Aviation Intelligence Reporter – December 2008-January 2009
Airline industry meeting in a basement? Must be a Summit.
Change: yes? Can we?
African airlines too look at Open Skies
Europe takes big step to approving the Cape Town Convention
CANSO: US air traffic control system a 1954 Cadillac: the fin edge of the wedge?
Dutch set up privatised dispute resolution for passengers
Latin American airports flex their muscles on slots
Muse-ing des Beaux Alitalia
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click hereAirline industry meeting in a basement? Must be a Summit.
The Aviation Intelligence Reporter has in the past taken some delight in self-styled ‘summits’ that
are held in basements, but this is getting beyond satire. In November the French presidency of
the European Union convened a summit of the European aviation industry in Bordeaux, and yes!
it was held in a basement. The great and the good of the European air transport industry duly
assembled. Whereupon, the French presidency tried to ensure that all the delegates understood
the implications of global warming by making the room insufferably hot. There was also a
distinct shortage of cabin oxygen.
…
Change: yes? Can we?
Ever keen to grab a boarding pass for a passing bandwagon, the air transport industry is
currently working itself into a lather about the brave new dawn that will herald the inauguration of
the new president of the United States. Perhaps fortunately for President-Elect Obama, much of
that expectation appears to be well below his radar.
…
African airlines too look at Open Skies
The Reporter has previously discussed the privatisation of the international regulation of air
transport. The Agenda for Freedom is one recent example. Now the African Airline Association
(AFRAA) is doing something similar for Africa.
…
Europe takes big step to approving the Cape Town Convention
Little commented upon, but extremely importantly – and isn’t that so often the case – the
European Parliament took a very major step towards the global ratification of the Cape Town
Convention and Aircraft Protocol this month. The Legal Affairs Committee has approved the text
of the Convention, and the Aircraft Protocol. It is now hoped that the Council will endorse that
decision in mid-December.
…
CANSO: US air traffic control system a 1954 Cadillac: the fin edge of the wedge?
TThe Secretary General of CANSO Alexander ter Kuile stood up at the Air Traffic Control
Association (ACTA) conference in Washington DC in early November and delivered a strong
message. From the outside looking in, he said, the USA’s air traffic control system, and its
governance, was as out-dated as a 1959 Cadillac. To rub the point it, he showed a photo of
such a vehicle, looking very fine indeed; more fins than a shark, and very sharp.
…
Dutch set up privatised dispute resolution for passengers
Whilst some European parliamentarians are of the view that there is a vacuum in rights for
passengers, realistically, that is a difficult view to sustain. Already there is a passenger charter,
various rights and obligations on airlines and to top it off, an EU passenger complaints hotline, a
dedicated email address and a toll free number.
…
Latin American airports flex their muscles on slots
At their annual conference, held in Panama this month, the Airport Council International-Latin
America and Caribbean regional division decided that they would fire the first shot in the debate
about slot ownership. Who exactly owns the slots? Airports do, they declared in their formal
declaration of the meeting.
…
Muse-ing des Beaux Alitalia
(With huge apologies with W.H. Auden)
About Alitalia they were never wrong,
The Old Masters; how well, they understood
…