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September/October 2019

September/October 2019

The highlight of the year

This latter part of the year is always an exciting time for the association and its members, as it is when we hold our highly-popular annual General Assembly. As an exclusive ‘ER A members only’ event, the General Assembly provides access to high-profile industry companies and their key executives – namely fellow members and their representatives. The structure and setup of this premier event is built around the key interests of our members; those companies that tirelessly support each other and the entire aviation industry through their association.

This year we are heading to southern France, specifically Juan-les-Pins, only 25km from Nice. Located in the French Riviera next to Antibes, this stylish and sophisticated town is situated in a region famed for its fine wines, food, music, history and art, as well as beautiful beaches, sunshine and the glittering Mediterranean Sea.

Just like the region, the General Assembly is a high-quality event and provides unique and exclusive business opportunities. It has a focussed and packed agenda, once again aiming to provide maximum benefits to you the members. The exhibition arena is the central hub of the event, the place to be, where delegates spend quality time expanding their business portfolios and developing personal relationships with industry colleagues. This is a busy and thriving environment where exhibitors display their products and business services.

The exhibitors are a very important aspect of our event and I encourage all delegates to support them in return by visiting as many stands as possible throughout the course of the three days. The majority of all networking functions take place against the backdrop of the exhibition; a highly-charged and exciting atmosphere with seamless exhibition booths, delicious and stylish buffet areas providing amazing local and international food and drink, comfortable seating areas and a dedicated meeting space.

Sensational sessions

The General Assembly also includes a number of high-profile conference sessions, this year including a very interesting panel discussion regarding airline alliances and joint ventures, with contributions from Mikael Wångdahl, VP External Production, SAS; Pierre-Olivier Bandet, President, HOP ! and Air France Executive Committee member; Faye Malarkey-Black, President and CEO , Regional Airline Association, USA; Valter Fernandes, Managing Director, TAP express operated by Portugália; and Stephen Kavanagh, Board Director, Aer Lingus. Our President, Andrew Kelly, will address the membership, providing an industry overview and detailing the work carried out by the ERA Board. I myself am looking forward to sharing with you the work of the ER A team and how we serve our members’ interests, and my view of the association’s important role in shaping the industry especially in these very politically changing times.

I am also delighted to announce that this year’s inspirational speaker is Cheryle Robinson Jackson. Cheryle has a trailblazing career in media as a former Vice President at NPR, in government leading communications for an Illinois governor, in civil rights as the president and CEO of Chicago Urban League, in politics as a candidate for the US Senate seat in Illinois, and in international business leading global business development at AAR Africa. Having travelled the world from the south side of Chicago to South Africa, from Chongqing to Cairo and Rio to Riyadh, Cheryle has spent her career working to help create economic opportunities, equal access to rights and ensuring everyone has an equal voice, especially those who face incredible odds in their quest to succeed. Cheryle will share with us her incredible professional and life journey, as well as her insights into diversity, women in the workplace, expanding the talent pool and keeping an open mind when entering the recruitment arena. I am sure she will inspire us with her phenomenal strength and energy.

This year’s General Assembly will also include presentations during the Airline and Airport CEO s’ Meeting from Mark Anderson, Connect Airways; Paul Steele, SVP, Member and External Relations, IATA, on joint lobbying industry actions and an update on the recent ICAO Assembly; as well as Faye Malarkey-Black, President and CEO , Regional Airline Association, who will provide an update on the current US market and how North American airlines are coping with pilot shortage issues. The highlight of the three days, as always, is the awards dinner, which will take place on the second evening of the event on the charming beach at Cap D’Antibes. I am sure once again it will be an unforgettable evening.

Strong representation

ERA’s regulatory and policy work is a key focus in the daily life of ERA; a major function to drive strategic change within European aviation policy. During the last year since Edinburgh, the team and I have worked hard to strengthen our excellent relationships, and to expand the association’s profile further with key industry stakeholders, governments and legislators, such as the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, the European Commission, the European Parliament, Eurocontrol, the SESAR entities and the European Civil Aviation Conference. Our association is one of the leading trade bodies driving development across these multiple areas that affect our industry on a daily basis. Some notable progress and achievements within the last year for the ERA team include:

  • participating in relevant consultations, meetings and workshops within these regulatory bodies;
  • becoming a member of the European Commission’s consultative forum on EU external aviation policy, receiving recognition by the EC that regional aviation is a key enabler of European policy in its Future EU Aviation Strategy;
  • lobbying the Commission to accept reasonable and justified exemptions for Enhanced Surveillance (ADS-B) retrofit;
  • responding to formal consultations on passenger rights, slot regulation, airport charges, state aid, the implementation of CORS IA in the EU, EASA’s European Plan for Aviation Safety, the proposed lifting of alcohol licensing exemption at UK airports to combat unruly passenger behaviour, Aviation 2050 Strategy for the UK, and the deployment plans for SESAR;
  • publishing guidance to members on disruptive passengers, Brexit and will soon be launching ER A’s study on EU261 regulation; and
  • holding nine group meetings on air safety, operations and industry affairs and a Chief Financial Officers’ meeting, our annual spring Regional Airline Conference and a mid-year Airline Presidents’ Summit.

 

Key priorities

This year I was tasked with leading, together with our Legal Counsel Sean Gates and with contributions from various members and industry experts, a study into regulation EU261 from a specific ER A perspective. With various national and European courts re-interpreting the current EU261 legislation, airlines are being penalised even for circumstances totally beyond their control, which is frustrating for all airlines but most especially for small to medium-sized carriers. Our study – which will be available for all members to read once launched and published on our website – is part of our campaign to restore the balance, as EU261 bears significantly more heavily on our sector and our members than on larger airlines, especially in light of how the regulation has been interpreted by the CJEU. This is both anticompetitive and unfair. This additional exposure and its existential threat to regional operators has until today been ignored by the EU institutions, though the Canadian Air Passenger Protection Regulations: SOR/2019-150, which has just been published recognises and protects regional carriers in terms of the amount of compensation payable. The Commission has itself engaged consultancy company Steer to assess the regulation and we have urged the Commission to take ER A’s views in their analysis which will be published towards the end of the year.

Without doubt, another topic with key industry focus of the moment is air transport sustainability. Urgent action is required from all sectors of the industry in communicating our environmental efforts and aviation sustainability. This action is required by both ERA itself and its members. This work is needed to meet the social demands and thirst for information by consumers as well as to promote aviation to governments to avoid further taxes on operators. Consultations and lobbying with the European Commission, member states, European Parliament and other industry associations are ongoing to ensure our member voices’ are heard and that the importance of connectivity and the social and economic development of Europe’s regions remains a critical consideration.

In conjunction with the above work from the team, the ERA Board is working effectively to focus on strategic issues for the association, including EU261, Brexit, pilot and skills shortages, safety and security, sustainable aviation, as well as ensuring best practices in governance and the financial stability of the association.

I look forward to meeting many of you at the General Assembly and to enjoying the many opportunities I have to engage and learn from you all. ER A is only as good as its members and it is your commitment and your contribution that makes our association one of the leading associations in Europe.