Our Approach
Our goal is to bring awareness of the needs and benefits of a new airport In Pickering. Our philosophy is simple. Gather and present the facts and ask the questions that the facts demand. Our vision in this forum is a place to talk about how to improve our aviation transportation system and how Pickering airport can improve our future. Our goal is to bring the often buried facts into the light of day and make sure the need for Pickering Airport can no longer be delayed for corporate profit or political expediency.
Our Story
Every contributor to this site may have a different background, a different profession. Some are professional pilots worried by the impact on safety by the building congestion at Pearson Airport. Some are citizens being driven to distraction by aircraft noise or are worried by perceived broken promises by politicians or the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA). Some are aviation business owners being squeezed out of other airports. All are volunteers and many had an epiphany moment that called them to speak truth to power. For the Moderator, the epiphany moment occurred while attending a Toronto Board of trade meeting organized and funded by the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA). During this meeting it became clear that the GTAA executives knew they had a capacity problem that would constrain our economy, cause excess pollution to our environment, and possible even reduce the safety of our citizens. A simple and straight forward solution exists to these problems, one set up for just this moment more than 40 years ago by farsighted aviation planners. The solution is a new jet airport in Pickering on land set aside for just this eventuality. However, it is opposed by most current airport operators , including the GTAA, for the simple reason that they do not want the competition. The friends of Pickering Airport look for opportunity’s to get the truth out on the needs and benefits of a new airport. We support those with the back bone and fortitude to take on the billion dollar monopoly opposed to Pickering Airport. Our passion is to call out those currently milking the public purse and to safeguard the billion dollar publicly owned Pickering airport land reserve for the good of all.
Meet the Moderator
Mark Brooks is a Commercial pilot and flight instructor living and working in the Toronto area. He has been actively flying for more than two decades. Mark’s previous volunteer positions include being the President of theButtonville flying Club 2008-2011, and an unpaid role providing leadership and technical expertise for a general aviation Airpark first proposed in 2011 in Pickering . It is during this time that he first realized that the need for more aviation infrastructure went beyond general aviation. Since 2011 he has been calling out those profiting from Toronto’s big squeeze and advocating for additional properly placed capacity for Toronto’s airport system.