Cover Story
GETTING IT DONE
In the three years since he took on the job as the airline industry’s chief lobbyist, Tony Tyler has ticked off some items on the global industry’s bucket list. But there is still plenty to do, the IATA boss tells chief correspondent, Tom Ballantyne.
September 1st 2014
To the world, he is a natural born diplomat who has made the transition from CEO of Cathay Pacific Airways to the director general and CEO of the International Air Transport Association, with consummate ease. Read More »
 |
| Tony Tyler Director general and CEO IATA |
He is relentless and demanding in the pursuit of the industry’s goals across the globe, but as he sees it, he is first and foremost a passenger – and that influences his thinking as much as any meeting with a government minister or an airline boss.
“I’m a passenger. I’m one of the 3.3 billion people who fly every year and there are certain things that niggle,” he said.
“I’m one of the ones who ask ‘what’s the worst part of your journey? It’s always the security screening. I always seem to be given the pat down check. It seems to happen very often and I dislike it intensely.”
Security irritations aside, Tyler seems to be sitting in the exactly right chair at this stage in his lifelong career in aviation. He has not lost his passion for the business. If anything he seems more fired up than ever to win the battles with governments that will make life better for airlines across the globe.
Speaking to Orient Aviation in Brussels during SITA’s annual aviation IT summit, he is frank about the challenges he and the industry face. When asked if he has seen any improvement in the attitude of governments towards airlines during his time at IATA, he conceded it is easy to get discouraged when you sit where he does.
“When you meet ministers of transport and sometimes leaders of government and heads of state to give your pitch about the importance of air transport [to the global economy] or a more specific issue such as where to build an airport, you don’t expect them to say: ‘Gosh, thanks, I never thought of that, we’ll change tack immediately’.’
That’s not how it works, Tyler said. “It’s like water dripping on a stone. We’ve got to keep these messages going, keep the advocacy active, focused, targeted and consistent. Then you do see change.
“Quite often I visit a government, meet a minister and I walk out and think: ‘well, that was a waste of time, he didn’t seem to take in any of that’. But a few months later you read a news story in the trade press where you see this government has actually changed its policy or is having another look at it. You realize that actually that visit was worthwhile. That’s how it works.”
It is, he said, very different from his previous life at Cathay, where you are running a business. “You take a decision, make the change and see it happening straight away. It’s a much slower game, the game that IATA plays. But it’s a very important game and one where we do have good support from our members,” he said.
“We need that support because it has to be a team effort. IATA can do some of the thinking. Co-ordinating, convening and developing the messages, but we can’t be the only voice. We need our members to individually step up. We need our partners to step up and help put that message across.”
Tyler considers that often governments will listen to others more than they will listen to IATA. “Manufacturers, for instance, have a huge influence,” he said.
“Governments like manufacturers because they make things. They listen to them. So people like Boeing and Airbus, Rolls-Royce and GE, Embraer and Bombardier and all these guys can have a big influence. Governments can’t see the economic value we add as easily as they can see the jobs they add,” he said.
Since his move to IATA from Hong Kong, Tyler has built a reputation as a talented diplomat, not only by successfully winning over governments with his passion for a better run global aviation industry, but also for his ability to develop better co-operation with industry partners such as airports and air navigation providers.
They are relationships which have often been turbulent. Tyler has tried to build bridges with these partners by IATA being a better partner. “It means being open and approachable and not arrogant. It means sharing the credit when good work is done. I’m absolutely fine with others taking the credit as long as IATA airlines are happy,” he said.
“My members know the value IATA brings to their businesses. I don’t need to stand up and bang my drum all the time. We’re part of the plumbing of this industry. So if we are working with our partners we will achieve more than if we act as a one-man band.
“Maybe it’s my many years in Asia seeing that’s how people in Asia work that has influenced me. There, they work quietly in a collaborative manner. I think that is the way we can best add value to the industry.”
The change in style that Tyler has brought to IATA has not only been on the world stage. Soon after he arrived at IATA in Geneva, he initiated a strategy review to determine IATA’s goals and how to achieve them.
“One of the things many of my team said to me was that this was all great stuff. We had some fantastic ideas, goals and targets and so on, but we were just not effective enough as an organization to achieve these things,” he said.
Tyler decided IATA needed to more effective, With the backing of the organisation’s board, he brought in an outside consultancy to take a look at IATA’s standard operating procedures.
“As a result, we have put together a very bright internal team. We have reorganized how we do quite a lot of things. In particular, by giving the regions a bigger role. IATA was a very centralized organization with everyone reporting to the centre,” he said.
“Regional vice presidents were really only that in name and didn’t have authority. We’ve changed all that. Now the regional VPs report directly to me. They have complete responsibility for everything that goes on in their region.
“The idea is to get closer to our members and closer to our other stakeholders while still concentrating on global development and local delivery.”
Tyler said other ideas have been introduced into IATA’s decision- making processes. “I noticed everyone was involved in every decision, but no-one was really accountable for them. We’ve clarified who actually decides what, what roles people have in decisions and what the chain of responsibility is,” he said.
 |
| 'In general, infrastructure will be the biggest challenge. The current level of infrastructure on the ground and in the air is not capable of supporting growth' |
| Tony Tyler Director general and CEO IATA |
Engagement and alignment surveys have been conducted among his 1,500 employees to determine if staff understand and are committed to their roles in their organization. “ Its about establishing if everyone understands what we are trying to do, how it fits into the bigger picture, and if they want to do it.
“To simplify it, one is the head and one is the heart,” said Tyler. “Ideally, there will be high alignment and high engagement. The goal is to move up to the top quadrant. We are going in that direction, which is great. I’m not saying we are there yet. It is always going to be a work in progress, but I am pleased with the progress we have made so far.”
When asked what he regarded as IATA’s major achievements since he took over, Tyler said a big one was the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) general assembly. At the two week long meeting in Montreal in late September and October last year, the 191 states passed a resolution that committed ICAO to support development of a single global market based mechanism (MBM) to reduce carbon emissions – with a deadline for MBM options to be presented at the next ICAO general assembly in 2016.
“That was a big step forward for the industry and that was the culmination of a lot of work by a lot of people. I’m the last to claim any personal credit for that. It was a huge team effort from the industry that got us there. IATA did a great job with ATAG and the wider industry. A lot of people put their shoulders to that wheel,” he said.
Also getting a big tick was winning provisional approval for the NDC (New Distribution Capability), which was recently given final approval. “NDC is a hugely important initiative that will really improve the way airlines can operate and can market their products,” he said.
He also believes there is a real progress ahead in IATA’s goal of speeding up passenger processing with its Smart Security system. “Smart Security developed from our Check Point of the Future. Now we have got together with ACI (Airports Council International). On our own it is hard to implement it, but with the airports now fully onside we will see some good progress.”
Apart from being annoyed by constant security pat downs, Tyler is not happy that governments make little use of the information airlines provide about passengers. Considering all the requirements governments demand of airlines, he does not see a reciprocal desire to make life better for airlines.
“For example, advanced passenger information. Governments don’t seem to use it. We spend millions giving it to them. They have it for 15 or 20 hours at least. Why don’t they do something with it to facilitate the arrival of that passenger? Some 99% of passengers are no security risk,” he said.
Tyler said governments could do more to streamline security with the information they have. “Anything they can do to make the experience quicker for passengers and more cost effective for all stakeholders will drive their economies and make lives better for their citizens and visitors to their countries,” he said. It seems so obvious to me. Sometimes, the mindset of governments isn’t really at the human level.”
As for the future, Tyler said “There’s a huge, long list. It’s hard to pick any one thing that is the biggest issue. You have different airlines and different regions. They all have different priorities”.
“In general, infrastructure is going to be a big challenge. The current level of infrastructure on the ground and in the air simply is not capable of supporting the growth. In the long run, a lot needs to happen. In the medium term, there are real bottlenecks that need to be sorted out.”
Europe “is quite capable of being sorted out, but they are not being sorted out for purely financial, administrative and political reasons. The single European sky is really no closer to achievement than it was twenty years ago when we first started talking about it. It’s appalling. You’ve got to be a completely blind optimist to see anything encouraging in the current environment leading towards it,” he said.
“I am an optimist, but even my optimism is severely tested when it comes to that particular issue. Then, of course, there is airport capacity, again particularly in Europe. They can’t build new airports or new runways for environmental reasons and when they do open new runways like Frankfurt, environmental pressures cause them to ban night flights,” he said.
“I realize there are a lot of political and other problems in the way. If the industry is to help drive the world economy, then governments round the world need to get a grip of the infrastructure challenges.”
His old stamping ground of the Asia-Pacific escapes Tyler’s wrath on this particular subject. He said it is good to see Asia-Pacific governments appreciate the importance of air transport.
“They understand air transport is more than just a convenient target for taxation. They see it as a driver of their economies and social development,” he said.
“In the last 20 years, we have seen plenty of new airports [in the region]. But even there, air traffic congestion is a problem in some zones and will only worsen unless governments tackle it.
“Here again, I think governments in Asia understand they must avoid the problems that we see in Europe of over-fragmentation of management of the skies. The seamless Asian sky initiative is gathering momentum. Clearly, there are not a lot of practical results yet, but the fact governments recognize the problem and are keen to avoid some of the worst consequences of inaction is encouraging.
“You don’t need to have a single ATM authority and you certainly don’t need to give up sovereignty in the skies. There are ways of working, integrating technologically and administratively, that will get you most of the benefits.”
As he spreads the airline message across the globe Tyler is not showing any signs of burning out. Quite the opposite. “When I took the job, I knew there would be a lot of travel. In the first year or so, you need to do a bit more.
“There are certain things you’ve got to go to. It’s a great industry and I enjoy travel. I’ve been in aviation for more than a third of its commercial life. I’m always thrilled to get on an airplane and be going somewhere.”
