Norcanair Owner Rips into Weighing Proposal

Norcanair Owner Rips into Weighing Proposal

Tuesday, October 19, 2004 at 14:32

The owner of an air carrier in northern Saskatchewan says new Transportation Safety Board regulations will cost northerners more money to board smaller planes.

Dave Webster of Norcanair says the new regulations, requiring passengers to be weighed before boarding, could mean heavier passengers may have to pay more to fly.

Webster is also concerned about the amount of embarrassment this could cause some passengers.

The Transportation Safety Board wants to see airlines that fly small planes to actually weigh their passengers instead of using a standard weight for each passenger, as is done now.

The move is in response to a report into the crash of a small plane in Ontario, which found that the plane was almost 500 kilograms overweight.

Webster says the Saskatchewan Aviation Council will meet at the end of the month in Saskatoon to further discuss the issue.

He adds that the new regulations may come into effect in January.