Browse > Home / Commercial / Industry Leaders Address State of Region’s Air Transport at 5th Annual ALTA Airline Leaders Forum and Annual General Meeting

Industry Leaders Address State of Region’s Air Transport at 5th Annual ALTA Airline Leaders Forum and Annual General Meeting

Written by thomas · Filed Under Commercial 

December 15, 2008

thomas

— Safety, Costs and Environment Top Priorities —

— Members Appoint New ALTA Executive Committee —

MIAMI, Dec. 12 /PRNewswire/ — Over 300 industry leaders from more than 35 countries attended last week’s 5th Annual ALTA Airline Leaders Forum and Annual General Meeting in Cancun, Mexico, including the leading airline CEOs and presidents of Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as representatives from more than 40 airlines and 20 civil aviation authorities, among other industry executives.

Leaders discussed the current unprecedented industry crisis resulting from the current global economic crisis, tight credit markets, and cost uncertainties. During his opening address, ALTA President and Copa Airlines CEO Pedro Heilbron affirmed that “although the short-term outlook remains uncertain, long-term growth is expected for the Latin America and Caribbean region with passenger traffic in the region continuing to grow above the world average.”

In order to achieve this growth, the region is addressing challenges and developing actions in the areas of fragmentation, the high tax and fees environment, unsuccessful airport privatization model, infrastructure, and an under-valued air transport industry. Despite these challenges, ALTA and its members remain committed to three major priorities — safety, costs and the environment — which were the focus of discussions throughout the conference.

“Although the future is anything but certain,” added Heilbron, “governments, authorities, suppliers, airports and airlines need to work together. ALTA and its airlines will be here, working together with all of the industry players for an even brighter future awaits us.”

ADOPTED RESOLUTIONS:

ALTA’s members adopted two resolutions which passed unanimously during its Annual General Meeting calling for action on important industry issues, including a call to governments and regulatory authorities in the areas of safety, and airports and air navigation providers.

“Although the Latin America and Caribbean region has recently been out-performing other parts of the world, there is a strong need to remain competitive,” said ALTA Executive Director Alex de Gunten. “We must prepare ourselves and take these steps to minimize the effects of the crisis.”

Resolution 6/2008: ALTA members urge governing authorities and regulatory entities in charge of airport and air navigation providers to ensure that prices for services are cost based, transparent and in line with ICAO regulations. The resolution also calls for national regulations to incorporate guidelines that reflect ICAO 9082, and ensure independent oversight entities in charge of concessions, and privatizations of airports and air navigation providers.

Resolution 7/2008: ALTA members urge authorities, airports, airlines, aircraft manufacturers, insurers and other stakeholders to work together in a coordinated effort to improve operational safety in the region in accordance with recommendations and standards from ICAO (RASG-Regional Air Safety Group), IATA (IOSA-IATA Operational Safety Audit and ISAGO-IATA Safety Audit Ground Operations) and ALTA (SEI-Safety Enhancement Initiative).

NEW ALTA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:

ALTA also appointed its new six-member executive committee, responsible for guiding the association’s efforts and facilitating the development of air transport throughout the Latin America and Caribbean region. Chairman of Grupo TACA Roberto Kriete was appointed as the new president of ALTA and Fabio Villegas, CEO of Avianca, was appointed as the new Vice President of ALTA, with the rest of the executive committee as follows:

    -- President - Roberto Kriete, Chairman Grupo TACA
    -- Vice President - Fabio Villegas, CEO, Avianca
    -- Pedro Heilbron, Copa Airlines CEO
    -- Enrique Cueto, CEO, LAN Airlines
    -- Manuel Borja Chico, CEO Mexicana
    -- David Barioni Neto, TAM CEO

“ALTA will redouble its efforts to ensure that we have a safer and more efficient industry in the region,” said newly appointed ALTA President Roberto Kriete during the Forum’s closing session. “I look forward to building on the great efforts of my predecessor.”

ALTA is currently in the process of confirming dates and location for its 2009 Airline Leaders Forum with Cartagena, Colombia currently as the preferred destination.

About ALTA:

ALTA, www.alta.aero, was founded in 1980 as a non-profit airline association. Its member carriers have total revenue of more than $19 billion, operate more than 800 aircraft and employ more than 70,000 workers in Antigua, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, and in other nations the airlines serve.

Member Airlines: Aerolineas Argentinas, Aeromexico, Aeromexico Connect, Aeropostal, AeroRepublica, AeroSur, Aires, Air Jamaica, Aserca Airlines, Avianca, Bahamas Air, Caribbean Airlines, Cayman Airways, Cielos Airlines, Click, Copa Airlines, Cubana, GOL, Icaro, LAB, LAN Airlines, LAN Ecuador, LAN Peru, Liat, Mexicana, Nature Air, Pluna, Santa Barbara Airlines, Sky Airline, TACA, TACA Peru, TAM, TAM Mercosur, Tame, VARIG, VARIG LOG and Volaris. In addition, ALTA includes four Associate Airlines — Air Canada, Continental Airlines, Iberia and UPS.


SOURCE ALTA

» Próximo Post - Cayman Airways Non-Stop Flights from Washington, DC to Grand Cayman Start Today
« Post Aneterior - Las Mejores Historias sobre Ciencia, Exploración y Descubrimiento de 2008 de la NASA

Comments

¿Tiene algo que decir?

You must be logged in to post a comment.