Pilot Proficiency

Gear Up: Flying Into Canada in the Age of COVID-19

Dick Karl had to go to Hamilton, Ontario, for a meeting recently. Turns out, he had no idea what he was signing up for.

Tuesday, October 26, 2021 at 08:16 PM ET

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Dick Karl had quite a journey for a two-hour meeting in Hamilton, Ontario. Contributed photo

Key Takeaways:

The author describes the significant bureaucratic challenges and frustrations encountered when flying general aviation internationally between the U.S. and Canada for a short business trip.
Complexities included struggling with the U.S. eAPIS system due to expired passwords and unintuitive interfaces, and navigating Canada's new ArriveCAN website, which required extensive documentation, including COVID test results, vaccination proof, and even a speculative quarantine address.
Despite these time-consuming pre-flight and customs hurdles, general aviation enabled the author to complete a round-trip business meeting in another country and be home for dinner, demonstrating its superior efficiency compared to commercial airline travel for such specific journeys.

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It was to be a two-hour meeting in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, in early October.

Dick Karl is a cancer surgeon who appreciates the beauty and science involved in both surgery and flying. Dick’s monthly Gear Up celebrates the human side of flying. He writes about his enthusiasm for both the machines and the people who fly and maintain them.