Air Canada pilot under investigation for flying without proper licence

An Air Canada jet takes off from Montreal. Photo by Air Canada

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Police in Ontario are expected to release more information this morning about a senior Air Canada pilot who logged hundreds of commercial flight hours without the proper licence last year and is now subject of a criminal investigation.

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Peel Regional Police will hold a news conference at 11 a.m. EST, during which they will talk more about Project Icarus, which they describe as “a complex fraud investigation.”

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The male pilot, whose identity has not been released, is no longer flying for Air Canada, the airline confirmed in a statement.

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It also said “safety was not compromised” on the flights because pilots are required to “undergo mandatory recurrent training every six months to validate their flying competency, including a flight check with a certified Transport Canada check-pilot every 12 months.”

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While the pilot in question “met or exceeded” the training requirements and had proved himself capable of flying large planes, he lacked the mandatory airline transport pilot licence (ATPL) when he was promoted to captain.

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“Immediately upon Air Canada’s discovery of this, the individual was removed from active duty, and the company voluntarily reported the matter to Transport Canada,” Air Canada wrote.

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The pilot has already been fined $67,500 by Transport Canada for not having the “appropriate permit, licence or rating” on 18 flights between Dec 2024 and March 2025.

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Air Canada said it “found no other instances of non-compliance” upon auditing its other pilots. It also said certification cross-checking has been reinforced and will include physical verification of Transport Canada documents.

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As the matter is under criminal investigation and due to privacy laws, the airline is reserving any further comment.

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More to come.

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