On February 23, 1909, Canada's first aviator, Douglas McCurdy, took his place in Canadian history by achieving a flight altitude of over 30 feet on his aircraft "Silver Dart". He built his own aircraft with the help of fellow aviation pioneer Dr. Graham Bell. McCurdy and Silver Dart managed to fly approximately 1.5 miles in a circular route over Baddeck Bay frozen lake. On March 8 of the same year, he managed to cover 8 miles with Silver Dart. McCurdy's achievement showed the potential of flight technology and eventually attracted the interest of the government's militia department.
The second world war proved that air superiority was a force to be reckon with. Canada quickly served as a base for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), whose goal was to train pilots to serve in the effort. The BCATP influenced aerodrome development that continues to exist in civilian form to this day. They design three runways forming a triangle to allow take-off and landing into the wind. During this period, Canadian Pacific Airlines and Air Traffic Control emerged in 1942, followed by the establishment of the Air Transport Board and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in 1944. In the United States, Congress authorized the Development of Landing Areas for National Defense (DLAND) program. Much like the BCATP, many of the airports built under DLAND were later converted for civil use. The war years also formed National Airport Plan (NAP) as basis for airport planning.
In the United States, the Air Cargo Deregulation Act of 1976, and the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 opened opportunities for carriers to enter and exit the market with greater freedom. For smaller communities, this meant that less profitable routes were being dropped by carriers. As a result, airports could no longer rely on government regulations to mandate that carriers provide air services to them. The deregulation act introduced the Essential Air Service (EAS) provisions to accommodate smaller communities. One strategy that emerged during this was the hub-and-spoke strategy, which intensified competition among airports. Airports designated as hubs benefited from increased service, while smaller spoke airports often suffered from reduced service.
In February 1995, a deal that liberalized the transborder market resulted in a significant increase in the number of flights using jet aircraft with the size of jets being reduced. This development made sense, as it allowed for greater activity between airports in Canada and the United States by carriers from both countries. Initially, three of Canada's major airports were excluded from the agreement but later included: Vancouver and Montreal joined in 1997, followed by Toronto in 1998. In 2005, the agreement extended to ending limits of cargo operations and fifth freedom rights. For instance, Air Canada can now fly from Vancouver to San Francisco to pick up passengers and continue to Taipei. However, Air Canada is still not permitted to carry passengers solely between San Francisco and Boston, a freedom right known as cabotage. One topic being currently discussed is in-transit preclearance. Vancouver International Airport currently serves as a pilot project for this initiative, allowing passengers bound for the United States to be pre-cleared before departure.
The hijacking of U.S. airliners on September 11, 2001, created an environment of fear surrounding air travel. This tragedy led to the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in the United States, and the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) in Canada. Experts agreed that the airline industry had already been showing signs of downturn prior to September 2001, and the disastrous event was merely the final nail to the coffin. On December 12, 2003, in the United States, the Bush administration signed into law the "Vision 100 – Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act". Vision 100 established the Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO), which was tasked with developing the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). The system was designed to implement satellite-based communications and navigation technologies to enable more efficient air traffic management. NextGen was scheduled for full implementation by 2025, meaning it should now be operational, addressing ongoing issues related to air traffic efficiency and modernization.