That Was The Week That Was 22-26 February
Groundhog Week
As is so often the case in Brussels the week opened quietly, as we wait for the storm to arrive. Did we know which storm? Not really, but you can bank on Brussels to find a storm, at least once a week. So instead, on Monday we sat back and waited… Ah, here it is: the Commission takes action, takes action no less, to improve synergies between civil, defence and space industries. Be still, my beating heart. If there a word in the English language that gets pulses racing like ‘synergy’? Oh no, not likely. Still, again, still with heart racing, we look forward to the Action Plan. An Action Plan? This action plan, sorry, Action Plan intends increasing complementarity. Oh dear…
It took until Tuesday to calm down from that excitement, as you will well understand, but the rest was a good thing, because we needed to be fully rested to appreciate the fight between the travel agents, represented by both ECTAA – the travel agents and tour operators’ association – and the on-line agents, the EU Travel Tech – except, and you knew that this was coming – that is much too old school for the on-line gang. Oh no, they are not the EU Travel Tech group, they are the eu travel tech people. That is sooooo much better, so much more today (or perhaps, 2020). You can feel the vibes coming from their press releases. Oh, ah, the eu travel tech team. People too lazy to hit the shift key, but want you to feel bad about it.
Anyway, their complaint was that the airlines (one assumes that if you want to invert the capitals that should really be The Airlines) are not refunding travel agents for cancellations, sorry Cancellations. This has to stop. Aghh there is the logic. As far as our friends at the capital inverting eu travel tech group are concerned: This Has To Stop. So Much Better.
Wednesday say a return to the new normal – the raining down of state aid, this time, on airports. For a long time, the airports complained that the squeaky wheel that is the airlines were getting all the moolah. Well, the squeaky wheel has turned and now it is the airports’ turn under the spigot. First the German airports last week, with a billion euros. Now the Irish step up to the plate…. The argument for airports is stronger than the bleating from the airlines, but we do need to find a line here somewhere. Where does all this end?
And right on cue, unable to let the airports get any time to argue their case, on Thursday, up popped IATA into the frame, demanding still more public money. Airlines will not be cash positive until deep into 2022 says IATA’s by now gone DG, Alexandre de Juniac. He played the whistle, working until his last day, but IATA could not be bothered to find him a decent camera and backdrop. It says something, nothing nice.
Leading us to Friday, and a trip across the Atlantic, to a read out from the White House of a meeting of the new Secretary for Transport Peter Buttigieg and others with the CEOs of various airlines. It is a read out, but it requires you to read between the lines not out of the lines. Read it for yourself, but it is hard not to feel that maybe the stony silence from the airline side says a lot about their commitment to the Paris Accord? You be the judge.