Police cars at Fast Air

[godsrcrazy]

hell even fish cops pack guns now.

[SeptRepair]

Im sure . remembers back in the day of that piece of shit at SkyLink. name edited by LilYou know the guy who shreded all documents including log books after the crash in Terrace. He wanted to dispose of all and any evidence that could be used against him by TC. Perhaps if TC had shown up univited with police presence to SkyLink, then maybe there could have been more evidence to put that sack of shit away. I am not comparing FastAir to Skylink ( I have no idea about anything that goes on there other than what is written by anonymous people here on AVcanada). My point being is aviation has its share of crooks who at any cost will do what is nessacary to protect their own best interests. This can be both regulator and regulatee.

[Widow]

Seems reasonable to me. They weren't just going in to look at the books, they were going in to seize property - or so it seems.

CD's links show they followed their rules:

a.If entry or surrender of evidence is refused by the occupant or there are grounds to believe that entry or surrender of evidence will be refused, authorization for entry, search and seizure must be obtained through a search warrant issued pursuant to sections 487-492 of the Criminal Code;

[Cat Driver]

SeptRepair, oh how well I remember.

When that gong show was going on I was working with TC getting another operator back flying who's OC was under suspension.

TC should have shut R.Z. down long before they did.

Things have really changed at 800 Burrard, when I worked for tham there was a far different group in positions of management, most are long gone now, at least the good ones.

But for sure Sky Link was a real black mark on TC's record.

[beaverbob]

I agree with Cat on this one.
We are in a pretty sick times when TC needs the cops to investigate an Air Service
How many times has an ops manager shot at a TC inspector, Hmmmm
Bob

[Widow]

It may have nothing to do with needing the weaponry, but everything to do with needing the legal power to search and seize. You can't execute a search warrant without the police.

Time after time folk here have said they will not allow TC on the ramp ... again, seems reasonable to me they'd think they'd be unwelcome.

[Cat Driver]

widow, there was a time when there was mutual respect between us the regulated and TC the regulator and it was almost unheard of to have the police involved in an inspection of a company.

That was what I was driving at with my questions.

[SeptRepair]

I see what your driving at Cat and your right, there was a time when a mutual respect was the norm. It seems the industry is now just a game of cat and mouse. It really is sad what aviation has become. On a side note that guy that LiL censored me from talking about ended up getting his just deserts about 4 years ago. Too bad he took 3 innocent people with him.

[Cat Driver]

Yes, he was no loss to humanity..but like you said he was still killing people right to the last.

[freakonature]

And unfortunately the mold wasn't broken.

[Dented]

There are two people who are under suspicion for calling FA in to TC. The problems found by TC are very fixable and FA should be flying again very soon. Someone was just vengeful. Idiots.

[Check Pilot]

Thus, with the RZ case, was born Aeronautics Act Part 6.71. The actions of one person caused an amendment to an Act of Parliament to be passed into law.

"Minister may refuse to issue Canadian aviation document

6.71 (1) The Minister may refuse to issue or amend a Canadian aviation document on the grounds that...

in part:

(c) the Minister is of the opinion that the public interest and, in particular, the aviation record of the applicant or of any principal of the applicant, as defined in regulations made under paragraph (3)(a), warrant the refusal."

In other words, if an Operator has an ongoing lousy record of safety or the interests of the general public are not respected, that Operator can, in effect, be stopped from future operations.

After careful and long ongoing consideration our Parliamentarians and lawmakers decided that the power should be there if the Minister needed it. This section of the Aeronautics Act is not invoked very often because it has some really serious implications for an Operator and the public.

BTW, in most cases, the police only need to be present when a search warrant is issued as per the Aeronautics Act. Please read what Widow posted about that. It appears that was the case in CYWG today. Usually, but not always, a warrant is used only when there might be a chance that evidence could be destroyed or hidden unless quick action is required to seize or preserve evidence for the protection of the public. It's not meant to be punitive by any means, but unfortunately it attracts a lot of attention and speculation that is unwanted and almost always unwarranted.

Sit back and wait for the outcome of the case as it proceeds through the system. It will come out in time. Then the discussions can begin. For now, no one, including TC or anyone else knows what might become of all this.

[RFN]

I have a question...

If people quit (or are fired) and promptly call up Transport and rattle off a bunch of accusations about their former company, is Transport obliged to act on those allegations?

Every company, even the good ones like Fast Air, have some dirty laundry, and are therefore somewhat vulnerable to this type of thing.
If you don't believe that, then you've never broken the speed limit, or coveted thy neighbour's wife (and ass).

[overshoot]

In my experience, Transport Canada has filled a very difficult position in aviation history. They are a regulatory authority with no real control of the industry. They make kneejurk reactions when an incident or accident happens. We all know that ALL companies in Canada have something they aren't doing exactly right. Even the big companies make mistakes in how they operate. Transport Canada is going through a huge identity crisis right now in which they don't really know what their role is anymore. With SMS coming into effect and audits becoming a thing of the past, they are losing their grip on the industry. What is happening to FAST AIR is a reaction to their possible extinction as they know it. For one, I have never heard of TC entering a well reputed airline with police to seize equipment. Second, to pull the OC so soon without any time to fix the apparent problems makes me think that FAST is being used as an example to the whole industry that TC is still the boss and TC can still... and will still shut down even the best operators if they violate.

Lets be honest with each other when we say that it is horrible when duty days get changed and airplanes get sent out with minor defects. No carrier is perfect. Everyone has flown with some little thing wrong with their plane or stretched a day by 15 minutes etc. I am not saying that it is ok to break rules, but we have all broken the speed limit while driving our cars haven't we? Fast Air is a good company. To my knowledge they are honest and have always worked well with TC. All you have to do is look at their long record of safety and reputation to know that they are not a dangerous or lawbreaking organization. TC should only be shutting companies down that pose a threat to aviation safety. I don't think this is the case. They should give Fast Air the chance to fix the mistakes they have made and carry on with enforcing to all carriers witht he same level of prejudice.

In the end, we want to have a good balance of safety and profitability. TC doesn't enjoy the pressures of having to make money to pay the bills. Everyone should take a step back and see that Fast Air has a good reputation, and regardless of what past disgruntled employees say, they do have good safety and good maintenance, because stats don't lie. This is a scary story for everyone, because if Fast Air can be placed on the chopping block like this in such a short time, then really no company is safe. This is TC flexing their might. It's time for everyone to open their eyes and see the train barreling down the tracks. Watch what you say and post and think for a minute that your company might be next. Best wishes to everyone at Fast. Keep the posts respectful and instead of dropping hammers all the time, lets get together as friendly pilots and wish them a speedy recovery. I'm sure you would all want the same in a similar situation.

[hillbilly]

Not meaning to drag Fast Air's name through the mud but we fired our director of maintenance recently because the owner said he was fixing to many parts plus on our Medevac side our non pilot(Nurse) medevac manager always pushed the pilots on the duty times. Man we would start our duty day at 9am for example do a flight be back at base 12pm and then we would be told your good for duty till 11pm but if no call's come in your fresh at 830pm and we would do this for 7 days straight. Oh and if you argued this they would say it's legal under the CARS and then fire you so no one else would think about arguing with the nurse manager, trust me they would do this. We had a Captain here for years and decided to argue the point and got canned. So now you know why we had a accident. Honestly i'm surprised it didn't happen sooner but I'm thanking god no one got hurt. So we should get shut down cause the next accident might not be so lucky. Oh and yes 60 employee's but what's more important 60 jobs or 1 life.

Truly One Disgrundal Employee!!!

You should be ashamed of yourself for disrespecting your company. You are clearly lying all over this website to aid in the closure of your companies OC. As far as I am concerned I hope management at Fast Air finds out who you are and you get canned, or maybe you already did.

[Four1oh]

Not meaning to drag Fast Air's name through the mud but we fired our director of maintenance recently because the owner said he was fixing to many parts plus on our Medevac side our non pilot(Nurse) medevac manager always pushed the pilots on the duty times. Man we would start our duty day at 9am for example do a flight be back at base 12pm and then we would be told your good for duty till 11pm but if no call's come in your fresh at 830pm and we would do this for 7 days straight. Oh and if you argued this they would say it's legal under the CARS and then fire you so no one else would think about arguing with the nurse manager, trust me they would do this. We had a Captain here for years and decided to argue the point and got canned. So now you know why we had a accident. Honestly i'm surprised it didn't happen sooner but I'm thanking god no one got hurt. So we should get shut down cause the next accident might not be so lucky. Oh and yes 60 employee's but what's more important 60 jobs or 1 life.

Truly One Disgrundal Employee!!!

You should be ashamed of yourself for disrespecting your company. You are clearly lying all over this website to aid in the closure of your companies OC. As far as I am concerned I hope management at Fast Air finds out who you are and you get canned, or maybe you already did.

And this, coming from a couple of 1 post wonders.

[Chuck Ellsworth]

After careful and long ongoing consideration our Parliamentarians and lawmakers decided that the power should be there if the Minister needed it. This section of the Aeronautics Act is not invoked very often because it has some really serious implications for an Operator and the public.

If only those Parliamentarians had known that in a few years TCCA would be run by people like Preuss and Nowzek who would ignore not only their own rules but the fundamental rule of law in Canada and deny a citizen the right to an OC to protect some of their own employees, they would not have needed to change the Act.

Overshoot, that was a well thought out post, however I personally think we are to far down the slippery slope of moral rot at the top of TCCA to have any hope that the system will be run with integrity with the present management.

This invasion of Fast Air and its sudden shut down makes me think that the jack boot mentality has risen to replace fair over site of the industry and I hope the industry fights back and insists that Parliament has a real good look at TCCA and cleans house at the top.

[shinysideup]

I know Fast Air (specifically the non-pilot Head Nurse) were suggested by the pilots that if they wanted to keep pilots around that increasing the duty rest from 8.5 hours would help. But instead they ignored the suggestion and pilots move on for better jobs and more respect. If your unhappy, find work else where. There are better suited jobs out there, it just depends on what you want. I think if Fast Air would increase their duty rest to some what even close to legal, it may help things, it may even put them on top (as an empolyer) in Manitoba. Instead they just tried to through money at pilots, which only works short term, in my opinion.

But, it doesn't sound like duty rest was the issue in this audit though. This almost sounds like another Skyward (big ego) vs. TC problem. It seems to be their "untouchable" attitude that got them in trouble this time by firing an employee for doing his job and standing his ground, instead of rolling over (at the risk of the pilots might I add). Of course this is second hand info, so take this with that in mind. I'm sure there is more to the story. As some one said, "there are always three sides, the disgruntled employee, the owners and the truth!"

I hope Fast Air gets their OC back, cause they have a good foundation and they are not far off from separating themselves from the keystones of the world. I just hope they take this opportunity to learn from their mistakes and improve their company.

Good luck to the employee's of Fast Air and I hope things turn out for the better!!

[sakism]

Didn't 3 AMEs quit Fast Air on the same day earlier this year?

That in itself raises a big red flag in my mind.

[Cat Driver]

I hope Fast Air gets their OC back, cause they have a good foundation and they are not far off from separating themselves from the keystones of the world.

You mean their operation is getting safer and they are close to rising to the level of Keystone?

I assume you mentioned that because TC has not hit Keystone with a warrant and the police therefore Keystone is a better operator?

Or has TC also used those tactics with Keystone?

[hillbilly]

Not meaning to drag Fast Air's name through the mud but we fired our director of maintenance recently because the owner said he was fixing to many parts plus on our Medevac side our non pilot(Nurse) medevac manager always pushed the pilots on the duty times. Man we would start our duty day at 9am for example do a flight be back at base 12pm and then we would be told your good for duty till 11pm but if no call's come in your fresh at 830pm and we would do this for 7 days straight. Oh and if you argued this they would say it's legal under the CARS and then fire you so no one else would think about arguing with the nurse manager, trust me they would do this. We had a Captain here for years and decided to argue the point and got canned. So now you know why we had a accident. Honestly i'm surprised it didn't happen sooner but I'm thanking god no one got hurt. So we should get shut down cause the next accident might not be so lucky. Oh and yes 60 employee's but what's more important 60 jobs or 1 life.

Truly One Disgrundal Employee!!!

You should be ashamed of yourself for disrespecting your company. You are clearly lying all over this website to aid in the closure of your companies OC. As far as I am concerned I hope management at Fast Air finds out who you are and you get canned, or maybe you already did.

And this, coming from a couple of 1 post wonders.

1 post doesn't make me an idiot, it is clear that nobody has any idea what is really going on at Fast Air.
p.s. 2 posts now

[MAG1]

I don't think there is a problem with anyone giving there opinions about any operator. No matter how good or bad it may be. This isn't on the front page of the Free Press. Obviously every opinion will have a bias. You could be in managment adding posts or pissed off employees adding posts or anywhere in between. We are among our peers here and this is merely an extension of the conversations we all have with one another at every FBO across the country. Just be honest about your opinion and respectful when you challenge anothers. Bravo! A great forum.

[shinysideup]

[quote="Cat Driver"][quote]
I hope Fast Air gets their OC back, cause they have a good foundation and they are not far off from separating themselves from the keystones of the world.[/quote]

You mean their operation is getting safer and they are close to rising to the level of Keystone?

I assume you mentioned that because TC has not hit Keystone with a warrant and the police therefore Keystone is a better operator?

Or has TC also used those tactics with Keystone?[/quote]


"The keystones of the world" is a generalization of companies that most pilots don't want to fly for. I was not naming one company. I used the word "keystone" only because it is commonly know and recognized in the aviation world.

You seem to be getting off topic as usual Cat.

What I am trying to say, is in my opinion, Fast Air is one of the top companies to fly for in Canada. I was only suggesting that if they improved a little more, working for Fast Air would be a pilots dream job.

Why TC had the cops with them, we'll just have to wait and see.

[pa31guy]

It's not knee jerk TC had been looking at Fast Airs AMO since early summer

[Cat Driver]

You seem to be getting off topic as usual Cat.

Off topic as usual?

You were the one that made the comparison.

All I did was question if TC has used the police to enforce a warrant with Keystone.

So let me make it a little more clear for you.

I was only asking if there is even and equal over site from one company to another, or are we to assume that Fast Air is more of a risk safety wise in the eyes of TC than companies such as the one "you" mentioned.