Amy Wilder is a private pilot with more than two decades of experience as a writer and editor in a career spanning journalism, marketing, and communications. 
She has worked in aviation journalism since 2023, combining a lifelong passion for flight and a love of the aviation community with a penchant for storytelling. As a licensed pilot, she brings firsthand insight to the stories she covers, lending an authentic, on-the-ground perspective to industry coverage.
She holds a Master of Arts in Eastern Classics and a Master of Arts in Liberal Arts, both from St. John&#039;s College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, along with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Culture.

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Amy Wilder

Transport Canada has issued guidance for Canadian air-taxi and commuter operators flying single-pilot international trips to create required standard operating procedures (SOPs). The new guidance calls for hard weather triggers that mandate a course reversal or diversion, backed by a no-fault turnaround policy.
Interim Order No. 2 (2026) made SOPs mandatory for single-pilot international operations under Subparts 703 and 704 of the Canadian Aviation Regulations.<a href="https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/reference-centre/advisory-circulars/advisory-circular-ac-no-700-067">&nbsp;Advisory Circular 700-067</a> details what airplane and helicopter operators under Subparts 702, 703, and 704 should include in single-pilot and multi-crew SOPs.
With no second pilot to cross-check, the guidance makes SOPs the backbone of crew resource management, built on self-callouts and checklist verification. Defined expectations for when to continue, divert, or discontinue help curb continuation bias, it said, with decisions resting on “objective, pre-established criteria rather than emotion or intuition.”
Single-pilot SOPs should include a pre-departure self-briefing identifying where to turn back or divert, plus hard triggers such as cloud ceilings dropping toward terrain or loss of a clear horizon. Fuel guidance suggests extra wind contingency and en route triggers to divert earlier and land with more fuel.
For single-pilot IFR operations, suggested content includes writing down clearances, self-briefing at defined points, engine-failure planning for every flight phase, and requiring automation at high workload.
The helicopter sections cover wire strikes, rotor strikes, whiteout, and mountain wave scenarios, plus emergency-authority rules for two pilots in a dual-control single-pilot helicopter. Helicopter SOPs should address mission pressure, including ruling out management penalties for stopping, delaying, or cutting a flight short.
Inspectors, who need not formally approve SOPs under these subparts, can use the circular to verify that operators cover every required element.

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Transport Canada Guidance Details Single-pilot International SOP Mandate

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Canada issued guidance on required SOPs for single-pilot international 703 and 704 flights, and calls for hard weather triggers and no-fault turnarounds.

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