Transport committee  Can I just correct you, though? I just want to say when we tendered, we tendered globally. What I can't tell you, because I don't know, and I don't even know if there is an organization that's capable, is what Canadian suppliers bid on. I don't know that.

Transport committee  Yes, we do. Absolutely, we have a process.

Transport committee  It would vary by contract. It would vary by fleet type. It would vary by what the actual work order was. Engines are one thing. Components are something else. Wheels, tires, and brakes are something else. The list goes on and on.

Transport committee  The regional fleet is maintained here in Canada, number one. Number two, the narrow-bodied fleet is maintained primarily in the U.S. As for the wide-bodied fleet, sir, some is done in Asia and some in Israel. Now, to try to apply a percentage of it, in the case of the regional fleet, I don't know what percentage the regional fleet would be of our total fleet.

Transport committee  If Canadian suppliers bid, I suppose it could be done.

Transport committee  Not at all. It's not the exclusive thing. It would be one component; another would be turn time, since to take that asset out of the system and have it in maintenance is an expensive proposition. Another is quality of work, standards, and all of those things.

Transport committee  Not to be pejorative about it, that's a discussion we've had in the past with the unions. It would be one factor, I guess, that you'd have to look at.

Transport committee  Right now, as I said, the majority of our line maintenance jobs are, today, in Ontario. It just stands to reason, sir, that given the size of our operation.... Our operation in Toronto is our global hub. There is not one fleet type within the network that does not pass through Toronto at some point in the day, so it will always be within the Air Canada system—

Transport committee  Well, we'll make a decision.

Transport committee  I did not.

Transport committee  To keep jobs, it needs to be able to make decisions to establish maintenance work here in Canada based on how competitive it is across the maintenance industry globally.

Transport committee  If we had certain elements of work that were required to be done, that requirement would be subject to a competitive bid from a list of maintenance suppliers on a global supplier list. If the Canadian organization comes in on a competitive basis, then the work could be done here.

Transport committee  I think one of your colleagues asked that same question. It varies by airplane type. There are certain manufacturers who have certain levels of expertise in certain airplane types. For instance, Premier Aviation is growing in expertise in the Embraer aircraft. There are certain providers, Lufthansa Technik and GE, who have highly specialized capacities in Boeing, Airbus, Embraer, whatever.

Transport committee  There is Canada, the U.S., Hong Kong, and Israel.

Transport committee  These are the primary ones, yes.