Another take on curfew breaches
Hi Skywatcher,
Haven't heard from you for a while which is usually a good thing for many reasons.
I wanted to share my curfew experiences at Pearson with you to hopefully add perspective to what is going on at the Island Airport. I don't have a copy of the tripartite agreement with me but "most" curfew limitations at airports around the world are intended to stop aircraft from "flying" and allows them to move around the airport prior to and after the restricted hours.
At Pearson, the departures begin at 0630 (15 minutes earlier than at the Island).
Aircraft start taxiing at 0600 to line up (45 minutes before the Island) and on some days the line up can exceed 20 aircraft at 0630. (30+ last Saturday Mar 6th) (That is alot of idling and fuel burning for those downwind) I usually clear the first aircraft for takeoff at 0629+40 seconds so that at 0630+10 seconds they will be airborne to comply with curfew.
On the arrival side of the equation, you can't expect an aircraft to legally land at 10:59PM and just shut down on the runway and have everyone walk to the terminal from there - can you? I don't believe it takes 15 minutes for Porter to land and taxi to their terminal. AT Pearson, where the taxi distances can exceed 3 km from landing to terminal, it might take 10-12 minutes to park the aircraft. Furthermore, arrivals at Pearson used to have to circle around Toronto, making noise and burning fuel until they could land at 0600. Now, the airport authority has seen the environmental light (to the detriment of those who are asleep) and allows them to land prior to 0600. It is not uncommon to see arrivals at 0540AM - a full hour+ before planes can land at the Island.
For the record, I have agreed on MANY occasions that curfew breaches are inexcusable. I'm happy that the TPA has raised the fine for these events to help reduce them further. However, 1-3 minute violations are virtually impossible to eliminate and are part of the reality of any curfew controlled airport. To additionally complain about aircraft taxiing before and after the curfew has the same effect as making the curfew hours 06:50 AM to 10:55 PM for "FLYING" hours. Unless Mr. Iler can shed some light on this, I reiterate that in my OPINION, the curfew does not apply to taxiing aircraft. If the curfew WAS worded to prevent taxiing as well, then I will happily stand corrected.
Take Care!
Joe
Haven't heard from you for a while which is usually a good thing for many reasons.
I wanted to share my curfew experiences at Pearson with you to hopefully add perspective to what is going on at the Island Airport. I don't have a copy of the tripartite agreement with me but "most" curfew limitations at airports around the world are intended to stop aircraft from "flying" and allows them to move around the airport prior to and after the restricted hours.
At Pearson, the departures begin at 0630 (15 minutes earlier than at the Island).
Aircraft start taxiing at 0600 to line up (45 minutes before the Island) and on some days the line up can exceed 20 aircraft at 0630. (30+ last Saturday Mar 6th) (That is alot of idling and fuel burning for those downwind) I usually clear the first aircraft for takeoff at 0629+40 seconds so that at 0630+10 seconds they will be airborne to comply with curfew.
On the arrival side of the equation, you can't expect an aircraft to legally land at 10:59PM and just shut down on the runway and have everyone walk to the terminal from there - can you? I don't believe it takes 15 minutes for Porter to land and taxi to their terminal. AT Pearson, where the taxi distances can exceed 3 km from landing to terminal, it might take 10-12 minutes to park the aircraft. Furthermore, arrivals at Pearson used to have to circle around Toronto, making noise and burning fuel until they could land at 0600. Now, the airport authority has seen the environmental light (to the detriment of those who are asleep) and allows them to land prior to 0600. It is not uncommon to see arrivals at 0540AM - a full hour+ before planes can land at the Island.
For the record, I have agreed on MANY occasions that curfew breaches are inexcusable. I'm happy that the TPA has raised the fine for these events to help reduce them further. However, 1-3 minute violations are virtually impossible to eliminate and are part of the reality of any curfew controlled airport. To additionally complain about aircraft taxiing before and after the curfew has the same effect as making the curfew hours 06:50 AM to 10:55 PM for "FLYING" hours. Unless Mr. Iler can shed some light on this, I reiterate that in my OPINION, the curfew does not apply to taxiing aircraft. If the curfew WAS worded to prevent taxiing as well, then I will happily stand corrected.
Take Care!
Joe
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