When the calendar turned to 2020, we had an exciting year mapped out, filled with optimism and many significant projects underway. Within two months the world changed, and the Ottawa International Airport Authority quickly followed suit. In my letter last year, I mentioned that we immediately shifted our focus to health and safety measures and developed a plan to move forward towards our most important priority: financial sustainability.

In the weeks after the federal government closed the border and funnelled all international traffic through four airports, we knew the impact would be devastating, but we could not have predicted the magnitude. Our year-end results confirm that we dropped from 5.1 million passengers in 2019 to a mere 1.36 million in 2020 – a figure that would have been even worse were it not for a strong pre-pandemic start to the year.

Our first course of action was to slash costs. We consolidated operations to a smaller footprint in the terminal, deferred or cancelled projects altogether, and either froze or drastically cut budgets. We brought work in-house that we may have previously outsourced.

While I typically discuss the year starting with operations, I would like to begin this overview with a discussion about the Authority’s fantastic team and how they have responded to the COVID-19 situation. A third of the group relocated their workspaces to their homes from the moment the pandemic was declared. With the Information Technology (IT) team’s help, they picked up where they left off and have continued to work productively ever since, finding innovative ways to connect with their clients and colleagues.

Our team comprises many equipment operators, technical staff and skilled trades. Most of them have continued to work on-site, albeit in very different conditions than pre-pandemic. With myriad health and safety measures in place, they have adapted to the change. They have found ways to help the Authority’s cost-cutting measures by taking on projects previously outsourced to manufacturers or other third parties.

Whether working remotely or on-site, this team has risen to the challenge, and I cannot say enough about what a difference their commitment and adaptability have made since last March.

The team factored prominently in the projects and work that proceeded despite the downturn and reduced operating costs, while still maintaining a safe and secure operation.

Perhaps the most visible project is the new Canada/International security screening checkpoint, which is now located on Level 3. This critical project was one of the key pillars in the now deferred YOW+ program. The advanced state of the project, coupled with the ongoing need to facilitate physical distancing for the foreseeable future, compelled the Authority to complete the project per all required health and safety guidelines. Working in close partnership with the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority, we opened the space on time and on budget in October. YOW can now offer significantly more space for both queuing and processing, and a more efficient screening service for the travelling public.

Authority staff took advantage of the mostly idle arrivals area to refurbish the terminal’s four original baggage carousels. This activity would typically have been outsourced due to workload, and saved the Authority approximately $150,000. This project is one of many in-sourced projects that was undertaken early on to preserve our cash while keeping as many of our employees efficiently employed as possible.

A cross-functional team collaborated throughout the year to ensure compliance with the Canadian Transportation Agency’s Accessible Transportation for Persons with Disabilities Regulations, which went into effect in 2020. While the Authority has always prided itself on ensuring barrier-free travel for all, the exercise resulted in the creation of policies and procedures that will ensure curb-to-cabin assistance for passengers who require it and modifications to the airport’s website to meet the letter of the regulation. I am pleased to say that we are compliant and will continue to monitor and address any future gaps as the community’s needs and regulations evolve. Our compliance complements the RHF Accessibility Certified Gold rating we received from the Rick Hansen Foundation in 2019.

I mentioned the IT group earlier concerning their role in setting up our remote team to work effectively away from the office. Additionally, they rolled out Microsoft Office 365, a suite of products that includes Microsoft Teams and SharePoint, which allows the entire Authority staff to collaborate and stay connected online. They did it in record time with few issues. Add to their plate the mammoth task of working towards ISO27001 certification, including developing a dozen required standard operating procedures, and you have a very productive team.

A quiet terminal allowed the Security and Emergency Management team to spend time planning, training and testing.

A key outcome was the development of a new Security and Emergency Response Training Policy and Program aimed at ensuring the Authority has trained, competent, and confident security and emergency response personnel. The policy outlines the Authority’s commitment to ensuring that all staff whose responsibilities are related to security and emergency response have the skills and training needed to respond effectively during actual incidents.

Coincident with introducing the new training policy and program was a full update of the Airport Emergency Response Plans and the transition to the Incident Command System (ICS) for handling incident response. The shift to ICS is particularly important given that the City of Ottawa and the Province of Ontario are also adopting it.

Transport Canada regulations require that Tier 1 Airports in Canada conduct a full-deployment security exercise every two years. We held our exercise on October 27^th.

YOW continues to be heavily involved in the drone file, with advancements in the technical trials we told you about last year. While the pandemic has had a devastating impact on commercial travel, it has had the opposite effect on drone activity, with commercial and recreational interest in drones exceeding forecasts. With increased use comes an increased risk to civil aviation if drone operators do not follow regulations.

Building on the drone incident response protocol developed at YOW, our team has been working closely with Transport Canada to develop a national-level response protocol and test it in a series of tabletop exercises.

In 2020, YOW expanded its drone detection initiative by adding InDro Robotics to the previously established memorandum of understanding between the Authority, NAV CANADA and QinetiQ Canada. This expanded agreement added Aeroscope Radio Frequency (RF) drone detection and data analytics of DJI drones (the most popular drones currently in operation) to the micro-Doppler radar provided by QinetiQ. This suite of capabilities provides an incredible level of situational awareness and valuable data that we can share with Transport Canada, NAV CANADA and the Ottawa Police Service.

As I have frequently said since the pandemic began, the impact on our Airport is devastating. With reduced flights and dwindling passengers, our many partners have also been hard-hit. Our Business Development and Marketing (BDM) team, with support from operations, has responded to airline needs by helping them reduce overhead costs by accommodating frequent schedule modifications, as well as the carriers’ in-terminal space to meet low demand.

The team also worked with other impacted commercial tenants throughout the year by providing as much flexibility as we could afford. As a result, we scaled down the in-terminal concession offering significantly to match demand. Additionally, by agreeing to rent reductions, eligible tenants took advantage of government commercial assistance programs available to them.

Given the importance of cargo movements throughout the pandemic, we continued to support freight operators to expand their operational areas to meet their growing needs.

Thanks to efforts of the planning arm of BDM, several years of collaboration with the City of Ottawa’s Planning Department resulted in the Airport’s geographical footprint recognized as an economic development zone in the City’s draft Official Plan. As Ottawa grows, this designation will facilitate future development on Airport land and leverage connectivity that the City’s Light Rail Transit project will provide upon completion.

Keeping our employees safe and healthy has underpinned many of the decisions taken since March. As mentioned, a segment of our workforce has been working remotely, which has required new programs and policies to support them. The Human Resources Department (HR) and the management team developed and managed these in short order.

With employees scattered both geographically and within the terminal, employee communication and engagement became a priority, understanding that remote work coupled with the need to maintain physical distance in the workplace creates the potential for isolation and other related issues. The HR team has worked diligently to provide the support, tools, and information our employees need to navigate our pandemic reality.

They also worked to ensure the Authority could take advantage of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy to ease the payroll burden. Despite the subsidy, when it became clear that the pandemic was going to persist beyond early forecasts, we had to make the difficult decision to implement a workforce adjustment. This decision resulted in the unfortunate loss of 18 Authority staff and the cancellation of 11 vacant positions. We provided all the affected staff with outplacement services. We also provided all supervisors and managers who were involved in the adjustment process with training and support.

The collaboration and engagement mentioned only scratches the surface of HR’s efforts to keep the team together, while mostly apart, and no doubt contributed to successfully negotiating a new collective agreement with the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) – the union representing the bulk of the Authority’s employees. We are delighted that the negotiations went smoothly and positioned us to move forward together towards financial sustainability.

It will likely be many months before our remote teams return to the traditional workplace, and we will continue to ensure that every employee is supported, informed and engaged for the duration.

Communication in all its forms has proven to be critical during the pandemic. From sharing public health guidelines, airport measures and other updates with the travelling and general public to keeping our employees updated and sharing the evolving standards and protocols with our campus partners, the Communications department has been actively engaged since the start of the year.

The department has also participated in industry recovery efforts with the Province of Ontario and Airports Council International-North America. Involvement included keeping the impact on airports top of mind in pandemic discussions province-wide and assisting the development and deployment of consistent messaging and health and safety measures across airports, respectively.

The two information kiosks in the Airport have been noticeably empty since March. They were closed out of an abundance of caution for our cherished Infoguide volunteers. Our therapy dog program was also put on hold indefinitely. Many wish to resume their duties at the Airport, however, the programs will only be reinstated once the pandemic is declared over, and passenger volumes return in a meaningful way. Thank you to both volunteer groups for their patience and understanding.

It should come as no surprise that pandemic has caused significant economic contraction that has had, and is expected to continue to have, a negative impact on demand for air travel, and by extension, on the Authority’s finances.

YOW experienced an 87.5% decline in passenger volumes during the period from March 2020 to December 2020 compared to the same periods in 2019. This decline is due to widespread public health concerns compounded by travel advisories and restrictions imposed by the federal government to stop the virus’ spread.

Air carriers responded by cancelling routes, laying off staff and grounding aircraft. In 2020, total passenger volumes of 1.36 million passengers were 73.3% lower than in 2019; Domestic passenger volumes decreased 74.2%, Transborder volumes declined 76.2%, and International passenger volumes decreased 60.5%. Revenues in 2020 were $48.6 million, which was 64.8% lower than 2019, and all revenue areas, except land and space rentals, were significantly impacted by the devastating decrease in passengers.

The Authority finished 2020 by generating a loss before depreciation of $19.5 million compared to earnings of $36.2 million in 2019. After depreciation, a net loss of $51.2 million was generated in 2020 compared to net earnings of $5.1 million in 2019. The Authority is leveraging its strong credit facility capacity throughout this unprecedented event and continues to meet its regulatory, operational and debt service obligations.

Forecasting and tracking finances has been an exercise in adaptability, given the pandemic’s duration and severity and its impact on our industry. I want to thank the team for their efforts to stay on top of the situation and constantly recasting the numbers that we require to make informed and responsible decisions in response to COVID-19.

In addition to the noted activities, the entire senior management team has been collaborating with peers from across the country, sharing best practices and coordinating advocacy efforts on behalf of the industry. YOW has been front and centre in discussions with the federal government to advocate for aviation sector support. These advocacy efforts also include soliciting financial support for the terminal station that will connect the Airport with the LRT in Stage 2 of the City’s overall transit project.

As critical infrastructure, the Airport must remain operational in support of cargo, military, medical and other aircraft movements. This status comes at a cost, which is not currently being covered by our meagre operations and revenues. As mentioned in the financial overview, we are using our credit facilities to manage as we work towards financial stability.

Every effort, initiative, and decision mentioned was made with our Board of Directors’ support. Under the leadership of Chair Code Cubitt, we have been in lockstep with the Board as we negotiated the twists and turns that have accompanied this unprecedented period in our history. I want to thank members for their trust and support as we responded to every challenge. As Code said, we look forward to meeting again in person when it is safe to do so. In the meantime, we will hone our video conferencing skills together as we press on.

The news of effective vaccines provides us with a glimmer of hope for the future. We look forward to an efficient immunization program rollout to expedite our return to everyday life and eventual industry recovery. We will continue to work with our partners and stakeholders to ensure we are ready when restrictions are lifted and non-essential travel can resume. We will be ready to greet our colleagues and passengers and provide a safe and secure travel experience for all.