Air Transat CEO appears before CTA hearing

Air Transat CEO Jean-François Lemay told the Canadian Transportation Agency that the company bears a "collective responsibility" for the experience of passengers in the hours-long delays of two Air Transat flights earlier this summer, as a hearing into the matter entered its second day on Thursday (Aug. 31).

The second day of the public hearing began with the testimony of three employees of First Air, the company that offers ground services to Air Transat aircraft at Ottawa International Airport. Carol Clark, director of commercial operations, recalled that "there was a lot of activity, with very little notice and preparation."

Refuelling is forbidden on the taxiway, meaning that the Air Transat aircraft could not be refuelled despite waiting there for more than 90 minutes. Later in the day, it was learned that an Air Canada plane was granted a waiver and was allowed to refuel on the same runway.

The four Air Transat aircraft, two of which are the subject of this hearing, were subsequently moved to the de-icing area at the request of the airport authority. “It’s a less controlled, more distant area of the airport, which led to additional challenges for our team,” said Clark.

First Air requested permission to refuel from ASIG, the company in charge of refuelling. “They told us that it would take 45 minutes, then another 30 minutes, then 15 minutes – and finally the trucks were empty, and had to be filled again,” Clarke commented.

During this time, Air Transat never applied for food or water from First Air. “We could have provided water and snacks without any problems.”

‘Not an emergency’

The first person to testify for Air Transat was Matthew Jackson, director of flight safety. He said that if he had been in the pilot’s seat, he would not have allowed passengers to disembark from the plane while it was stationed on the runway.

“The only way I’m going to let this happen is in the case of a fire on board the aircraft, or a bomb threat, for example,” he said. “That would have caused the closure of the airport.”

Jackson said that the plan was the same for each of the planes – to land, refuel, and leave, or ‘gas and go’ in airline jargon. Jackson noted that refuelling usually takes place on a first-come, first-served basis, but said that numerous planes were refuelled and left even though they arrived after the Air Transat planes.

‘Frustrated’

Yves Saint-Laurent, the pilot of flight TS507, said he was ‘frustrated’ by the long delays to refuel his plane on the evening of July 31. “If I had the information that the delay would be more than three hours, the decisions taken would have been totally different,” he said.

“By the end, I was embarrassed to make announcements to the passengers.” Saint-Laurent said that he provided passengers with the latest information every 15-30 minutes, adding that “we just needed a small amount of fuel to get to Montreal.”

When the pilot noticed that an Air Canada plane was being refuelled on the taxiway, he asked First Air if it was possible to do the same – a request that was denied. “Air Canada monopolized a tanker for an hour. I was frustrated,” he said.

When Flight TS507 was finally being refuelled, the pilot – who is a resident of Ottawa – had been working for nearly 17 hours, the maximum length of a working day allowed in the profession.

“I decided it would be better to continue,” he said. “Getting the passengers off the plane was not an option, so I went all the way to Montreal. The next day, I was shocked and surprised by the media circus – especially because the majority of passengers thanked us on our landing in Montreal.”

Julie Clermont, director of the same flight, said that her priority, as well as that of the crew members, was safety, then comfort, and finally service.

On the first day of testimony, a passenger had criticized the attitude of the crew, saying that they gave the impression of hiding from the passengers. “For safety reasons, every flight attendant must be seated in front of a door,” Clermont explained, saying that they may also be absent for a few minutes to provide a service.

Inconvenience to passengers

Flight TS157, piloted by Denis Lussier, had an extremely low level of fuel on its landing in Ottawa, which eventually caused a blackout and an air conditioning shutdown throughout the plane.

According to some indicators, the temperature rose to 31 degrees Celsius in the cabin, which inconvenienced passengers. One of them, Marc Jetté, then decided to call 911. “I personally asked Mr. Jetté if he wanted to land, and he said no,” Lussier recalled.

“It was the most difficult day of my career,” said flight director Igor Mazalica. His testimony was the subject of much examination from Scott Streiner, CTA president, who found that his oral testimony differed greatly from his initial written submission.

In his written statement, Mazalica said that he feared the passengers would trigger a riot, with many of them screaming at the crew to open the doors to let in some air.

In his oral testimony yesterday, Mazalica downplayed conditions in the cabin, implying that the crew had not fully realized what the passengers were going through.

Jean-Francois Lemay, CEO, Air Transat.

A share of responsibility

Jean-Francois Lemay, CEO, Air Transat, spoke last. He acknowledged that Air Transat must accept "its share of responsibility" and wished to reiterate its apologies to the passengers. "These flights from Brussels and Rome did not have a pleasant ending," he said. "We regret it immensely. We apologized and we reiterate our apologies."

The CEO used the terms ‘collective responsibility’ instead of blaming any one party. "We thank the board for holding this hearing to provide a complete picture of these events," he said. "Every actor, including Air Transat, must learn from the events of that evening."

“The key,” he said, “is to provide information from the outset. It’s necessary for actors to meet and find solution, in order to better estimate the duration of these delays.”

The CTA must now determine whether the air carrier has met its obligations to its passengers. “This hearing will help us understand the events,” said Streiner. “A fair and balanced decision will take time.”

The Government of Canada, meanwhile, is currently working on Bill C49 (Transportation Modernization Act) which deals with the rights of air passengers. This law would, among other things, set time limits on the tarmac. Once the bill is passed, the Canadian Transportation Agency will consult to finalize the details.