A Porter passenger plane taxis on the runway at the Billy Bishop Airport, on Monday. Ontario Premier Doug Ford plans to expropriate land from Toronto to expand runways at the airport and allow jets.Cole Burston/The Globe and Mail
The timing couldn’t have been worse.
Less than 12 hours after a deadly collision between an Air Canada Express plane and a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia Airport on Sunday night, Ontario Premier Doug Ford was trumpeting his plans to expand Billy Bishop Airport in Toronto.
It seems that Mr. Ford’s penchant for political expediency is making him oblivious to current events. His decision to proceed with this announcement on Monday morning was tactless. The tragic deaths of two Canadian pilots at LaGuardia and the many injured passengers should have prompted him to hit pause.
To be clear, as a Toronto homeowner who lives less than two kilometres from Billy Bishop Airport, I support maximizing its use. It is an important gateway for Toronto as a financial centre and a tourist destination. Frankly, it is more convenient than schlepping a suitcase out to Pearson Airport, especially during rush-hour traffic.
Ford to declare Billy Bishop Airport a ‘special economic zone’ to allow jets
But by taking a tone-deaf approach to Billy Bishop’s expansion, Mr. Ford is playing into the hands of his critics. They will rightly argue that the LaGuardia crash highlights the risks to ground and water safety at smaller airports. That will, in turn, fuel fears that Ontario is giving those issues short shrift by declaring the island airport a “special economic zone.”
The purpose of that forthcoming designation is to accelerate the airport’s expansion by simplifying the approvals process. Sure, the provincial government is promising to maintain “robust safety and environmental protections.” But there is a dearth of specifics.
“Last time I checked out there, that’s a pretty big lake,” Mr. Ford told journalists.
That is hardly reassuring.
Similarly, his decision to blame “the left” at city hall (read: Mayor Olivia Chow) for blocking the airport’s expansion won’t silence his opponents. It is a miscalculation on his part to politicize airport security.
Mr. Ford’s plan also involves expropriating city-owned land at Billy Bishop. Moreover, the province would replace the city in the tripartite agreement that governs the airport.
The initial agreement, signed by the city, the Toronto Port Authority (a federal agency) and Ottawa, dates back to 1983. By replacing the city as a signatory, the province is hoping to lift the current ban on jets. Only smaller turboprop planes are currently permitted to land at the airport. Jets would require longer runways.
As my colleague Jeff Gray reported, Porter Airlines, the port authority and terminal owner Nieuport Aviation are advocating for the use of jets that they claim are as quiet as turboprops. (That remains to be seen.)
Their proposal, however, has met resistance from critics, including some Toronto residents and Ms. Chow herself.
“We cannot let the province’s future plans make the airport unsafe today,” she said.
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Ms. Chow has appropriately noted that Billy Bishop still needs to construct runway buffer zones to comply with a federal safety requirement. Those safety areas are designed to minimize damage to a plane if it overshoots a runway.
The collision at LaGuardia, meanwhile, raises obvious ground safety issues even as U.S. officials continue their investigation.
On Tuesday, for instance, Jennifer Homendy, head of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, said a warning system failed to signal danger before the accident because the fire truck was not equipped with a transponder.
What is the plan to ensure that such a grave mistake never happens at Billy Bishop?
Aviation safety is a federal responsibility, but all stakeholders should be taking these issues into consideration.
There are also water safety concerns about the island airport.
On April 30, 2024, a passenger ferry breached the airport’s security perimeter and hit its eastern runway, according to the Toronto Star. The newspaper also revealed that the city failed to report the incident to the Toronto Port Authority for months.
How will such issues with ferries and other boats be prevented if the airport’s runways are ultimately expanded to accommodate jets? How will the province ensure co-operation from the city on this matter after alienating its mayor?
These are reasonable questions.
Let’s not forget that LaGuardia, which is located in Queens near the East River, underwent a multibillion-dollar renovation that was completed in 2022.
LaGuardia’s safety protocols, however, are now coming under scrutiny. That’s because Sunday’s collision is the second one to occur in roughly six months. Last October, two Delta Air Lines regional jets ran into each other on a taxiway at the airport.
There is much that Mr. Ford can learn from LaGuardia’s successful makeover. (The free bus from the airport to the subway is just one of its many perks.) But he must be cognizant of its mistakes, too.