Jetrader - May/June 2012 - 7

Q&A

Nicholas E. Calio
President and Chief Executive Officer, Airlines for America (A4A)
Jetrader spoke with Airlines for America’s President and Chief Executive Ofﬁcer Nicholas E. Calio, following the ISTAT Americas 2012 conference, where he presented the keynote address. Jetrader: Tell us about Airlines for America (A4A) and its partnership with ISTAT. How can these two organizations be mutually beneﬁcial? Nicholas E. Calio: I very much appreciated the opportunity to speak before ISTAT’s annual conference in Scottsdale and believe that our organizations are both keenly aware of the need for a strong and viable aviation industry to propel the global economy. The market for aircraft has changed dramatically in just the last 10 years and reﬂects huge investments in the world’s emerging markets. With foreign airlines growing at a signiﬁcant rate and expanding their reach, there are troubling implications for the entire U.S. economy. If the U.S. industry cannot compete globally—this should be a concern for us all. JT: What are the major challenges and biggest opportunities you see for commercial aviation in the next ﬁve to 10 years? NC: The major challenges are overregulation, an onerous tax burden, lack of productive investment in infrastructure, fuel prices and most importantly, a lack of appreciation and vision for the U.S. airline industry and its role in people’s everyday lives, creating jobs and driving economic growth. The biggest opportunity is the implementation of comprehensive policy that addresses these challenges and puts the airline industry in a position to ﬁrst, survive; and second, to thrive; and drive economic growth and job creation to an even greater degree than it does today. JT: How does A4A plan to address these challenges? NC: A4A is addressing these challenges by proposing and pursuing implementation of a National Airline Policy, which is a holistic approach that addresses the fundamental tax, regulatory and infrastructure challenges that prevent this industry from being sustainably proﬁtable and globally competitive. We are engaged in a strategic campaign to educate policymakers and the public about the state of the industry, the critical role it plays in the economy and the need for action NOW.

With foreign airlines growing at a significant rate and expanding their reach, there are troubling implications for the entire U.S. economy.
JT: What’s the A4A plan to address the ﬁve core components within this National Airline Policy? NC: The National Airline Policy seeks to reduce taxes on the airline industry and our already overburdened customers; ensure regulations are based on sound science and cost analysis; accelerate the deployment of the most cost-beneﬁcial elements of NextGen by implementing policies and procedures to use the equipment we have in place today; endorse global strategies and put in place the policies that promote business and leisure travel and tourism to, from and within the United States; and mitigate fuel costs by bolstering domestic fuel production and alternative-fuels development in an environmentally sound manner and by curbing excessive speculation in the oil futures market. Jetrader 7

http://www.naylornetwork.com/ist-nxt/

Jetrader - May/June 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Jetrader - May/June 2012