At least 18 carriers are asking the federal government to extend their pilots’ maximum flight duty period by an hour a day, saying the current rules prevent them from managing the frequent delays that disrupt air travel in the North.
Their request faces staunch opposition from the country’s main pilot union, which says it could lead to further exemptions and push pilot fatigue to dangerous levels.
The maximum daily flight duty period — the time from arrival at work until the last engine shutdown — would go from 13 to 14 hours, while the weekly limit would climb from 60 to 70 hours, according to exemption requests filed earlier this year with Transport Canada.
Overall, pilots could work up to 210 hours over a 28-day period, instead of the 192 hours currently allowed.
The view from inside the cockpit of an Air Inuit B-737 in northern Quebec. (Jonah Schantz/Air Inuit)
The airlines are primarily active in the most remote regions of the country. They say the regulations governing air travel since 2020 aren’t suited for the unpredictable weather and underfunded airport facilities in the North.
They are seeking the changes to be part of draft regulations underway by Transport Canada to provide greater flexibility to air carriers.
“It was a one-size-fits-all for everyone, and that can’t be the way it works,” said Bernard Gervais, executive director of the Northern Air Transportation Association.
“What we’re asking is for the rules to be applied according to the size of the operator and the operations they carry out.”
Sleep experts say a high level of fatigue is comparable to a state of impairment from alcohol, which is especially concerning when it comes to piloting a plane.
Symptoms include short-term memory lapses, slower reaction times and reduced ability to prioritize tasks or assess risk.
The maximum number of work hours that can still be considered safe is at the heart of the debate between carriers and pilots.
Tim Perry is president of ALPA Canada, the country’s major pilots’ union. He says longer pilot hours come with serious risks. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)
“You need to hear us when we say what’s being contemplated is potentially very unsafe,” said Tim Perry, president of ALPA Canada, a union that represents more than 10,000 pilots in the country.
“This seems to us in our professional assessment to be about profits.”
The Canadian regulations are complicated and vary according to several criteria, including departure and arrival times, the number of segments being flown and the number of days off that are spent at home.
A fatigue risk-management system already exists to allow carriers some flexibility, but the process is complex and costly, especially for smaller air carriers.
ALPA Canada represents pilots at some of the carriers making the exemption requests, but other regional operations are non-unionized.
“If one carrier gets an exemption, it will be seen as a competitive advantage,” Perry said. “It would pave the way for further exemptions to be issued, and it would be difficult to know where to draw the line.”
The National Airlines Council of Canada, which represents several major carriers (Air Canada, WestJet, Air Transat and Jazz), declined to comment on the proposed changes.
When Canada adopted stricter measures in 2020 to regulate pilots’ schedules and bring the country’s rules in line with international standards, many carriers criticized them from the onset.
They argued the rules forced them to hire more pilots and hindered their ability to adapt to unpredictable circumstances such as fog, flat tires or runway closures.
“In the case of remote communities, if those interruptions turn into flight cancellations rather than delays, there is a real impact,” said Joe Sparling, president of Yukon-based Air North.
“If you have a medical travel passenger that’s going south for an appointment and the plane doesn’t get in and misses by a day, then their appointment has to be rescheduled.”
A mechanic walks up to a Nolinor Aviation aircraft in Mirabel, Que., last year. The airline says the realities of flying in the North require different regulations. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press)
Nolinor, which specializes in charter flights, says it needs to station pilots in Val d’Or, Que., just in case delays up north prevent the regular crew from flying back south.
“The regulations weren’t designed to reflect the realities of the Arctic,” said Nolinor’s vice-president of operations, Yves Bergeron. “The reality in Montreal is not the same as in Iqaluit.”
According to several people involved in the matter, Transport Canada’s draft regulations have been stalled — and what comes next depends on federal Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon.
“It’s very political. The minister will decide,” said Gervais from the industry association of northern carriers.
The pilots’ union wants the minister to block the requested changes to maximum flight duty hours.
MacKinnon’s office said officials at Transport Canada are still working on the file.
“The safety of civil aviation operations remains the department’s top priority, and it is committed to maintaining rigorous and effective oversight of the entire system,” said spokesperson Philippe-Alexandre Langlois.
Fatigue already a risk: experts
Matthew van Wollen, a Canadian fatigue specialist who works at Pulsar Informatics in the United States, says there are ways to safely lengthen Canadian pilots’ shifts with “simpler and more unique operating profiles.”
He has worked with Transport Canada and several Canadian carriers, but says his comments are based on scientific evidence.
He laid out three factors that influence a state of fatigue: whether the work period extends into the middle of the night, overall shift length and any accumulated sleep deficit.
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Van Wollen said many pilots might be happy to work longer hours over a number of days, in order to then benefit from more days off.
He said the priority for carriers should be managing the risk of fatigue on a daily basis.
“Just because you’re following the rules doesn’t mean you’re safe. It doesn’t mean you have no fatigue,” he said.
Another expert in the field of sleep, Clinton Marquardt, said it would be helpful to set parameters for each carrier in collaboration with their pilots.
“That’s the only way it’s going to be solved in a satisfactory fashion,” said Marquardt, a former official at the Transportation Safety Board.
While he said “operational needs and workforce desires” can’t be ignored, they are not “the foundation of the system.”
He said scientific evidence must be used to determine the proper rules.
Airlines say their pilots can always cancel a flight if they are too tired. They also say they are willing to monitor the impact of any changes to pilot schedules and make adjustments as needed.
“We’re not aiming to plan 14-hour days every day,” said Jonathan Lukca, a manager in charge of operations at Air Inuit.
“When the limit is reached, safety can be compromised and pilots might quit and go elsewhere. That’s not in anyone’s interest.”