Getting With the Program - Carlson Wagonlit Travel

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22 Priorities for Mobility“The more people travel, the morewe can reconcile interests”Jacques Barrot, Vice President of the European Commission and Commissionerfor Transport, answers questions from travel managers and CWT professionals.Question: Is there any way to segment business travelers through the securityprocess to make it more efficient for them?Jacques Barrot: I have seen a few interesting attempts where airports have created aVIP service for business people to avoid long lines. The problem is to convince airportsto create systems that will enable all business travelers to save time. Airports have to dealwith a significant increase in traffic so they tend to think mainly in terms of how tomanage aircraft capacity, but they should also think in terms of quality of service. I amgoing to try to work toward this with a few airports.Question: Companies have no direct access to the European Commission, unlikeairlines and travel agencies. What can be done to ensure that companies areconsulted on important issues?Jacques Barrot: You are right: the voice of companies that use transport is not heardenough in the Commission and we need to improve on that. Please write to me topoint out any situation that seems to harm the interests of companies with businesstravelers. You really should not hesitate. We are there to supervise what is happeningand it is much less problematic for us than for member states. Since the EuropeanCommission is independent, we can arbitrate without having to consider partisan politics.I have sworn to serve the European general interest and that means fair competition.
CWTvIsIon Issue 3 - January 200823Question: You have talked about eliminating state subsidies in the EU. What doyou think about Chapter 11 and how it helps American carriers?Jacques Barrot: This was one of the problems we had with signing the Open Skiesagreement: the fact that, in some cases, American authorities have lent significant helpto companies. In fact, Chapter 11 has helped prevent some American companies frombeing liquidated. Within the Open Skies agreement, we have agreed that Europe wouldbe rigorous on public subsidies and that the United States would make a similar effort.There is one point that we did not settle in the first phase of the Open Skies agreementand that is ownership. We would like there to be more freedom to invest, so thatEuropeans can buy American companies and vice versa. The U.S. Congress refused,with support from the trade unions. The unions were afraid European buyouts wouldlead to the closure of certain routes and job cuts. I think this is a short-term view and,in reality, everyone would benefit if investments were liberalized on both sides of theAtlantic.Question: Based on the experience of emissions trading in other regions andother industries, how can Europe avoid the drawbacks?Jacques Barrot: There are real drawbacks to emissions trading schemes but theadvantages outweigh them considerably. This said, it all depends on quotas. If you fixrelatively limited quotas, there is a much smaller risk of negative effects. We are leaningtoward limited quotas to avoid too much trading and provide airlines with an incentiveto buy cleaner aircraft. We also have a major research program across the aviationindustry and we have seen real progress. In just a few years, emissions from kerosenehave dropped by 30 percent thanks to lighter planes and better engines. In addition,we have a program with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to develop pilotingand landing techniques that are much more energy-efficient. We have also seenconsiderable progress here. It is in our interest to act because, as you will see,environmental issues will become increasingly urgent. Aviation needs to accept a certainamount of discipline and airlines have understood this. It is the price to pay so thatpeople can continue to fly without a guilty conscience.Question: Do you think it will be necessary to limit the number of airlines enteringthe market to help stabilize the industry, balancing competition with survivability?Jacques Barrot: We need to leave the market open. We need new airlines, given thegrowth forecasts for worldwide traffic. But we need to be very strict not just about thequality of planes and the quality of pilots but about airline management. Air transportis too important and has too much impact for us to authorize badly run airlines. In otherwords, we need to let airlines enter a booming market but we need to firmly endorsesafety requirements. The European Aviation Safety Agency needs to be unbendingabout safety and we need competent administrations to monitor it. We have seen howimportant this is in new, fast-growing member states. Competition is necessary but weneed to be fully attentive to quality and we are obliged to regulate.
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Page 52 and 53: 0Ground Transportation: Worth Anoth
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Page 56 and 57: 4In BriefIn Brief54 Snapshot56 Soun
Page 58 and 59: 6In BriefSOUNDBITE“Air travelers
Page 60 and 61: 8In BriefNumerous airlinesunveiled
Page 62: 60 In BriefINDICATORSEvolution of a

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