Cherif Gemayel of MEA, Laura Marin of Copa, Jim Young of the Open AXIS Group and Tina Zhang of Air China
Next time you have a client whine about high airline taxes, sluggish security lines and scarcity of US Agents at Canadian airports with pre-clearance, think of the ladies and gentlemen of BARCA.
OK, so I know we are an industry riddled with acronyms. But this one is worth adding to ACTA, CATO, TICO and so on. It’s the Board of Airline Representatives in Canada, and they meet regularly to network, share experiences and knowledge, and discuss how and who to lobby to further their goals.
Founded in 1975, BARCA comprises foreign carriers in Canada, and it was certainly an international group of suits who met at the Westin Harbour Castle this week. Some 30 reps from carriers as diverse as Japan Airlines, Transat, Air France/KLM, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qatar and Porter sat around a U-shaped table, making it feel all very UN-ish.
Up for discussion? What one member called “The old bugaboos”: security charges, fuel tax, airport rents, infrastructure costs and quality of experience for the passenger.
Oh and that insidious, creeping “cross border leakage” – an incontinent-sounding term describing those Canadians who fly out of cities such as Buffalo (where the taxes are 20 per cent of what we pay at YYZ) or Plattsburgh (1/9 the cost of Montreal’s Trudeau Airport: no wonder they market themselves as “Montreal’s second international airport”).
Sadly, however much we gripe about these costs which must be explained to the client, as someone in the room put it, “If you ask the average Canadian at Tim Horton’s how he feels about ‘ground rent at Canadian airports’, he’s not going to set cars on fire.” Nor is writing to the local newspaper complaining how much the cost of one’s holiday to some all-inclusive resort was increased outrageously by “hidden fees” going to result in a tsunami of sympathy.
Toronto Pearson’s President and CEO Lloyd McCoomb bravely stood before the crowd and explained his position, stuck between trying to maintain and improve a facility while paying millions of dollars in fixed rent to Ottawa. You could sense the relief he felt when he announced at the end of his presentation that he will be retiring.
Too bad he missed the Peculiar Presentation of the Day: Ontario MPP Tony Ruprecht, presumably there to provide tips on government lobbying but actually announcing his own retirement - and going way off-piste to promote, at length, his Anti-Aging Healing Arts Centre.
Perhaps the attendees looked a little stressed and tired? Wouldn’t you be?
