Technological developments have opened up tremendous air safety improvements in recent years. The Internet, where it is possible to access a vast array of information and data, has led to such safety improvements in the US as releasing airport diagrams, formerly only available in printed form at a cost as part of the instrument approach procedures, to the net free of charge. In the short time that the diagrams have been available in order to help reduce the number of runway incursions caused by confusion with the airport layout, there has already been a remarkable reduction in incursions in the US. This no cost improvement was made possible because the data is considered to be public in the US and therefore people are entitled to its access free of charge.
Another example is the provision of terrain and obstacle avoidance data in many navigation systems, including some hand-held GPSs. The data is available free of charge, and several manufacturers have taken advantage of its availability.
There are also several providers of airport information in various forms such as airport guides and online flight planning software. Again, this is made possible by the free availability of the public data.
The situation is different here in Canada. Everything is for sale. The government has been on a cost recovery kick for many years, and while that is a good thing, it has led to such measures as making NRCAN, the government agency responsible for producing all of the maps, charts and air navigation publications, a profit centre. In other words, they have to not only cover their costs (in the past they lost money on every Flight Supplement that was sold) but make a profit for the government. In addition, NAV CANADA, whose mandate includes managing the provision of air navigation information, is a not for profit (and not for loss) corporation. They contract to NRCAN to provide the information that we need and use. So, the same data that is available free in the US comes at a price here.
We should mention for accuracy that certain data is available free of charge because of an ICAO requirement to do so. But it is a fraction of what is available in the US. A related problem is the relatively small market in Canada that does not make it worthwhile for US manufacturers to incorporate data for Canada but many manufacturers who COPA has contacted say they would expand the capabilities for Canada only when the data is free.
A strong safety concern was expressed by COPA President Kevin Psutka to Transport Canada’s Director General of Civil Aviation, Merlin Preuss. Psutka emphasized that as time goes on and technological improvements continue to be made in the US using the freely available data there, “a technological black hole will be created at our border.” He went on the say that “This is not only a significant safety issue, it is a competitive issue. Our government prides itself in being a world leader in technology. There are several Canadian entrepreneurs who have contacted me about developing competitive flight planning and information tools but they cannot afford to buy the data and ever hope to develop affordable products comparable with the US counterparts… I would hate to see a CFIT accident or a runway incursion that could have been prevented by technology that is widely available but prevented from being used because of a cost-recovery policy. The fact is that the government is not able to sell most of this data now, so what profit potential are they trying to protect? As time goes on, Canada will be left behind in this important safety area.”
Some progress is being made because of COPA’s lobbying effort. We were recently informed that NAV CANADA is negotiating with NRCAN for airport diagrams that will be available free for download from NAV CANADA’s web site. We understand that they may be available in early 2005 but there is a problem with the cost. We understand that NAV CANADA will have to pay for these diagrams, even though they are already part of the Canada Air Pilot instrument approach publications and are available in electronic format, albeit only to government and NAV CANADA employees. Of course, it may appear that the diagrams will be available to us for free but in reality, NAV CANADA will have to recover these costs from somewhere. It is expected that the next NAV CANADA fee increase will in part be justified by the increased cost incurred to provide the new “service”.
COPA will continue to press the government that the provision of data is a public safety issue and consequently, like other services the government provides out of taxpayer dollars, this air safety information should be available free of charge. Contact Kevin Psutka