OTTAWA — Top officials at Transport Canada vowed yesterday to step up oversight at major airlines after admitting government inspectors did fewer spot safety checks in the last few years.
“We haven’t done as much surveillance activities as we wanted to do, but that will change in the next three years,” Marc Grégoire, assistant deputy minister of safety and security, told MPs at the launch of parliamentary hearings into aviation safety in Canada.
Grégoire and deputy minister Yaprak Baltacioglu kicked off the hearings by acknowledging problems with the way the government has been implementing its new oversight regime, called safety management systems. But they both defended the approach, already fully phased in at such large carriers as Air Canada and WestJet.
Transport Canada has delayed implementation at small carriers for at least a year after being inundated with concerns from inspectors about problems during the initial phase-in at these smaller operations.
The system puts more onus on carriers by requiring them to develop and oversee an in-house system of safety checks tailored to their operations.
Transport Canada inspectors still ensure all safety regulations are followed, but the emphasis is placed on reviewing a company’s safety management system to determine whether the internal plan to reduce aviation hazards and risks is effective.
This regulatory system is a shift away from traditional oversight where government inspectors had a much more hands-on role in auditing the safety operations.
WSG (Fototrips) Posting news of interest from around the world relating to travel and photography.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment