In part one of our article on assessing your own risk we covered the potential risks facing Commercial Aviation Business and Airport Occupants and how insurance can be used as a way to protect yourself and your business. Now we’re going to look at potential risks for aircraft owners, both private and commercial.

In the last article I wrote for Aviation News Journal (Aviation 101 – The Basics) I used the occasion to review the absolute basics of aviation insurance, what coverages make up a policy, and how there can sometimes be limited insurance choices for the aviation industry. Now, I’d like to take the opportunity to stress the importance of knowing and assessing your risk.

Insurance is fundamentally about providing financial stability, so it is extremely important to have and to understand. This is especially true for those of us in aviation because of our industry’s high severity of losses, and even occasional fatalities.

In the past few years one of the biggest changes to come to Canadian Aviation is the expansion of unmanned aircraft. Also called drones, UAVs, RPAS, and UASs, unmanned aviation is becoming more and more prevalent in Canadian Aviation.

In the last year and a half Aviation has been heavily impacted by the pandemic and subsequent grounding of the global fleet. Something else happened during this time, there was a sharp increase in the number of cyber incidents.

Aviation is an industry built on passion. Whether it’s a private interest or the path to a paycheck, aviation demands a special level of dedication that other industries may lack. It’s because of this intrinsic passion that covid-19’s impact on aviation feels more devastating, at least to me.

We are living through incredible, historical, changing times. Those of us who are involved in the aviation industry may have been greatly affected but the global pandemic; covid-19. Some sectors like aircraft cargo or charter may be thriving, while others have suffered reduced operations, revenues, or even a total shut down.

I have been an aviation insurance broker for over 30 years now and have seen aircraft hangars incorrectly insured by non-aviation brokers as barns, garages, and out-buildings. There are a handful of general insurance companies in Canada that are able to provide proper coverage at affordable rates.