Aviation Intelligence Reporter – March 2019
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Lufthansa? And Air France?
Well Meet By Neon
The UPU: Making Every Post a Loser
Traffic and the Accordion – Squeezing More In
The Future of Tourism: A Round Trip to the Circular Economy
Aviation and the Environment: ICAO Clears the Air?
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How Do You Solve a Problem Like Lufthansa? And Air France?
Imagine being invited to a dinner party when one of the other guests is Lufthansa. Then you realise that you are to be seated beside them. Very quickly, you will see that small talk is limited. Lufthansa is one of those guests that are only happy when miserable. It is hard not to feel sorry for DG MOVE. It does not seem to matter what they do, Lufthansa will be miserable. First, Lufthansa wanted, no, demanded, that the old Regulation 868 on unfair practices be revised explicitly to address what it saw as infamy on the part of Gulf carriers. It then wanted, no, demanded, that the Commission get a mandate to negotiate liberal agreements on behalf of the Union with inter alia the Gulf States. The Commission obliged. Regulation 868 was revised. The mandates were obtained. A cause for satisfaction chez LH? No.
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Well Meet By Neon
What is your definition of a perfect industry association meeting? Is it one where actions that will change the world are agreed and then immediately thereafter, definitive steps are taken? Is it one where your network is extended or renewed? Maybe you learn something new? If you think in this way, it just might be that you are from inside the industry, rather than being from inside the industry of being an industry association. For the industry association insider, the perfect meeting is one that validates the fact there is a meeting in the first place, because that in turn validates your existence. For an industry association old hand, the perfect meeting is one where the first order of business is agreeing the date of the next meeting. Everything after that is cream.
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The UPU: Making Every Post a Loser
Here is a sentence you never expected to read: the UPU is currently a hot-bed of turmoil and excitement. Normally, the Universal Postal Union sits in Bern and discusses issues about the carriage of post, the positioning of stamps and the rigours of addressing envelopes. Notwithstanding its name, it is yet to arrange for a delivery on any planet in the universe apart from earth, but give it time.
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Traffic and the Accordion – Squeezing More In
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Aviation Is Special. So special that we cannot be helped by others, as there is nothing we do not already know. Particularly if that other is as mundane as road transport. What can they possibly teach us? Well, quite a lot actually. The road transport industry knows a fair bit about traffic. Maybe the air traffic industry could learn. The hint is in the use of the word ‘traffic’. Aircraft arriving at airports, backing up, taxi-ing, and departing are stages of air travel analogous to road traffic. Airports act as off-ramps, intersections, traffic lights, and on-ramps. They unfortunately also act as bottlenecks, logjams and congestion along intended routes.
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The Future of Tourism: A Round Trip to the Circular Economy
In 1990, Europe dominated the global tourist industry, with 60% of all global tourism. By 2015 it represented only 51% of the pie. Even so, Europe clocked in with 478.4 million international tourist arrivals and a whopping €336.5 billion tourism receipts. Tourism is the third largest socio-economic activity in the EU. Hospitality supports 16.6 million European jobs, just under 8% of Europe’s workforce. It created 1.6 million jobs between 2013 and 2016. But as we have previously discussed, it is under increasing threat. A victim of its own success, its sustainability is under sustained scrutiny. It is the subject of increased parliamentary and Commission scrutiny.
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Aviation and the Environment: ICAO Clears the Air?
Do not, for one second, think that ICAO is not a political player. Yes, as a UN agency it is an association of members drawn from governments, so there is a political edge. But for a long time it tried to pedal a fallacy that it was apolitical; a mere cipher. That was then. It seems to be learning quickly how to play a political game. It is now a political player in its own right. Mind you, the problem with being political is that you start to behave politically. Maybe that is why ICAO has become so cynically self-promoting.