Partnering to Shape Commercial Aviation’s Next Century-IATA

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) emphasized the importance of industry-government partnership as the industry embarks on the second century of commercial aviation.

Tony Tyler, IATA’s director general and chief executive officer, highlighted at Airshow Aviation Leadership Summit, on Monday , opportunities for partnerships in designing regulation, growing connectivity and planning for sustainability.

“The most salient lesson of commercial aviation’s first century is the value of partnerships. Through partnership, industry and government made flying the safest way to travel. This is a good guide as we look ahead to aviation’s next century. No matter what the challenge, solutions built in partnership between industry and government are the most durable and yield the best results,” Tyler said.

On regulation, he said that aviation needs a regulatory framework that supports its global activities. “I am concerned about the negative impact of growing regulatory divergence and the proliferation of “unique approaches” to regulating the industry. While they were created with the best of intentions, they often come with the unintended consequences of complexity and bureaucracy,” said Tyler.

Tyler suggested five guiding principles for governments when developing regulations: (1) to consult broadly, including industry and consumers; (2) ensure a rigorous process for analyzing the costs and benefits of any new regulation; (3) ensure regulations do not conflict with global standards where they exist; (4) harmonize so that regulations are not at cross-purposes with a global industry; and (5) to think what is really going to deliver value to the passenger.

Speaking on Passenger Rights, he said that, the impact of the multitude of passenger rights legislation is a growing concern.  

“It is fully understandable that governments wish to set some minimum guarantees to protect passengers.  But the absence of a global framework on passenger rights has seen some 50 countries implement passenger rights regimes. The result is becoming an unmanageable mess of conflicting and over-lapping rules. In some cases, regulations are becoming so prescriptive that airlines cannot go the extra mile for their passengers,” said Tyler.