NAV CANADA

operational

Opportunity In the 1980s Canada’s civil Air Navigation System (ANS)  was dealing with several issues including escalating costs, infrastructure that was in need of renewal  and delays and decreases in service levels which had become unacceptable to various operators within the system. All of the stakeholders including airlines, employees, and the government itself were unhappy with the current system. Canada’s commercial airlines set out to analyze the issues and decide what could be done about them. They quickly realized that the ANS had become chronically underfunded resulting in an inability to manage the 24/7 high tech service. They came to the conclusion that they would have to take on a funding role and as such wanted to have some degree of control over the costs associated with the ANS. Challenges As with most other businesses NAV Canada has been affected over the years by global and economic challenges.  Innovations  A key element of meeting customer needs was the realization that the organization needed to be run as a business. In many ways the organization's customers are the “notional” shareholders of the business, due to their continual investment through the payment of service charges. Results New technology and other infrastructure investments since 1996 have totaled more than $2 billion and continued investment will continue to be a priority. ANS customers pay “service charges”—established within the framework provided by the Civil Air Navigation Services Commercialization Act (the ANS Act) and ICAO Policies on Charges for Airports and Air Navigation Services— to NAV Canada. These charges are primarily based on weight and distance flown, although there are some flat fees or different customer groups such as recreational aircraft. Ongoing investment has resulted in improved service, reduced maintenance costs and improved system efficiency. NAV Canada employs 5,400 people in facilities across the country, including seven area control centres (Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, Moncton, and Gander) and 42 control towers. In 2011 NAV Canada managed almost 5.6 million aircraft movements.

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