Major ramifications if city airport loses its air traffic control
Having uncontrolled tower would pose major threat to YQG'S growing business
Officials are expressing alarm that Windsor has unexpectedly been added to a list of Canadian airports being reviewed for possible cuts to a “vital” service — air traffic control.
The worst-case scenario could see NAV Canada — the country's privatized civil air navigation service provider — replacing the airport's long-standing staffed control tower with “airport advisory services.” Used at some airports with lower-density traffic, airport advisory services require pilots to be “responsible for maintaining a safe distance from other aircraft and control services are not provided,” according to the NAV Canada website.
Such a switch would pose a threat to Windsor International Airport's growing business, not to mention potential problems in the sky, airport CEO Mark Galvin said Thursday. And Mayor Drew Dilkens, who chairs the airport's YQG board, said having an uncontrolled tower would “cut the airport off at the knees,” after years of toil turning it from a perennial $60,000-a-month money loser to a $1-million-peryear revenue generator for its owner, the City of Windsor.
Some airlines simply won't fly into airports with uncontrolled towers, the mayor said.
“They simply won't do it. I can't say it's unsafe but what I can say is airlines are charged (an insurance) premium to fly into airports that are uncontrolled. Many won't do it for that reason.”
The other five airports listed for review are mostly much smaller and remote, some with one-fifteenth the passenger traffic, the mayor noted.
Windsor, meanwhile, is an international airport that was setting passenger records until COVID-19 hit in the spring. And there are many more planes in the local sky than just the ones coming in and out of YQG.
“It's a complicated airspace here, it's not in the middle of nowhere,” said Galvin. “Thirty kilometres away is one of the busiest airports in the United States (Detroit Metro) and we have Detroit City within 10 kilometres.
“You've got three airports within that 30-kilometre radius,” he said, adding that eliminating air traffic controllers here would put an added onus on pilots flying in the YQG control zone to provide their position and monitor what's happening around them.
He said the last time Windsor was included in such a review was 1998, when the decision was made to keep a controlled tower. In the 22 years since, business has grown considerably, Galvin said. There was a 300 per cent increase in passengers from 2009 to 2019, when the airport set an all-time record of 383,000 passengers.
Though the pandemic initially grounded flights and volume is still down, the situation is the same everywhere and there's no doubt that numbers will rebound, he said.
In an emailed statement Thursday, NAV Canada spokesman Brian Boudreau confirmed that “Windsor will be the subject of aeronautical studies to assess whether the level of service offered should be air traffic control or airport advisory services.”
Windsor was identified because of long-term air traffic levels, he said, a statement that appears to fly in the face of the airport's growing numbers.
Boudreau said the studies were prompted by the “persisting reduction” in air traffic in Canada and the resulting negative impact on the operations and finances of NAV Canada, which makes its money from fees charged to airlines. NAV Canada “continues to pursue cost-saving opportunities where possible to align our services and operations with air traffic levels now and in the future,” he said, adding the studies apply a “safety-focused” process that's regulated by Transport Canada.
“This rigorous, systematic approach provides for full consultation with affected stakeholders, with the key factor being safety,” said Boudreau.
The airports being studied are in: Prince George, B.C.; Whitehorse, Yukon; Fort Mcmurray, Alta.; Regina, Sask.; Sault Ste. Marie; and Windsor.
Dilkens expressed “grave concern” in a letter sent Thursday to federal Transportation Minister Marc Garneau.
“A tower closure would have long-term implications impacting the airport for years to come,” he wrote, forecasting the loss of customers and potentially losing air partners due to increased insurance premiums.
“Airlines seeking to reduce costs consistently shy away from uncontrolled airports.”
Among the six airports being studied, Windsor stands out as the only one bordering a major international air space, the mayor continued, noting YQG serves not only 400,000 Canadians in Windsor-essex, but also five million Americans in the Detroit area.
“Any reasonable person in this city has seen the growth of Windsor Airport,” the mayor told the Star. “They've seen Sunwing, they've seen Westjet, they've seen Porter,” not to mention the planes flying in for servicing at the AAR hangar on the airport grounds. There's been “huge” growth at the airport, the mayor said. “It's been incredible.”