In the wake of a Dec. 31 incident in which a Sunwing Airline pilot is accused of being so drunk he passed out in the cockpit before a scheduled flight, Canadian Transport Minister Marc Garneau is asking the country’s commercial air carriers to confirm by mid-February that they have measures in place to assure pilot fitness for duty.
In a letter to carriers, Garneau said he was “very concerned” about the incident, and reminded the airlines that they “have an obligation to ensure flight crewmembers are fit to fly when requiring them to carry out such responsibilities and additionally a responsibility to have procedures in place to identify and manage hazards to aviation safety. The incident in Calgary reminds us all of the need to ensure that protocols are up to date and that they are being implemented with all the required resources, including measures designed to conform pilots’ fitness to fly.”
Garneau asked carriers to confirm with Transport Canada by Feb. 15 that s…
