OTTAWA, ON, JUNE 24, 2015 – The National Airlines Council of Canada (NACC), the industry trade association representing Canada’s largest passenger air carriers, today welcomed the Government of Canada’s launch of Not A Bright Idea, a new public education campaign aimed at raising awareness of the dangerous practice of pointing a laser at aircraft.

“We are seeing a troubling increase in the number of laser strikes and this raises serious safety implications for pilots, passengers and people on the ground,” said Marc-André O’Rourke, Executive Director of the NACC. “We hope that by raising awareness of the issue through the Not A Bright Idea campaign, people will think twice before shining a laser at an aircraft.”

While pointing a laser into the cockpit is an offence under the Aeronautics Act, the NACC and the aviation community encourage the federal government to take additional action by making the stunt a criminal offence with stronger penalties and by limiting the availability of more powerful lasers.

Visit www.tc.gc.ca/NotaBrightIdea to learn more about the dangers of pointing a laser at an aircraft and how incidents can be reported.

About the National Airlines Council of Canada

The National Airlines Council of Canada (NACC) is the trade association representing Canada’s largest national and international passenger air carriers: Air Canada, Air Transat, Jazz Aviation LP and WestJet. We promote safe, sustainable and competitive air travel through the development of policies, regulations and legislation that foster a world-class transportation system. Collectively, our member airlines carry over 50 million passengers annually, directly employ 46,000 people and create over 260,000 jobs.

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For more information, please contact:

Marc-André O’Rourke, Executive Director
National Airlines Council of Canada
Tel:  613 231-7223  morourke@airlinecouncil.ca