YYZ Airport Watch Annual General Meeting - January 26, 2008

How time flys.... It seems like only yesterday since YYZ Airport Watch held its first general meeting.  Our yearly event was again held at the Toronto Aerospace Museum at Downsview.  The Museum offers the perfect environment for a special interest group such as ours.  This years meeting was again well attended by our loyal members and our guest speakers did a fantastic job.  Andy Cline was once again recruited to act as the MC.

The meeting kicked off with a photo slide show by Airport Watch member Tom Kim.  Tom's presentation titled "YYZ 2007" focused on the various visitors to Pearson Airport over the past year.  With start up service by airlines such as Emirates & Jet Airways, first visits such as the Cubana TU-204, Tom's slide show was a very interesting look back at the highlights from YYZ over the past year.  Well done Tom!!  Looking forward to 2009.

Next up on the agenda was National Airport Watch Coordinator, Cpl Jacques Brunelle.  Jacques gave the group an update on the program from a national perspective.  As readers may know airport watch is gaining momentum not only across the country, but there has been interest from as far away as Australia.  In Canada, Montreal and Vancouver airports are organizing and will be up and running in the coming months.  Much of the success for Airport Watch has to be attributed to the foresight of Cpl. Brunelle and his peers.  Without the ground work by Jacques, none of what we have accomplished would have been possible.  A big thanks to Jacques for attending this years AGM.  It goes without saying the invitation for next year is in the mail.

Members will recall that back in September of 2007 Airport Watch tours & events director, Derek Horsey was able to organize a tour of the Fedex facilities at YYZ.  Hosting the tour for our group was Mr. Adrian Skall (Fedex Canada).  Members who attended the tour mentioned that Mr. Skall did a fantastic job explaining the day to day operations.  It only seemed fitting that we invited Adrian as a guest speaker at this years AGM. This would afford members who weren't able to attend the tour the opportunity to learn more about this mega cargo carrier.  Mr. Skall did not disappoint.  Along with an interesting Powerpoint presentation, Adrian gave our members a fascinating look at what it takes to move that much cargo.  The daily Fedex schedule at YYZ has grown over the years with a mix of A-300's, MD-10's & 11's, and B-727's arriving and departing daily.  The committee would like take this opportunity to once again thank Mr. Skall and Fedex Canada for their participation with our group.

Safety and security, two words that are synonymous with YYZ and Airport Watch.  Peel Regional Police are responsible for providing tactical policing at Pearson Airport.  Many of our members will have seen these highly trained and armed officers of the Tactical unit as they patrol YYZ.  Through the efforts and coordination of Sgt. Al Gorrill and staff at Peel Police, we were fortunate to have two officers from the Tactical team come out to the AGM and give our members an insight into their duties.  Constables Scott Redstone & Sandro Leo gave an excellent demonstration of the skills and tools of the trade they employ in keeping Pearson Airport safe.  Trust us, you don't want to mess with these guys.  The Airport Watch Committee would like to thank all at Peel Regional Police for their continued support.
 

Members gather for the AGM	Derek Horsey greets arriving members	National Coordinator - Jacques Brunelle
Peel Police - Tactical Officers	Our members	Mr. Adrian Skall - Fedex Canada

Click photos for larger image - All photos courtesy of Dale Boeru