IATA urges govt’s to consider five principles for aviation regulations

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has urged governments to consider five principles when developing regulations for the aviation industry.Director General Tony Tyler said governments should

consult broadly with airlines and consumers in the industry, ensure a rigorous process for analyzing the costs and benefits of any new regulation, ensure regulations do not conflict with global standards where they exist, harmonise so that regulations are not at cross-purposes with a global industry and come up with a regulation that delivers value to passengers.

In his keynote address at the Singapore Airshow Aviation Leadership Summit, he also said aviation needs a regulatory framework that supports its global activities.”I am concerned about the negative impact of growing regulatory divergence and the proliferation of ‘unique approaches’ to regulating the industry. While created with the best of intentions, they often come with the unintended consequences of complexity and bureaucracy,” he added.Tyler said the impact of the multitude of passenger rights legislation is a growing concern.

“It is fully understandable that governments wish to set some minimum guarantees to protect passengers. But the absence of a global framework on passenger rights has seen some 50 countries implement passenger rights regimes. “Due to the lack of a global framework, an unmanageable mess of conflicting and over-lapping rules occurred. In some cases, regulations were becoming so prescriptive that airlines cannot go the extra mile for their passengers.

“It is thus imperative, for both government and industry players to have a healthy partnership, as the industry embarks on the second century of commercial aviation,” he added.Tyler said that the expanding middle class in developing markets is the biggest growth opportunity for aviation. However, he warned that the opportunity would only be realised if governments understand aviation’s role as an economic catalyst, and actively build a policy environment in which it can be successful.He highlighted taxation and infrastructure as two specific areas of concern, while reiterating the industry’s call for a global approach to managing aviation’s climate change impact.