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Aviation History
1994
1994 - 1629.PDF
mm, 1 N T E R N A T 1 Editorial Enquiries Editorial Fax Display Advertising Display Advertising Fax Classified Advertising Classified Advertising Fax B E 0 N A +44 +44 +44 +44 +44 +44 Telex 892084 REEDBP G P L (81)6523842 (81)6523840 (81)6523315 (81)6528981 (81)6616373 (81)6523279 Subscriptions +44 (81) 402 8491 fax: +44 (81) 402 8383 Back issues (recent copies only) +44(371)810433 Picture Library +44 (81) 652 3427 Flight Directories +44 (707) 665151 USA Newstrade Sales Enquiries +1(718)392 7477 LONDON Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton Surrey SM2 5AS, UK EDITORIAL ENQUIRES Editor Allan Winn Editor's PA Barbara Raine Deputy Editor Forbes Mutch News Editor Andrew Chuler Operations/Safety Editor David Learmounl Business Editor Kevin O'Toole Commercial Aviation Editor Kieran Daly Defence Aviation Editor Douglas Barrie Technology/Industry Editor Simon Elliott Data Systems Editor Jenny Long Editorial Assistant Kate Sarsfieid Production Editor Chris Thornton Design Editor Mike Wells Layout Sub-editor Annabel Goddard Technical Artist Tim Hall Technical Artist David Hatchard Technical Artist Giuseppe Picarella Spaceflight Correspondent Tim Furniss Photographer (Europe) Mark Wagner Display Advertisement Sales +44 +44 .44 .44 .44 +44 +44 +44 +44 +44 +44 +44 .44 .44 .44 .44 +44 .44 +44 .44 (81) 652 3842 (81) 652 3882 (81) (81) (81) 652 3882 652 3852 652 3843 (81) 652 3845 (81) 652 3835 (81) (81) (81) (81) (81) 652 3837 652 3834 652 3838 652 3847 652 3842 (81) 652 3850 (81) 652 3828 (81) 652 3848 (81) 652 8047 (81) (81) 652 8047 652 8054 (237)451756 (81) 944 5225 Group Advertisement Manager Trevor Parker+44 (81) 652 3319 Advertisement Secretary Lisa Goold .44 (81) Deputy Advertisement Manager Nick Wilcox+44 (81) Senior Area Manager Robin Gordon Area Manager Janice Lowe Advertisement Production Howard Mason +44 +44 +44 (81) (81) (81) EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST European Editor Julian Moxon 652 3315 652 3892 652 4998 652 3316 652 3267 +33 (1) 46 29 47 61 Fax +33 (1) 46 29 47 49 Munich Correspondent Andrzcj Jeziorski .49 Fax +49 Paris Correspondent Gilbert Sedbon Israel Correspondent Arie Egozi +33 .972 Moscow Correspondent Alexander Velovich +7 Fa> Sales Director (France) Pierre Mussard Representative (Italy) Romano Ferrario AMERICAS American Editor Graham Warwick Fa Washington Correspondent Ramon Lopez Fai +7 (89) (89) 689 1041 689 1045 (1)4825 5261 (3) 967 1155 (095) (095) 393 4717 393 4717 +33 (1) 46 29 46 29 +39 +1 +1 +1 +1 USA West Coast Correspondent (Los Angele: Guy Norris Fa President RBP (USA) Ray Barnes Traffic Manager Josie Cordero Fa Vice President US Sales John Tidy Fa Sales Director (Mid West and Canada) Gene Glendinning Fa Sales Director (East Coast) Robert Hancock Fa Business Development Director Sheena Robbins Fa +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 ASIA/PACIFIC Asian Editor (Singapore) Paul Lewis Australian Correspondent Paul Phelan Fax +61 Fax +61 Sales Director Mike Hancock (Singapore) Account Manager Susan Yeo Regional Representative (Japan) Shoichi Maruyama Fax +81 Fax+81 Publisher Gavin Howe .44 (2) (404) (404) (703) (703) ) (714) (714) (212) (212) (212) (714) (714) 58084 302 587 2927 594 1534 836 7443 836 8344 252 8971 252 8972 867 2080 867 2080 687 6604 756 1057 756 2514 (708) 63! (708) (703) (703) 635 0602 836 7444 836 7446 (703) 836 7444 (703) +65 +65 (70) (70) +65 +65 +65 836 7446 226 3188 227 1769 532 791 533 003 226 3188 226 3188 223 6960 (3)3234 (3) (81) 3234 1143 652 3675 For full advertisement inlormation see page 72 COMMENT UNION DUES The European Union (EU) is in dan ger of getting itself into another tangle over subsidies for airlines belonging to some of its member states. Having set itself against subsidy in principle, it is approving it in practice, thereby setting precedents which will make the eventual stopping of subsidies an almost impossible target. There may well be a case for giving an airline a "last chance" to sort itself out.-An airline can have significance in employment, social and prestige terms far beyond its com mercial significance. It may be (although there are some good exam ples which disprove this theory) that only a government or similar body can have enough strength to be able to provide that support. Much more likely is the fact that only a national government would dare to pour money into an enterprise such as an airline, from which the only possible return could be in employ ment, social or prestige terms. The EU has just rulings through the threat of stiff sanctions against those governments which did not comply: but would it ever apply them? Would the EU ever ground Air France or Olympic Airways until their sponsor gov ernments toed the line? The EU would have more power in these matters if it, not individual states, controlled the purse-strings. It does not have a very good record on centrally administered inter vention (its disastrous Common Agricultural Policy being the worst example), but, if an airline had to get its support from the EU rather than from its "Would the EU ever ground Air France or Olympic Airways until their sponsor govern ments toed the line?" approved an injection of $1 billion into Portugal's flag carrier, TAP, and is still pon dering the approval of even larger levels ($2 billion each) of governmental support for Greece's Olympic Airways and Air France. Allegedly, these will be last-chance invest ments (or debt write-offs) to allow the airlines to re-structure themselves for financially independent life in the real world. The EU has set itself up (or been set up) in the unenviable position of being the judge of whether or not such investments or write-offs are justifiable. Unfortunately, no matter how sound its judgement may be, it is a judge which, on past performance, has little or no power of enforcement. In the past, airlines have been given one- off "last-chance" subsidies for final re structuring, only to come back for more later. There can be little doubt that the same would happen again with at least some of the current candidates for support. Even worse, the French Government has made it quite clear that it will provide sup port to Air France whether or not the EU approves its current plans. Theoretically, the EU could enforce its own government, several advantages could accrue. For a start, if there were a central airline-intervention fund, all European airlines could be eli gible recipients of its largesse, no matter what their owner ship. Secondly, if a larger number of air lines qualified for re-structuring sup port, each would get a smaller amount than it might from its own government. Thirdly, it is highly unlikely that a national government would be so keen to put its intervention money into a central pot (whence it might be distributed to airlines of other countries) as it might be to support only its own. If the EU were to become the spending power rather than a toothless watchdog over the spending of others, much of the enthusi asm for propping up sick airlines could dis appear. The EU wasting taxpayers' money on undeserving causes is a much better tar get for criticism than is a national govern ment. As a central authority, it could monitor much more closely how intervention money was being spent, and simply cut off that fund ing if agreed targets were not met. A European airline-intervention fund might well avoid some of the worst failings of the CAP, because airlines form a much less potent lobby than do Europe's farmers, v Europe does not need as many airlines as it has: it would need a strong and independent body to decide which airlines it does not need, but somebody (or some body) is going to have to make that stand before any more money is wasted on distorting the market. • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 13-19 July, 1994
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