![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.skiesmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/CBAA549-1024x819.jpg\")
Skies: Over the last five years, how has your role with the CBAA changed?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Anthony Norejko: <\/em><\/strong>Right away, I would say what\u2019s changed is the sphere where we play. It\u2019s beyond just Transport Canada; it\u2019s now multiple levels, including the federal, provincial and, at times, municipal governments. For example, when we have issues with any of the major airports, like Vancouver, we have to be talking to multiple levels of government leaders and their staff to educate and influence them about our need at their airport. So, it\u2019s gone from dealing a lot with Transport Canada to dealing with many agencies at the different levels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The other thing I would say is, there seems to be more emphasis on finding dividing lines between the different categories of air operators. (The first category is the Part 703\/704 carriers, the management companies that everybody knows; the second category is the big corporate-owned entities; and the third is individual owned and flown.) For me in a leadership role, I\u2019m now focused on how we bring folks together to say, \u201cThis is an important issue for us all, let\u2019s make sure we\u2019re on the same page.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n For instance, what\u2019s good for a 704 operator might not be good for the pure-play 604 operators. When you think of fatigue regulations, they only impact Part 703\/704; they don\u2019t impact 604 operators, who have a safety management system. So there\u2019s this division, and it\u2019s about trying to bring people together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Skies: How would you describe the state of Canadian business aviation right now? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A.N.:<\/em><\/strong> We\u2019re in a period now where we are normalizing post-Covid. The pandemic brought about an opportunity to bring people into the industry who never contemplated it before. And I say \u201cnormalizing\u201d because we still have some of the same problems as before. The airlines are experiencing operational challenges due to a number of factors, both in their control and out of their control. It\u2019s hard for them to run a schedule that\u2019s on time \u2014 so there\u2019s the value proposition for business aviation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Normalizing just means that, while the industry has definitely come off the peaks of Covid, it\u2019s normalizing to a number that\u2019s better than 2019 levels. So, I\u2019m thinking that we\u2019re just in this new normal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Skies: What are the key areas of focus for the association currently? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A.N.:<\/em><\/strong> The first priority, I would say, is about the members and managing expectations. For instance, if you asked if we left any stone unturned regarding the luxury tax, I would be very hard pressed to find even a pebble that we did not turn. We\u2019ve been talking to labor groups; we\u2019ve been talking to all of the associations; we\u2019ve been talking to manufacturers; we wrote letters; we were on conference calls; we did everything we could. So, the first priority is managing expectations and getting people involved because there are a lot of issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The second priority is the airports \u2014 namely the four major airports (Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, and Vancouver). In 2024, Vancouver is going to be the number one issue. They\u2019ll be shutting down the north runway, and they\u2019re going to transition from running 70 movements per hour to 40. They\u2019re still a major airport for commercial traffic, and what they\u2019re proposing is going to create very difficult conditions for business aviation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The third priority is data. We want to get access to Nav Canada\u2019s data and get really good at telling the story that is business aviation. Right now, there is no easy way to plug into Nav Canada\u2019s data. Essentially, Nav Canada charges everybody that flies in the skies, so they need to know who\u2019s there, where they went, and how often they\u2019re doing that. We want to get that data. For instance, when a small regional community is talking about airport restrictions, or the closure at Buttonville Airport, there are impacts. We want to be able to tell the story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Skies: Where is the CBAA in terms of lobbying against Canada\u2019s luxury tax? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A.N.: <\/em><\/strong>There are really two main paths when it comes to the luxury tax. The first is working with the Committee on the Scrutiny of Regulations; they are tasked with looking at how regulations are passed in Canada. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When you look at the luxury tax, what happened was we had the parliamentary budget officers say, \u201cAircraft should be separate, and they should be studied.\u201d We collectively as an industry \u2014 the CBAA, AIAC, and the other associations and labor groups \u2014 took that information and went to the finance committee. They voted a unanimous motion that aircraft should be separate and studied. Then, the federal government rolled out the luxury tax on the day they said they would. So, we have this unanimous motion, and it\u2019s just thrown away. Now we are asking the Committee on the Scrutiny of Regulations to take a look at this regulation because they have the power to make the luxury tax for aircraft go away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The second path is what I would call \u201cwidening the lane.\u201d So, for the pure-play corporate operators, the government is saying if 90 percent of your flying within Canada is in service to the business, the luxury tax does not apply. We initially petitioned for a match to the Income Tax Act<\/em>, which is 50 plus one percent, but the government gave us 90 percent. It\u2019s not what we wanted, but it\u2019s better than nothing \u2014 which is actually what they originally proposed. Without our interventions, we wouldn\u2019t even have the 90 percent threshold. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the end, it\u2019s not a done deal. We\u2019re going to keep pressing on this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Skies: When you interact with members, what do you find are key topics of discussion? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A.N.:<\/em><\/strong> To start, issues with Nav Canada are a big deal. Particularly, service levels are an issue. As we sit here today, there is at least a 15-minute delay at Vancouver airport, and it happens every day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There are also challenges with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). We are trying to work with our CBSA partners to modernize and transform the experience for operators, because calling a phone number and verbally providing updates about who\u2019s onboard the aircraft, and having to wait for what could be 40 minutes or an hour, is a challenge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As well, airport issues are a key topic. Soon, all four major airports are going to have \u201cslots\u201d [a specific window during which an aircraft can take off or land, which is reserved for a flight and linked to an aircraft registration]. Toronto and Montreal already have them, and Calgary and Vancouver are next. So there\u2019s going to be a learning curve there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Skies: Every year, the CBAA hosts a convention in a new location, where its members have the opportunity to gather. Why does the CBAA\u2019s annual convention continue to be so important? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A.N.:<\/em><\/strong> The convention is about creating points of opportunity and creating points of connection. We want to create experiences that people remember, so that\u2019s what we tried to do with the convention this year in Calgary, with the Calgary Stampede \u201cfun night.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sure, you could go online and you could meet each other on LinkedIn; you don\u2019t have to come. But if there\u2019s a story to be told, a reason to meet, a connection to make, that\u2019s why you come here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One change that we\u2019ve made is we thinned out the chapter meetings. So now, instead of doing those every quarter, we only do them in the spring and the fall. So it\u2019s spring and fall chapter meetings, and the convention in the middle in the summer \u2014 that\u2019ll be our format.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Skies: This year\u2019s convention was held at Sunwest FBO in Calgary, Alberta. In your opinion, did it meet expectations? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A.N.: <\/em><\/strong>This year, we had a total of 652 attendees, with 50 exhibitor booths and 16 aircraft on static display. What\u2019s significant is that we had a 45 percent increase in \u201cprivate operator registration dockets\u201d \u2014 the small corporate flight departments and individual owners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, we expect to have good turnout from our big carriers, like the big management companies and the big corporate companies \u2014 especially those that are based here. But what\u2019s great to see is that our individual members \u2014 those smaller flight departments that otherwise wouldn\u2019t make it out \u2014 made it out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This year we saw an improvement over last year\u2019s numbers in Toronto. So, Toronto has a higher population base, but we had a greater turnout here in Calgary of that crowd. That\u2019s an important stat to me \u2014 that a diversity of our membership showed up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Skies: The theme of this year\u2019s convention was \u201cFlying into the Future.\u201d What do you think the future holds for business aviation? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A.N.:<\/em><\/strong> I think, for business aviation, the story will be leveraging the tools that are out there now to improve operations; to be the first to deploy things like artificial intelligence and machine learning, whether it\u2019s on the customer experience, on flight planning, etc. And those tools will lead to advances in sustainability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Business aviation is going to lead from the front in terms of sustainability and the environment. However, the biggest risk is that Canada has a goal to have 10 percent of its jet fuel be sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) by 2030; that number is about a billion liters, and we are producing nowhere near that. The CBAA is working with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and all these other agencies \u2014 we\u2019re part of the Canadian Council for Sustainable Aviation Fuels, for example \u2014 and we\u2019re trying to advocate for this. SAF is the future. SAF is the quickest way to show a reduction in emissions. But our governments are not creating the incentives to make the fuel or buy the fuel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s interesting about business aviation, though, is that even without the incentives on the fuel, we\u2019ll likely pursue it because of the environmental\/sustainability goals that a lot of operators have. So that\u2019s how we\u2019re going to lead from the front. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I think what\u2019s exciting is for those who want to be bold, there are some really great opportunities in innovation for them. And that\u2019ll help us tell a new story for business aviation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Skies sat down with Anthony Norejko, president and CEO of the Canadian Business Aviation Association (CBAA), to hear his unique perspective on the road ahead for the business aviation industry. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":350936,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-350917","features","type-features","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-aviation","entry"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/features\/350917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/features"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/features"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350917"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skiesmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.skiesmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/CBAA3-1024x512.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.skiesmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/DSC_4954-1024x682.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.skiesmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/CBAA483-1024x819.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.skiesmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/855A9099-683x1024.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/assets.skiesmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/IMG_3447-1024x487.jpg\")