Nav Canada pay-as-you-go fee under review

In the Pilots to Pilots section of this newspaper a letter from Nav Canada’s Arthur Andreassen, responds to the many letters that he received, including some that were published in the March newspaper.

The company has also announced that the imposition of a proposed new daily charge has been delayed while Nav Canada’s Board considers the issue.

Some members have contacted COPA with the understanding that the delay perhaps signals a willingness on Nav Canada’s part to listen to the strong opposition to this charging method being applied to our sector.

While we would hope that this is true, in fact it had been dictated by the Nav Canada Board prior to the consultation phase that the changes could not be put in place until the Board reviewed the input, which will occur at their next meeting in mid-April.

COPA’s detailed position and other background material was in the January issue of the newspaper and remains on our website (click on COPA Flight News and follow the links for Front Page Articles).

In preparation for the Nav Canada Board’s consideration of the matter, COPA has met several times with management as well as our representative on the Nav Canada Board to explain why we remain opposed to this charging method. For those who are following the user fee issue in the U.S., our counterpart AOPA is pushing hard for continuation of a tax on fuel as the most appropriate method for general aviation to contribute to the system.

Their position is exactly what was from the very start of discussions on fees back here in the 1990’s, and still is COPA’s position today. COPA considers the 11 cent per litre excise tax on fuel to be our contribution to the system, notwithstanding the previous government’s position on the matter.

Even though in Andreassen’s letter he says that the fuel excise tax was supported but efforts to convince that government have not been successful, Nav Canada could do the right thing with the new government in place and support a renewed effort to apply this charging method to our sector, with an accompanying change to the amount that now goes to the government.

Although Andreassen considers the proposed charge to be reasonable, COPA and several other responders have made it clear that it is anything but reasonable, considering that it is a charge on top of an annual fee on top of the fuel taxes we continue to pay.

In addition, we expect that the concept will be expanded as Nav Canada tries to collect more from our sector in the future, leading to general use of pay-as-you-go fees for service. If the Board permits the charge to be introduced, COPA will file an appeal to the Canadian Transportation Agency in accordance with the provisions of the Canadian Air Navigation Services Commercialization Act. Watch for a progress report on our website and in the newspaper following the Nav Canada Board meeting in April.