Field Aviation: the second Challenger and the permit in the company's name

Field Canada's contract with FR Aviation Limited, which trades as Draken Europe, is Contract No. 21-4610, an aircraft modification services contract dated March 31, 2022, and it covered two Challenger CL-604 aircraft. When the company filed its notice of intention in June, one of them had been delivered. The second sat in the 40,000 square foot hangar beside Pearson Airport where Field Canada conducted the vast majority of its physical operations, needing approximately three months more, on work the company's liquidity constraints had forced it to stop in April, per the Affidavit of John W. Mactaggart, June 6, 2026, paras. 8, 71–72.

That aircraft is now the reason the company still operates. The business has been sold and the lender paid; what remains, in the words of the motion the Field entities served on September 25, is "the completion of modification work on an aircraft (the 'Draken Program') owned by FR Aviation Limited." The aircraft is to leave Canada when the work is done, and "under applicable aviation and export laws, Field Canada must subsist as an operating entity until the aircraft is exported from Canada," per the Notice of Motion, Sept. 25, 2026, grounds, paras. 4–5, 7. The motion, returnable October 2 before Justice Cavanagh, asks for 45 more days.

Justice Steele approved the sale of substantially all the Field entities' assets to De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Limited and PAL Aerospace Ltd. on July 27, after the machinists' union and the company settled the scope of the directors' release over a weekend, as reported here on July 28. The proposal trustee certified both closings at 9:45 a.m. on July 31, per the Proposal Trustee's DHC Certificate, July 31, 2026. Under a distribution order of July 24 the proposal trustee then paid Wells Fargo "the full amount of the outstanding obligations owing by the Field Entities to Wells," according to the affidavit of Brian M. Love, a director of both companies, sworn for the new motion. The Field entities have since completed the Voyageur Aviation Corp. sale and helped another customer remove its aircraft from the premises, and on August 28 Field Canada received approximately $2,591,114.39 "on account of a Scientific Research and Experimental Development tax credit that had been anticipated during the NOI Proceedings." Mr. Love now calls Wells the Field entities' "former secured creditor," per the Affidavit of Brian M. Love, Sept. 25, 2026, paras. 1, 4, 6(b)–(e).

Three months of work, extended twice

Draken's letter of principles of April 16 targeted completion for approximately July 17, and the accommodation agreement of June 5, under which Draken funds Field Canada's labour, infrastructure and facility costs on a cost-plus basis, kept July 17 as the targeted completion date. It tied a bonus to that date: designated employees who stayed through delivery would receive three months' salary, funded by Draken through the proposal trustee, reduced by 10% for each week delivery ran past July 17, per the Affidavit of John W. Mactaggart, June 6, 2026, paras. 73–74, 76(a)(iii). The proposal trustee's first report put the remaining work at an additional 2–3 months, per the First Report of the Proposal Trustee, June 10, 2026, s. 4.2, para. 2.

By July 17 the target had moved to approximately August 14, "which will result in a corresponding reduction to the completion bonuses payable to employees thereunder," Mr. Mactaggart deposed that day. The reasons he gave were "common issues encountered during the return-to-service process": delays in obtaining replacement parts for components identified as defective, and "defects discovered when power was applied to the aircraft and its systems were tested and verified." Draken had also asked to keep testing the aircraft at the facility until approximately mid-September, which Field Canada would allow if Draken went on paying the facility and infrastructure costs, per the Affidavit of John W. Mactaggart, July 17, 2026, para. 12. Justice Steele's endorsement ten days later recorded that about 40 employees had been called back to work under the Draken agreement "until the project is completed this fall," per the Endorsement of Justice Steele, July 24 and 27, 2026, para. 42.

The Love affidavit carries the dates forward. Extension agreements dated August 5 and September 18 moved the outside date to September 30, "as a result of delays in the completion of the Draken Program," and each time arrangements were made, with the consent of the affected unionized and non-unionized employees, to extend their employment. Draken has now asked for another extension, and the parties are preparing an agreement they expect to sign before the motion returns, under which certain employees would stay on and Draken would keep reimbursing Field Canada's facility, infrastructure and operational costs. Mr. Love expects consensual arrangements with the employees and the union to be reached before the hearing, per the Affidavit of Brian M. Love, Sept. 25, 2026, paras. 10, 12–13. The notice of motion states that the aircraft "will not be ready for export by September 30, 2026," per the Notice of Motion, Sept. 25, 2026, grounds, para. 7.

A permit that cannot change hands

"Field Canada is the exporter identified under the existing export permit for the aircraft," Mr. Love deposes, and he understands that the permit "is specific to Field Canada and cannot simply be transferred to or used independently by another party." Field Canada also holds the registrations and authorizations required for its possession, modification and export of the aircraft, "being a controlled good." It therefore "needs to continue to subsist as an operating entity while the Draken Program is completed and arrangements are made for the export of the aircraft," per the Affidavit of Brian M. Love, Sept. 25, 2026, para. 11.