In the confusing days following 9/11, one of
the apparent problems was a lack of communication between Transport Canada and
the industry. Another was confusion over who was in control – Transport Canada,
DND, Nav Canada - the Transport Minister even made some unilateral announcements
that were contrary to those made by senior management. Members who were
following the minute by minute updates that COPA provided on our Web site saw
the frustration that we experienced with being out of the information loop and
yet being in the best position to disseminate the information.
When the situation finally settled down, COPA President Kevin Psutka made a
strong appeal to the government to develop a better plan, and in particular, a
better way to communicate with the industry. Specifically, we want to have a
representative located in or near the operations centre to provide input to the
management team and disseminate information to members as soon as it is
available.
The government has heeded COPA’s call and developed a plan should there ever be
another requirement to shut down the air transportation system. The first
meeting earlier in 2003 set the ground rules for the plan and included an
agreement that COPA, CBAA and ATAC would be invited to have representatives
available to the ops centre team. A second meeting, dealing with the details of
the plan, was held in early December. COPA will remain involved in the
development of the plan so that we can avoid the confusion and frustration in
any future occurrences. Contact Kevin Psutka.