Famous for its radio jingle and all-inclusive resort packages, Sunwing has been cited by federal inspectors for not recording some “aircraft defects” discovered by flight crews.

The regulatory breach was uncovered by Transport Canada agents during a 2016 visit to the airline’s Etobicoke offices, where inspectors reviewing maintenance records also found planes had not received required work.

Sunwing is one of several popular commercial airlines that have been flagged for widespread non-compliance by Transport Canada, the details of which are contained in government surveillance reports that are not public and must be obtained through Access to Information legislation.

Some of the country’s most recognizable airlines are in court trying to prevent these kinds of reports on their own operations from being released.

The Star obtained surveillance reports for Sunwing and three other commercial airlines: Jazz, WestJet and its regional carrier, WestJet Encore. Together, these airlines are responsible for more than 1,400 flights each day.

Government inspectors found each airline was non-compliant in areas of “safety oversight” and “training, awareness and competence.”

In each of these reports, the government assessed the airlines’ internal safety management systems (SMS) — intended to flag risks before they become safety problems. The non-compliance found in the reports relates to the airlines’ own safety monitoring systems, not the safety of the planes themselves.

The reports contain little detail about the specific problems found by inspectors, which range from “minor” issues with record keeping to “major” findings, described by the government as system-wide failures that will take more time and effort to fix. Transport Canada says the country has one of the safest, most secure air transportation systems in the world.

Still, the amount of non-compliance in the surveillance reports is “alarming,” said Virgil Moshansky, a retired judge whose inquiry into the 1989 plane crash near Dryden, Ont., led to sweeping changes of Canada’s aviation safety system.

“It should be concerning to everybody who flies on these planes.”

Sunwing and the other airlines said in statements that they are dedicated to safety and have corrected any problem identified during inspections.

“We have made changes to our operating procedures to prevent these omissions from reoccurring and have already shared this information with Transport Canada,” a Sunwing spokesperson said.

The reports for Sunwing, Jazz and Encore (WestJet’s regional carrier) are the most recent Transport Canada assessments of the airlines’ safety systems. The report for WestJet’s 2014 inspection has since been “superseded by a later audit in 2017, which we passed,” a company spokesperson said. Of the four airlines featured in the reports obtained the Star, Sunwing is the only one cited for “major” findings of non-compliance.

In 2005, Transport Canada became the first regulator in the world to require larger airlines to create these systems to internally monitor safety performance.

It was intended to be a complementary layer of oversight alongside government inspections. On top of inspecting the airline’s operations, the regulator would assess these internal systems.

But critics say Transport Canada has handed its regulatory responsibilities to the airlines, replacing boots-on-the-ground inspections with a flawed, industry-friendly model in which the inspector’s role is increasingly auditing paperwork provided by the airlines’ internal systems.

Safety management systems are “a good idea if implemented correctly, providing it be accompanied by strict regulatory oversight,” said Moshansky, who recommended the industry adopt the concept after the Dryden plane crash. “That has not occurred in Canada.”

Instead, the government is relying on airlines — which its own audits have found to be non-compliant — to “police themselves,” said Greg McConnell, national chair of the Canadian Federal Pilots Association, a labour union whose members include federal aviation inspectors.

“For the passengers, this is a clear indication of the cracks in the system,” said McConnell, who was an inspector with Transport Canada for 24 years.

The regulator’s dependence on companies’ own safety management systems is part of a larger “dismantling of aviation safety oversight in Canada,” he said.

He said the government inspectors tasked with making sure airlines’ internal oversight is working have not received sufficient training, a concern echoed by the federal auditor general in 2012. (In court filings, one airline warned the findings of these federal inspectors can be “inaccurate” or “misleading” because of inadequate training.)

Meanwhile, Transport Canada is watering down the depth of some inspections it does of “lowest-risk” airlines in order to complete the planned number of inspections targeted in its 2017/2018 oversight plan, according to an internal directive.

Last year, a parliamentary committee examining aviation safety recommended Transport Canada perform more “on-site safety inspections versus safety management system audits,” and that the government must make sure airlines’ internal safety systems are “accompanied by an effective, properly financed, adequately staffed system of regulatory oversight.”

Transport Canada is currently reviewing its aviation oversight program.

The regulator said assessments of airlines’ safety management systems are just one tool its “highly qualified inspectors” use to ensure airlines comply with safety rules. Transport Canada said it conducts 10,000 “oversight and certifications activities” each month, including unscheduled on-site inspections.

“Transport Canada is continuously looking for ways to make our transportation network better for Canadians,” a Transport Canada spokesperson said in a statement.

“Transport Canada’s strong oversight program also allows the department to prioritize its resources strategically to areas that provide the greatest safety benefit. The department continuously evaluates and modifies its oversight tools to ensure they continue to be effective.”

In reviewing the reports obtained by the Star, former inspector McConnell said it was difficult to conclude the exact nature of the violations because of the limited information about each finding. However, the records raise questions about industry’s ability to hold itself accountable, he said, adding that it appears some incidents were “downplayed.”

WestJet classified one incident as “‘extremely improbable,’ which by definition meant it would occur between once every 20 years and once every 100 years,” a 2014 report said. Inspectors found the same event had “occurred many times” in the two years they reviewed.

Transport Canada also found some WestJet maintenance workers “did not receive the required training,” and managers responsible for creating the plans to fix problems “did not receive training in root cause analysis and the development of corrective action plans.”

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In a statement, WestJet said the report is four years old and the issues raised by inspectors have been resolved. The airline was audited again by Transport Canada last year and passed, a spokesperson said.

“WestJet’s highest priority is the safety of our guests and crew. Since 2005 we have been utilizing our comprehensive safety management system to manage safety risk throughout our operations,” the spokesperson said. “WestJet and WestJet Encore are dedicated to continuous improvement and ensuring that our more than 750 daily flights arrive safely at their destination.”

Without stronger oversight from the government, critics fear airlines won’t take the necessary actions to fix all the problems their internal safety systems identify.

At Jazz, which carried more than 10 million passengers last year, inspectors found some incidents identified as having “medium” risk did not get a “corrective or preventative action,” according to a 2015 report.

The regulator also found the airline had in some cases closed matters raised in internal audits “without addressing the root cause at a systemic level.”

A Jazz spokesperson said the Transport Canada assessment “resulted in a small number of minor and moderate findings” that were all addressed to the regulator’s satisfaction.

The regulator found the airline “non-compliant” with four of the six components of its safety management system, including “safety oversight.” A Jazz spokesperson said just one minor finding would make the airline flunk the entire section.

“Jazz has an excellent safety record — one that is recognized within our industry and around the world,” said the spokesperson, adding that last year the airline received an award for being among “Canada’s Safest Employers.”

At Sunwing, which has a fleet of more than 40 jets, the federal regulator found “the organization did not have a staff of investigators commensurate with its size and complexity.”

It was one of three “major” findings of non-compliance against the airline, a classification used for violations where “a system-wide failure is evident.” Fixing these problems, the report notes, “will typically require more rigorous and lengthy corrective action.”

In auditing the airline’s maintenance records, Transport Canada also found that “some aircraft defects discovered by flight crews were not recorded by the pilot in command,” as required. Sunwing would not answer questions about what the defects were.

Sunwing said Transport Canada has accepted its plan to correct problems identified in the audit. The regulator will continue to monitor Sunwing’s progress until “they conclude the proposed plan has in fact addressed all the findings,” a company spokesperson said.

The president of the association representing many commercial airlines warned that the findings included in these government surveillance reports can be minor, administrative issues.

“Obviously, there are going to be things in there that need tweaking but as a rule, we feel SMS has been a very, very good tool for our industry to instill a safety culture amongst all employees,” said John McKenna, president of the Air Transport Association of Canada.

There are also calls for Transport Canada to change what it’s looking for in audits of safety management systems. Kathy Fox, president of the Transportation Safety Board, said the regulator is at times simply checking to see if the airline has a safety management system — and not whether it’s effective.

Transport Canada is “missing basic non-compliances,” she said. “Even where they have identified those, they haven’t been effective at bringing companies back into compliance.”

Meanwhile, some of the country’s most recognizable airlines do not want the public to know if they have fallen out of compliance.

Air Transat, Air Canada and its low-cost subsidiary, Air Canada Rouge, are currently in federal court trying to prevent the government from releasing the audit reports of their safety management systems. An Air Transat spokesperson said the records contain competitive information and their disclosure could provide unfair insight into their operations.

In Air Canada’s court filings, the airline’s managing director of corporate safety, Samuel Elfassy, warned that the technical documents could be misconstrued without proper context, causing the airline’s reputation to be unfairly damaged.

Paying passengers should be able to see how the airlines they’re using have fared in recent inspections, said Edward McKeogh, president of Canadian Aviation Safety Consultants.

“Passengers should be getting question marks in their heads when they see airlines are getting their backs up because the government wants to release important...relevant information about how activities are conducted,” McKeogh said.

If airlines know the results of the assessments will be readily available to the public, they may be more dilligent in properly following their safety management systems’ processes, he said.

“People have to know about these things. We’re talking about safety. You can’t sweep that under the rug,” he said.

Contact Jesse McLean at jmclean@thestar.ca or 416-869-4147

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