Agreement reached to reduce flight training noise, frequency at Oshawa Executive Airport

The Oshawa Airport, the subject of public noise complaints for years and eyed by developers for more lucrative uses for just as long, has taken a big step towards “meaningful noise mitigation measures” with a Memorandum of Understanding to directly address community concerns regarding flight training aircraft noise and activity.

Oshawa Councillor Brian Nicholson, who chairs the city’s the Safety and Facilities Services Committee, said one of the first discussions he had with Safety and Facilities Services Commissioner Adam Grant was about how to resolve the “seemingly never-ending dispute,” noting the conflict between the city and Enterprise  Air and its flight school – Durham Flight Academy – has gone on for decades, resulting in “bad feelings” on both sides.

Nicholson gave shouts-outs to Grant and his staff, city CAO Tracy Adams and other members of the committee, local councillor Tito-Dante Marimpietri, as well as the positive cooperation of Manny Rosario at the flight academy for getting the agreement signed.

“This is a monumental agreement that reflects a collaborative approach between the city and the flight school and demonstrates the strong working relationship that has been built through ongoing dialogue and cooperation,” Nicholson said.

The MOU is based on “significant” operational changes at the flight school regarding flight training aircraft noise and activity.

Key commitments include:

• No circuit training operations on Sundays for the entire day. This includes the elimination of touch-and-go and full-stop circuit training activities.
• No circuit training operations on Saturdays after 4 p.m.
• Two-hour minimum aircraft booking slots on Saturdays after 4 p.m. and throughout Sundays, reducing the overall frequency of departures and arrivals.
• Suspension of all flight training and aircraft rental operations on statutory holidays (New Year’s Day, Family Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, August Civic Holiday, Labour Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, Boxing Day)

The agreement builds on the initiatives that have already been activated at the airport, including substantial investment in the noise and safety capital project, aerodrome reconfiguration initiatives, operational policy changes eliminating block-time activity and single-aircraft flight training, the successful exit of a flight school from Oshawa Executive Airport, and agreement with Durham Flight Centre to invest in quieter aircraft technology and cap the size of their training fleet, Nicholson added.

“This agreement reflects our ongoing commitment to being a responsible and responsive partner to the city, the surrounding neighbourhoods and the community,” said Rosario. “We are proud to take meaningful steps that reduce noise impacts while continuing to support the airport’s vital role for Oshawa and the Region.”

Nicholson noted that aircraft noise regulation is not a municipal responsibility, nor is it an area where the city has direct enforcement authority. “Despite this, we have chosen to take meaningful action because we respect the concerns of the community and remain committed to finding a balanced approach between airport operations, economic activity, and neighbourhood livability.”

The city renewed its management contract with Total Aviation & Airport Solutions earlier this year until 2031 but the future is hazy after that, with the city committed to keeping it potentially operational until 2047.

The city was embroiled in a long-running and oft-delayed lawsuit with the Canadian Flight Academy over the number of training flights which was only settled two years ago and deals with annual complaints from nearby homeowners (despite the airport being here for nearly 80 years), with complaints rising from about 50 per year in the early part of this century to more than 300 during the height of the pandemic.

In 1997, the City of Oshawa signed a 50-year Operating and Options Agreement with the federal government to operate the airport until 2047 and has emphatically declared that the commitment to keep the airport open beyond its current operational agreement time frame date NOT be extended.

The airport opened in 1941 as a flight training school for Second World War pilots and was taken over by the City in 1947, many years before any subdivisions were built in the vicinity.