News
John Crichton receives C.D. Howe Award

May 6, 2009, Ottawa – NAV CANADA is pleased to announce that John Crichton, president and CEO, is this year’s recipient of the C.D. Howe Award from the Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute (CASI), honouring his lasting contributions to the country’s aviation industry over the course of more than 30 years. The award will be presented at the CASI Senior Awards Gala Dinner held at the Canada Aviation Museum in Ottawa, on May 6, 2009.
 
The C.D. Howe Award is presented for achievements in the fields of planning and policy making and overall leadership in Canadian aeronautics and space activities. In selecting Mr. Crichton, CASI highlighted two achievements that were “of lasting benefit to the aviation industry in Canada.”
 
The first achievement came while a senior executive at First Air, where Mr. Crichton helped shape the modern foundation of air transportation in the North between 1973 and 1990. CASI stated that Mr. Crichton was “instrumental in the planning and developing of scheduled commercial air routes that opened up the North, with significant, permanent benefits to the region’s economic development and the quality of life in numerous smaller communities.”
 
CASI cited as the second achievement Mr. Crichton’s integral role in the successful privatization and subsequent modernization of Canadian’s civil Air Navigation System (ANS), which helped establish NAV CANADA as a global leader in this essential air safety sector.
 
CASI noted that Mr. Crichton “placed the country at the vanguard of transformative change in this critical transportation area, developing and implementing a unique organizational and governance model.”
 
Mr. Crichton said he was honoured to receive the award and that he did so “on behalf of the people I have worked with throughout my aviation career. In particular, it belongs to the employees of NAV CANADA, for their pioneering achievements in ANS privatization, technology and aviation safety.”
 
Nicholas Geer, Chairman of the Board at NAV CANADA, said: “The C.D. Howe Award is a well-deserved honour for an innovative leader in the field of air transportation. Through John Crichton’s vision, leadership and drive — combined with NAV CANADA employees across the country — the Canadian ANS is today one of the safest and most advanced in the world.”
 
The Canadian Aeronautics and Space Institute (CASI) is a non-profit professional organization.  The goal of the Institute is to advance the art, science and engineering relating to aeronautics, astronautics and associated technologies, and to nurture and promote the professionalism of those engaged in these pursuits.
 
NAV CANADA, the country's civil air navigation services provider, is a private sector, non-share capital corporation financed through publicly-traded debt. With operations coast to coast, NAV CANADA provides air traffic control, flight information, weather briefings, aeronautical information services, airport advisory services and electronic aids to navigation.