Air traffic controllers say potential cuts at Nav Canada would put lives at risk

Air traffic controllers say Nav Canada is mulling layoffs even if it receives a possible bailout from Ottawa, jeopardizing passenger safety. More cuts would axe critically needed workers and make for a more hazardous airspace in corridors across the country, according to the Canadian Air Traffic Control Association. About 60 jobs are at stake in seven control towers from Whitehorse to Windsor, Ont., as the non-profit body that runs the country's civil air navigation service reviews whether to pare down its payroll -- already thinned by nearly 1,000 positions over the past year. "The risk increases significantly without a control service," said union head Doug Best. "The reason a control service is so much safer is because I will tell that pilot what to do, and the pilot will listen to what we say, knowing that we're keeping airplanes separate so that they can focus on actually flying their airplane." Nav Canada CEO Ray Bohn told the House of Commons transport committee this month that its study of potential service reductions would go on independent of any federal relief package.<br/>