More bad press about the GTAA

[Guest George]

More fuel on the fire, the press must be smelling blood here...about time!!!!!!!!!

Pearson's landing fees assailed by airlines

The world's major international airlines have lashed out at the federal Transportation Minister and Canada's largest airport, saying this country's air policy “needs a dramatic rethink.”

“Our calls for the [Greater Toronto Airports Authority] to commit to cost reduction and a meaningful consultation process with the airlines have gone unanswered,” Giovanni Bisignani, head of the Geneva-based International Air Transport Association (IATA), wrote in an Oct. 16 letter to Transportation Minister David Collenette.

Two letters from the IATA — one to Mr. Collenette, the other to the GTAA — are the latest development in a public spat over skyrocketing landing fees at the GTAA's Pearson International Airport.

Mr. Bisignani went on to tell Mr. Collenette that the airlines have had no say in the GTAA's fees structure, and accused Ottawa of transforming Pearson into “a monopolist that is exercising an unfettered right to set charges as it sees fit” no matter the circumstances. “Clearly the Canadian air policy needs a dramatic rethink,” he concluded.

The IATA, which represents 275 major international airlines, has been feuding with the GTAA, a not-for-profit company, over a series of steep increases in the fees it charges carriers.

Separately, Mr. Bisignani also had harsh words for GTAA brass, telling GTAA boss Louis Turpen that the airport's recent ban of the IATA from its premises was “an extremely petulant response to the industry's concerns over the escalating cost of operating at Toronto Pearson Airport” and that he will continue to represent his 275 member airlines at the airport “at every opportunity.”

During the summer's SARS crisis, he wrote, 16 major world airports reduced landing fees as traffic cooled. That move saved the airlines $170-million (U.S.).

Pearson, on the other hand, did not alter its fees.

“With [severe acute respiratory syndrome] on your doorstep, your reaction could be seen as a slap in the face of Toronto's business and tourist economy, not just the airlines,” he said.

He also reiterated comments made to Mr. Collenette, claiming the company is “a true monopolist” that is “not prepared to take into consideration the situation of your customers, who happen to be paying your salary. Your customers are no longer ready to pay for the GTAA inefficiencies, nor are they prepared to commit any longer to your so-called ‘reciprocal relationship.' “ Reacting to the IATA letter, Transport Canada spokeswoman Amy Butcher reiterated comments made by Mr. Collenette last week: “It's a matter of negotiations between the airlines and the airport authorities, and not one for public consumption.”

GTAA spokesman Peter Gregg said during a brief interview Friday: “I can confirm that we have received the letter and we are considering a response.”

The pair of letters followed a missive from Mr. Turpen to Mr. Bisignani dated Sept. 18, in which the GTAA banned the IATA from conducting its business at Pearson, saying comments it had previously made about the GTAA were “misleading, unhelpful and further evidence of your confrontational approach to the airline/airports relationship.”

The IATA has been publicly criticizing the GTAA about the aggressive fees it charges to carriers, noting that the airport has been increasing fees despite the industry's tumultuous operating environment in the past two years.

Devastating events, such as the Sept. 11 terror attacks, an economic slowdown, geopolitical turmoil and the recent SARS outbreak have pummelled the travel industry, triggering a wave of high-profile bankruptcies, including Air Canada.

But in a recent report, the IATA showed that since 1999, Pearson has boosted landing fees 142 per cent, making it one of the most expensive airports in the world. The landing fee for a fully loaded Boeing 747-400 at Toronto is $8,560 (the most expensive airport is Tokyo's Narita airport, with a reported $16,000 fee). The fee increases, the GTAA responds, come on the back of the massive 10-year airport overhaul, currently in the works at Pearson. The $4.4-billion (Canadian) plan — one which GTAA spokesman Mr. Gregg has said the airlines fully endorsed in the 1990s — includes construction of a new terminal for $3.6-billion.

The new terminal building, set to open early next year, will replace aging Terminals 1 and 2, which will be torn down once construction is complete.

GTAA executives are currently deciding how much they should raise fees for 2004. Landing fees for 2003 were boosted 29 per cent last year and terminal fees, also paid by carriers,10 per cent. There's speculation another double-digit increase is in the works.

After speaking to its 275 member airlines, the IATA warned earlier this month that skyrocketing fees may force some airlines to abandon or reduce their exposure to Pearson. This could lead to fewer passengers at Pearson, which would drive up costs further for the airlines that remain.

However, debt analysts who follow the GTAA, along with other industry observers, have said that since Toronto is a destination for business and leisure travellers, airlines may have no choice but to pay jacked-up fees.

Industry groups, including the IATA, have been asking Ottawa to stop charging ground rental fees to Canada's airports — a move that would save Pearson nearly $140-million a year and allow the GTAA to significantly reduce the fees it charges to airlines.

[Don Hudson]

What if they built a terminal and nobody came?

[Innuendo]

Unfortunately, they are really the only game in town and they know it.

[Guest GDR]

They'd increase the landing fees to make up for the loss because they incresed the landing fees to make up for the loss because ...........

[Guest abc]

They aren't the only game in town.

The GTAA only "think" they are because of the way AC has structured itself. Do you really think Westjet cares about the GTAA?

Rapidairs from YTZ to YOW/YUL. YWT to YOW/YUL. YHM to YOW/YUL. YXU to YOW or YUL.

YKZ to YUL. YOO to YUL.

That would shake up the GTAA.

The folks at the GTAA believe that "if you build it they will come." That is only if it doesn't cost extra.

"I'm going to the airport to fly to Vancouver" GTAA version "I'm flying to Vancouver so I can spend some time (& $$$$$) at the airport."

Passenger "I'm flying from YYZ to YOW to save time". GTAA version "WE know you're trying to save time, so cough up the $$$. (Limo fees, or parking fees, AIF, plus the line ups........). Passengers short on time will choose to fly out of Toronto City Centre or the other satelite airports, drive, or take the train.

Next time you see the OPP pull someone over for speeding on the 401 between Toronto and Ottawa thank him/her. It is probably saving your job.

If the train worked or there was no rush hour (and the speed limit was 160kph) rapidair would be severely impacted.

Do AIF's exist in America? Security fee surcharges?