US Bodychecks Canadian Hockey Charters

This could end badly. Very, very badly. I’m talking riots in the streets. Infuriating Americans with the threat of Obamacare wasn’t enough…Obama had to incite anger in the hearts of Canadians as well, and he did it targeting one of our most beloved national treasures: hockey!

First, a bit of a history lesson: There are rules about where flights from Canada can go when entering the US. Basically, they can visit a single US location before returning to Canada. However, 8 years ago, Canada and the US came to an agreement allowing sports teams and entertainers who chartered planes to US destinations to not be bound by the rule. This makes sense, since if the Ottawa Senators are playing a 5 game road trip in 5 US cities, it would be a little silly to have them have to fly back to Canada after each game.

So let’s bring it back to mid August when the US Department of Transportation changed the rules, forbidding charter flights from doing multiple US hops. Why?

Well the US Air Line Pilots Association did a little snooping and found that Canadian teams were breaking some rules of the agreement. How? Well let’s say the Senator’s team owner happened to be in Pittsburgh when Ottawa showed up for the game (this isn’t a real example, just an illustration). The Sens next game was in Phoenix, so the team owner boards the charter plane and flies with the team. Or let’s say an injured player does the same sort of thing: meets up with the team in the US and then hops on the charter to their next stop.

The charters are meant for people originating from Canada, but because they’re picking up passengers within the US (regardless of their association to the team, whether an owner or employee) they’re providing travel that would otherwise be going to a US-based carrier…who employs US Air Line Pilots Association members.

Now let’s put this in perspective. There are SIX (6) NHL teams in Canada, so the number of people violating this rule is insanely small. The people who are part of these trips are associated with the team…these charters are not doing passenger travel on the side. Yet this was enough for the US DoT to not levy fines or warnings, but to kill the agreement altogether.

And how did Canada respond? From the National Post article:

In a furious exchange with the Obama administration over the mid-August ruling, Canada has launched its own investigation and will soon close its skies to U.S. sports team charters in retaliation, warns Transport Minister John Baird.

Mr. Baird said the dispute "shows the power of anti-free-trade Democrats in the Congress" and cautioned his government will respond in kind.

"We've already directed the Canadian Transportation Agency to launch a formal inquiry and the next step will be a direction to the CTA to immediately prohibit charter flights by U.S. carriers under season-long contracts with professional sports teams with multiple stops in Canada," he said in an interview.

This is somewhat surprising considering that the Conservative party has been very vocal that counter-protectionism is not in the best interest of Canada in the long run. But now, with a direct attack on our national game, it seems that sentiment is starting to crack a bit…especially with comments like “anti-free-trade Democrats in the Congress”.

The reality is that this isn’t about hockey. It’s about an attack on a Canadian-based business supplying chartered flights for sports and entertainers, and it should be pointed out that not all are Canadian-based (Air Canada, who runs the charters, count the Boston Bruins and Milwaukee Bucks as current customers; they lost a contract with the Anaheim Ducks due to the US DoT decision). While I make light of the hockey angle, make no mistake: this is about free trade and protectionism.

United States – 5 minutes and a game misconduct for sidestepping your free trade agreement responsibilities, pandering to a special interest group instead of consulting with anyone on this side of the border, and foregoing diplomatic common sense to resolve this issue.

UPDATE
I found this article on the Globe and Mail website. It adds some interesting info to this story:

- Air Canada was servicing two American-based teams (Boston Bruins and Milwaukee Bucks) when they took on the extra passengers for cross-city flights. Canadian company still at fault, but not the Canadian teams.

- There is already a similar ban in place in Canada as a response to the US action. The story talks about an airline in Miami and one in Dallas that were told to cancel flights to Canada.