a new scholarship to help students pursuing post-secondary studies in an aviation-related program in Canada.

The program awards two $1,500 scholarships to qualifying individuals whose studies relate to airline operations or management - including commercial pilot training - and avionics or aircraft maintenance.

The application deadline for this year’s NACC Scholarship Program was Monday, December 1, 2014.   Award recipients will be announced at the NACC’s Annual Summit in February 2015.

Jean-François Lemay, General Manager of Air Transat, has been appointed Chair of the NACC Board of Directors, effective November 1, 2014.

As head of Air Transat, a leading holiday airline and business unit of Transat A.T. Inc., Mr. Lemay has more than 30 years of experience in the practice of law and aviation. Mr. Lemay holds a law degree from the Université de Montréal.

Mr. Lemay succeeds Derek Vanstone, Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Industry and Government Affairs at Air Canada.

Communities and businesses of all sizes across Ontario are deeply concerned by the significant negative impacts the short-sighted decision to increase aviation fuel taxes will have on their local economy.

On November 4, 2014, at a roundtable jointly hosted by the London Chamber of Commerce, the London International Airport and the National Airlines Council of Canada, business leaders and travel and tourism industry stakeholders met to discuss the importance of air transportation to the economy of the London region.  Participants expressed concern that Ontario’s 148 per cent increase in the province’s aviation fuel tax will limit London region’s ability to grow business, travel and tourism.

At the International Air Transportation Association (IATA) Aviation Fuel Forum in Dubai on November 18, 2014, NACC Executive Director Marc-André O’Rourke made a presentation on the Ontario aviation fuel tax increase. International airlines were clear that such a significant tax increase makes Ontario less attractive to them and creates a disincentive to maintain or expand services in Ontario.  Increasing the fuel tax constitutes a serious blow to Ontario’s competitiveness and will mean lost opportunities for Ontario.  

The NACC continues to urge the Ontario Government to pause in order to conduct a full study of the adverse economic impacts of the aviation fuel tax increase. This would include meaningful consultations with Ontario municipalities, consumer organizations, chambers of commerce, airports, tourism operators, and other affected parties.

On September 15, 2014, Transport Canada issued a notice of proposed amendment (NPA) for new flight crew fatigue management regulations. There have been significant developments in the science of sleep and fatigue since 1996 when the Flight Duty Times regulations were last amended and the NACC welcomes the proposal to modernize the rules governing flight duty times.

The NACC’s Flight Operations Subcommittee has been actively involved in studying the issue and consulted numerous experts in the field.  We believe that our active participation and research on flight duty times and sleep science has enabled us to provide instructive, well thought-out and scientifically sound recommendations.  We continue to work with Transport Canada and other industry stakeholders to ensure that the modernization of fatigue management rules reflect the best science and are in the best interest of the travelling public to ensure a safe, efficient and reliable schedule of flight operations in Canada.

NACC joined forces with theInternational Air Transportation Association (IATA), Airlines for America (A4A), as well as the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association (ALTA) and other stakeholders in an industry-wide effort to fight staggering proposed increases to airport charges in Jamaica.

In working with the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA) and the Jamaican Government, the industry was successful in reducing proposed increases by half and delaying their implementation.