Facing a dogfight of competing interests, Nav Canada has pulled up and postponed changes to its air navigation service charges which were to have begun March 1.
The operator of the country's air traffic control system said it needs more time "to consider the comments and suggestions made in submissions received from stakeholders."
A new decision on the fee structure, including implementation dates, is expected in April.
The proposed changes were presented in early December, intended "to better balance the charges between large and small aircraft, better reflect the impact of new technology and better absorb the financial impact of fluctuations in air traffic."
Spokesman Ron Singer declined to provide details behind the delay but said that "as expected, there's been a divergence of views expressed regarding the proposals."
Nav Canada, a non-profit private corporation, stressed that the changes were not intended to increase its total revenue. The overall effect would have been to reduce charges for large high-technology airliners, while raising costs for smaller planes, particularly propeller-driven aircraft and private traffic.
Nav Canada noted in Decem ber that its terminal charge is among the highest in the world for large aircraft but among the lowest for smaller planes.
The proposed fee changes would have raised the terminal charge per passenger for a typical regional jet by about 42 cents, while reducing it by as much as $1 per passenger for a large airliner.
Regarding small private planes, the big commercial operators argued for much higher charges while private pilots agitated to at least hold the line.
Nav Canada decided that additional light-plane charges were warranted at the eight big international airports - Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto Pearson, Ottawa, Montreal Trudeau and Halifax.
It noted that this would "serve as an incentive for small aircraft to use reliever airports," adding efficiency for high-volume airliner traffic.
The proposals also would have raised the international communication services charge for flights providing position reports by voice, while reducing the fee for flights tracked via data link communication.
Nav Canada also planned to swell the target for its rate stabilization account to $75 million from $50 million.
This account is intended to enable the air control operator to hold its fees steady when traffic is reduced by "unpredictable and uncontrollable factors" such as the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
