At a conference organized this morning by the Association des gens d’affaires d’Ahuntsic-Cartierville and the Pollués de Montréal-Trudeau, Jacques Roy stressed that the managers of Aéroports de Montreal (ADM) should be subject to a federal regulatory body, just as Hydro-Québec is subject to the Régie de l’Énergie in Quebec.
” Ottawa badly negotiated its contract with Aéroports de Montreal in 1992,” concluded the Director of the Department of Logistics and Operations Management at HEC Montreal. “From 1992, it has been a free-for-all, with projects undertaken without any studies or transparency. Who has overseen investment decisions taken by ADM? Or the imposition of Airport Improvement Fees (AIF)? ADM should be accountable to the electors.”
“We have a real problem of governance,” he continued. “Elsewhere in the world, members of boards of directors of airports are people from more diverse backgrounds, and most importantly, they are more independent …”
Mr. Roy was even more scathing about the express shuttle train project slated to cost $600m that ADM plans to build between Montreal-Trudeau and downtown: “the market share of this transportation system will vary between just 2% to 4% and it will find it hard to compete against … the taxi!”
While acknowledging that there would be no lack of space for the expansion of the Montreal airport for several years, Mr. Roy warned that the costs of such projects would be extremely expensive. He gave as an example adding six gates for large aircraft at a cost of $800m.
“I do not think I will see in my lifetime the end of AIF,” he said.
In conclusion, he noted that it would logical to review the raison d’être of ADM, as the privately held company was established in 1992 in a totally different context to today.