Day two of the ERA General Assembly kicked off with the airline and airport CEOs’ breakfast where senior executives networked and met up with journalists and key trade media to share their the latest news and developments. The breakfast was followed by the airline and airport CEOs’ meeting, an essential forum for member company CEOs to discuss critical strategic industry issues. The session also covered foreign currency risks and solutions and examined how to make the most of the market as well as how to deal with oil price uncertainty.
Operations updates
The ERA Operations Group continued in the morning with a presentation from AeroProfessional on its pilot supply and retention report and a session by Dr Alexandra Holmes, Clockwork Research, who discussed Fatigue Risk Management Systems (FRMS) scientific study cases. ESSP SAS presented on EGNOS benefits for regional airlines and Bob Simmons from Baines Simmons discussed its European Operators EU261 survey results, providing a summary of the preliminary feedback. Following a meeting between ERA, Baines Simmons, IATA and EASA about safety concerns associated with EU261, Baines Simmons offered to complete an independent survey to gather evidence to motivate the regulator to request an amendment of the regulation.
Dynamic industry
In the afternoon, Boet Kreiken, ERA President, delivered a keynote address, discussing the state of the industry and ERA’s work. “The industry is in a good state,” he noted, with lots of opportunities for regionals in the market at the moment. “ERA offers a tremendous amount of value for members by looking after their interests and fighting the red tape”, said Kreiken, commenting on the work that ERA does for the industry.
After the keynote address, industry commentator John Strickland gave an overview of European aviation and agreed with Kreiken that the industry is blossoming, with more opportunities and choice for operators.
This session was followed by a panel discussion on leadership, with insight and commentary from Joanna Kolatsis, Partner, Hill Dickinson, Jóhanna á Bergi, CEO, Atlantic Airways; Maria Della Posta, Senior Vice President, Pratt & Whitney Canada and Niki Karagkoule Karageorgou, Vice President, Sky Express. The panel members shared their thought-provoking observations on leading and inspiring our dynamic industry and explored how we can proactively lead our businesses forward.
Discussing a wide variety of topical issues, the panel touched on matters including diversity, environment, artificial intelligence and Brexit. Commenting on diversity and millennials as workforce, Maria Della Posta noted that there is greatness in every generation, with Niki Karagkoule Karageorgou commenting that “you’ll have to find talent in more diverse groups and help them succeed”. “You’ll never be successful if you don’t have successful teams,” she noted.
The day also featured news conferences by ERA’s members Pratt & Whitney Canada, Bombardier, Embraer, Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation and Web Manuals who shared their latest news and updates with the media covering the event.
Recognising excellence
Each year, the ERA General Assembly hosts ERA’s prestigious airline and airport awards which recognise excellence in the European aviation industry. The awards dinner took place at the beautiful Balux Prive in Glyfada. The delegates gathered at this beautiful beach-side venue and enjoyed a cocktail reception and beautiful fireworks before the winners of the awards were announced during dinner. TAP express operated by Portugália Airlines was declared the winner of the prestigious ERA Airline of the Year Gold award, sponsored by ATR. The independent judging panel praised the airline for completing a total fleet renewal during the course of 12 months and managing a full, almost 3,800-hour retraining programme for its pilots, engineers and cabin crew while undergoing a total rebranding at the same time.
Luiz Plácido Lapa, Managing Director of TAP express operated by Portugália Airlines, commented: “The year of 2016 was crucial in Portugália’s history and the new TAP express brand was the beginning of a new cycle. In addition to the rebranding project, the phase-in of nine Embraer 190s simultaneously with the phase-out of another two fleets (six Fokker 100s and eight Embraer 145s), involving almost 3,800 training hours, resulted in a huge effort from the entire company. It is a great pride for us to be given this award as it is a mark of a mission accomplished. We believe that TAP express is already a brand cherished by customers and that’s what we work for every day.”
Romanian Blue Air received the Silver award. Gheorghe Racaru, CEO of Blue Air, commented: “It is a proud moment for us at Blue Air to receive the Airline of the Year Silver Award. We are grateful for this recognition. 2016 has been a great year for Blue Air, as the company grew in every aspect: fleet, number of routes, transported passengers, opening a new operational base, becoming a full member of IATA, all contributing to Blue Air being the largest Romanian airline. Our clients have always been our focus and are the first ones benefiting from our expanding route network, allowing them to travel fast, safely and inexpensively to their destinations. We deeply appreciate this award and are flattered to be part of this year's award recipients.”
SAS received the Bronze award. Mikael Wångdahl, VP External Production at SAS, said: “We are very excited to win this award. In the last few years, wet-lease has become a very important part of our strategy to ensure growth and also to be able to fly our customers to more destinations. We only work with experienced carriers in Europe and this is also an important element for us and for our customers. We look forward to further developing business with more ERA airline members, the experts in regional flying.”
London City Airport was announced as the winner of the prestigious ERA Airport of the Year award, receiving particular praise for its major investment in its new terminal extension, which will create many new jobs. Richard Hill, Chief Commercial Officer at London City Airport, said: “This is deserved recognition for London City Airport on the European stage in its 30th anniversary year and we thank the European Regions Airline Association (ERA) for this accolade. It follows record-breaking passenger growth and a winning formula which differentiates the airport not just in London but across Europe."
Luiz Plácido Lapa, Managing Director of TAP express operated by Portugália Airlines, was also revealed as the winner of the ERA Award for Personal Excellence, and was praised for was praised for his long and successful career in regional aviation and for his commitment to ERA’s work and the regional aviation industry, having worked in the business for nearly 40 years.
The evening was enjoyed by all and was a celebration of the industry and the association.