IATA calls for global war risk insurance scheme

International Air Transport Association director general Pierre Jeanniot has criticised the airline industry for blaming its worst losses in history solely on the September 11 attacks. “We cannot blame all of our poor results on external factors,” Jeanniot told a recent Airline Financial Summit in New York. “Even before September 11 the industry was ill-prepared to weather successfully even a fairly mild regular economic cycle.” A review of overheads and inefficiencies is an urgent imperative, according to Jeanniot. Airlines need to accelerate route restructuring programmes, fleet simplification activities and examine refinancing options, he said. “In the search for lower unit costs, everything needs to be revisited and questioned again, with the two notable exceptions of safety and security.” According to internet news service SchedNet, Jeanniot advocated a global system of cost-effective third party war risk insurance, provided by a single company and financed through normal channels, which he said would complement a return to profitability. And he called on governments to permit “efficient restructuring” by worrying less about the fate of their national carriers and more about whether their countries had access to good air services at fair prices.