WWW.WINGSMAGAZINE.COM March/April 2015 | WINGS 19
C
anada has a pay as you
go business model for air
transport. The merits of the
model versus the United
States, where aviation in-
frastructure is subsidized,
can be heavily debated, most recently in a
2012 Senate report, The Future of Cana-
dian Air Travel: Toll Booth or Spark Plug,
which recommended abolishing airport
rent.
Everything, from the $290 million
airports paid in rent to the federal gov-
ernment last year, to Ontario’s tripling of
the tax imposed on aviation fuel drives up
the cost of air transport, sends millions
pouring across the border to buy cheaper
seats on U.S. airlines and keeps an untold
market of potential passengers buried.
Another concern should be that in this
user pay environment, less and less of the
third party costs larded onto the price of
a ticket by governments go to benefit the
industry or consumer.
“More of the money that is going into
the federal revenue stream from the avia-
tion sector should go back to benefit us-
ers,” said Daniel-Robert Gooch, president
of the Canadian Airports Council (CAC).
“But we have a user pay system where us-
ers are putting money into the system, but
they are not seeing the money back.” Far
PHOTO: BRIAN LOSITO, AIR CANADA from it.
IN NEED OF SOME
