By Adam Hunt
Transport Canada has released its long-awaited regional and small airports
study.
The study was promised by former Minister of Transport, David Collenette, in his transportation white paper, StraightAhead which was released on Feb. 25, 2003.
StraightAhead committed TC to studying the issue of the viability of the small
and regional airports that were once owned by TC and were transferred to local
authorities under the national Airports Policy. StraightAhead stated that the
study would be completed by the end of 2003.
The study shows a mixed picture of those divested TC airports – some are doing
well financially, but most are not. The study shows that the majority of
airports (24 of the 46 airports for which meaningful data was received) have not
done well financially since being divested and are in a continuing deficit
situation.
The study was not permitted by its terms of reference to draw conclusions or
make recommendations on the data that it analyzed to the Minister.
The main conclusion that readers will draw from the study are that the biggest
net effect of the National Airports Policy with regard to smaller airports has
been “municipal downloading.”
The federal government has walked away from the national network of airports in
Canada and left municipalities to pick up the bill for keeping the national
network functioning.
A second conclusion that can be drawn is that
Canada is completely non-competitive with the
USA when it comes to its approach to smaller
airports and business travel.
In the U.S. smaller airports are seen as necessary for any community to have.
They know that without them business passes the community by. In the U.S. they
are largely funded by various levels of government as transportation
infrastructure on the same basis as other transportation infrastructure –
highways, roads, sidewalks and sewers.
Because many Canadian airports rely on user fees, they chase business away from
their communities.
Since the study was not permitted to make its own conclusions and
recommendations, COPA will be sending its own conclusions and recommendations to
Minister of Transport, Hon Jean Lapierre.
The complete 49 page study can be found on the TC website at http://www.tc.gc.ca/programs/airports/RSAS/menu.htm in English and http://www.tc.gc.ca/programmes/aeroports/EARPA/menu.htm in French.