Why did you decide to take up the ‘hot seat’ at IATA?

After over three decades at Cathay Pacific, the last four years as its CEO, it was time for me to start thinking about what to do next.
I certainly was not ready to retire. I was on the IATA Board of Governors and had the honour to serve as its chairman in 2009–2010, so I knew the organisation and its work fairly well. When the opportunity arose, I decided to throw my hat into the ring.

Of course I did that with purpose. I am a firm believer that air transport is an important force for good in the world. It connects economies, business and people in a way that has turned our planet into a community. Along with the virtual connectivity of the Internet, the physical mobility of air transport has defined modern life. I looked on the opportunity to lead an organisation that plays such a pivotal role in air transport as a great challenge. I am always up for a good challenge and IATA is certainly providing that.

Is it inevitable that, in 20–30 years’ time, there will only be four or five ‘super’ airlines?

For an industry that changes as much as aviation, a lot can happen in two or three decades. It is equally true that a lot of things can remain the same – like the bilateral system, which has been with us since 1945. This year the world’s airlines expect to carry 2.8 billion passengers, and historically aviation has grown at a rate of about 6% per year. The largest airline in 2010 carried just over 110 million passengers or around 4% of the total. So looking from the perspective of 2011, an industry dominated by four or five mega carriers each serving over 600 million passengers a year is probably not going to be the future for airlines anytime soon.

Should the world be concerned about a potential future shortfall in airport capacity?

Yes. But it is not the world so much as local governments. Business people need to travel and goods need to get to market. Companies will locate in areas where there is sufficient capacity to meet their needs. And they will relocate if those needs cannot be met. 

Connectivity drives the global economy. This is not just about the Internet. It is about having the mobility to drive your business globally.

Those countries that are investing in airport infrastructure are increasing their relevance in the world. We see this in the Gulf and in many points in Asia. But I am very concerned about Europe and a few key bottlenecks elsewhere like São Paolo. We need to help governments to understand that failure to build effective capacity to facilitate growth is equivalent to taking a decision to shrink your economy. 

Justifying a failure to invest in infrastructure in the name of the environment is deceitful and false. Emissions can be managed with newer technology, improved operations, globally coordinated economic measures and more efficient infrastructure. Failure to build infrastructure either results in inefficiencies that increase emissions or that shift the issue to a different location. 

How would you describe your style of leadership, and will it differ greatly from your predecessors’?

Everybody has a different leadership style. But results are more important than style. IATA’s mission is to deliver value to our member airlines. That is what we need to do.

The last decade brought some unprecedented challenges. It started with 9/11 and the need to secure the industry against new kinds of terrorist threats. We also had SARS, H1N1, new business models, rising oil prices, natural disasters and economic crises. And we had to get our act together on climate change. If you look at how we met these challenges, the greatest successes have one thing in common – a combined effort by all those involved. 

We live in an industry with a complex value chain and a lot of stakeholders whose interests will not always be 100% aligned. That is understandable. But the best way to get things done is to find the common ground that allows us to work together and deliver results. This is nothing new. It is how we have improved safety virtually since the day the industry began. My goal will be to build on and develop this approach to deal with the many issues that aviation faces.

Bisignani was, at times, a fierce critic of airports on the subject of user charges. Can we expect more of the same from you?

Giovanni and I have different styles, but we face the same challenges. And the reality is that, in some cases, airport charges are a major issue for our members. They are equal to about 9% of our revenues. 

Airports should understand that their charges could constitute a very large proportion of the marginal cash costs of a new route – which is what matters when airlines are weighing up whether to launch a new service or frequency.  Besides, airfares have been falling for decades in real terms, while many of our costs have not. One of IATA’s key functions is to articulate clearly what is not acceptable. IATA has a good track record of raising awareness of the issues and encouraging a more customer-focused mindset in the managements of many airports.

It is not a win-lose scenario. I plan to take a cooperative approach to achieving solutions that are good for both airlines and the airport.

Do today’s airline and airport bosses need to be politicians and top communicators as well as good businessmen/women?

Yes. It is a complicated business with a lot of stakeholders. The job of a CEO – airline or airport – is about more than having solid business skills. Aviation is a high-profile industry. It is a plus point that we are top of mind with many politicians and in many communities. 

The communications and political skills of the CEOs are needed to keep it from being a lightning rod for criticism. Transport links are critical to any community. Despite having connected the world virtually with the technology of the Internet, no city can advance economically without efficient transport and logistics links – especially air transport. 

Here is one key challenge. We’re great at some things in this industry, but not too good at communication. Too often we talk to each other and fail to realise that our message isn’t reaching the outside world. Aviation has many strong points, but effective communication is not among them. The reality of today is that advocacy has never been more important – to achieve common sense solutions on climate change, to avoid crippling taxes and to ensure adequate infrastructure capacity.