Aviation Intelligence Reporter July 2023
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IATA AGM: As Little Love as There is SAF at the IATA Love-In
There has never, in the history of IATA AGMs, been a DG’s State of the Industry address that has not been an exercise in disaster management. Yes, things are going well (at the moment) we have shown remarkable resilience, we are remarkably profitable (at the moment) but LOOK AT THOSE DARK CLOUDS! The barbarians are at the gates! We need more space; and most of all we need more regulation to keep those nasty monopoly service providers at bay! We are helpless airlines: servants of the people; builders of bridges; drivers of economies; bringer of hope to the hopeless and wire to the wireless, etc, and yet, LOOK AT THOSE DARK CLOUDS!
CANSO AGM: Keeping Calm and Carrying On Collaborating
CANSO met later in the same week as IATA, in Berlin. The theme was ‘collaborating cooperatively, so as to work together, in sync, as one, to combine, in unity, so that we can cooperate, together, collaboratively’. If that means succumbing to talking about value chains, apparently it is worth it. So keen are CANSO to be allowed to eat at the big kids’ table that from the Chair to the DG to Ms Hackl as a session moderator, value chain it is. Only ACI World’s Louis Felipa de Oliveira understood the importance of the distinction between an ecosystem of equals and a life-support role in a value chain. The irony here is that down in the engine room of CANSO the staff are working hard to make it clear ANSPs are entitled to due respect and taking the fight up to an increasingly aggressive, if desperate, IATA, in various ICAO working parties. Over the side they go.
ACI AGM: ACI-Europe and ACI World Model Collaborative Behaviour
‘And so,’ as Samuel Pepys so nearly said, ‘to Barcelona’. A long month, bookended by a week of IATA and CANSO at the start, and ACI-Europe and ACI World at the end. The ACIs had as their theme ‘collaborating cooperatively, so as to work together, in sync, as one, to combine, in unity, so that we can cooperate, together, collaboratively’. But, when asked by show of hands who had been at the IATA, CANSO and ACI AGMs, only one person was still standing. Take a bow, Luis Filipe d ’Oliveira from ACI World. So apparently, collaborating can happen without actually talking together. As a cost saving, can we suggest that all the AGMs be held at the same place, at the same time?
Airlexit: IATA Wants to Take Back Control
Europe maybe anti-aviation, as IATA claims. Others are jumping on the bandwagon. Lufthansa’s Carsten Spohr, speaking to Politico US (behind a paywall) noted that ‘The criticism of IATA on Europe’s policy, I not only support, I was the one who initiated it. Yes, I agree with IATA.’ Presumably, he also agrees with the Airlines Four Europe’s criticism of that policy as well (see above), given that he is the A4E Chair. As with Walsh in Istanbul, Spohr in Politico attacked Europe’s attitude to passenger rights and its love of regulation. The airlines want to seize back control. We have heard that before.
The E4FC Wants You to Vote Early and Vote Often
Everyone’s favorite Astroturf organisation is running for election. The Europeans Four Fair Competition has launched a manifesto. The Shorter Oxford Dictionary defines manifesto as a public declaration or explanation of policy issued by a monarch, State, political party, candidate for public office or any other body of individuals of relevance. Clearly, the E4FC has self-identified as one of these groups.
T&E: Transparent and European?
An anonymous paper has been doing the rounds of Brussels for a couple of weeks, outlining what it sees as the funding of T&E, Brussels most influential environmental NGO in the transport sector. The information, the paper alleges, has been hiding in plain sight all along. The paper is full of links backing up its claims. A copy is available on request, of course, if you are interested in what modern day McCarthyism might look like. It may be anonymous, but a quick check of the meta-data will reveal its secrets…
Tags: Airlines, Airports, ATM, Aviation Industry, Business Aviation, Competition, Environment