Aviation Organizations

As I progress with my aviation career, there are numerous organizations that I can join. These organizations can be very helpful in some of the services they offer. Two organizations that I could join are American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) and National Business Aviation Association (NBAA).

The AAAE is an organization that represents airport owners and managers. They represent and lobby legislation for the aviation industry, specifically airports. They also provide services such as educational development in the form of conferences, training, and they also have professional development opportunities (AAAE). Many of these are certifications that will make members stand out among others trying to apply for an airport owner or manager position.

NBAA also represents aviation, but it instead represents business aviation in the general aviation sector. The NBAA has conferences that focus on many subjects such as insurance, taxes for businesses, and workers' compensation. (NBAA) The NBAA also lobbies congress officials in order to protect small businesses in aviation in order to keep the competitive.

These are important organizations for me to belong to in order to help me get my foot in new doors to new opportunities. These can help me stand out from other applicants to further my chance of getting hired at a higher position. Not only does it help me move up in positions, but they can also help me save money by going to conferences and learning about better ways to run an airport or programs to help me save money  on essentials such as insurance.

Benefits. (n.d.). Retrieved November 29, 2016, from https://www.nbaa.org/membership/benefits/nbaa-member-benefits-guide.pdf

About AAAE. (n.d.). Retrieved November 29, 2016, from http://www.aaae.org/about_aaae/

Aviation Emissions

As the world becomes more aware of our addiction to fossil fuels, people are trying to limit the harm we are doing by burning these fossil fuels. Some people have gone to electric cars or hybrid cars. Then there are those who just point the finger at someone else, which is where a lot of people are pointing at the aviation sector to blame. To be fair though, the aviation sector does burn a lot of fuel and produces green house gases, but contrary to believe the aviation sector only creates about 2% of the total green house gas emissions created by people. (ICAO, n.d.) This isn't as much as most people would expect, but it is also predicted that this could increase by 3-4% each year. (ICAO, n.d.) This growth, if left unchecked could become a larger problem down the road.

One agreement that has been passed and is going into effect in 2020 is the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement is not aimed specifically at the aviation industry, but all of the industries around the world. It's aim is to keep the global warming from increasing by 2 degrees Celsius.  (Fountain, 2016) What the Paris agreement does is that it caps the amount of greenhouse gases a company can produce in a year. If the company goes over this amount, they have to buy "Carbon credit" to offset the amount they went over, these are bought from projects that are trying to offset the climate change. These projects are usually forest conservation, alternative energy, and other projects that are combating global warming. (Fountain, 2016).

Under the new administration, there is a possibility that Trump will pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement. He feels that it could hurt the U.S. economy if we stay in it. However, I do not know if he will actually follow through with this since he has flipped on some areas that he campaigned against during the elections. I do feel that if the U.S. does stay in the Paris Agreement, a new market for selling "carbon credits" could be started.

There is a real concern with global warming, there have been a lot of studies done showing its existence. Is it as urgent of a matter that is being expressed, I do not know. However, it's better to take care of a problem in smaller chunks before it becomes too large of a problem to fix in a small amount of time.

References

Fountain, H. (2016, September 26). ‘Aviation’s Paris Moment’ as Nations Near Emissions Deal. Retrieved November 19, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/26/business/energy-environment/aviations-paris-moment-as-nations-near-emissions-deal.html

Aircraft Engine Emissions. (n.d.). Retrieved November 19, 2016, from http://www.icao.int/environmental-protection/Pages/aircraft-engine-emissions.aspx

Is the Airline Market really Fair?

In order to help promote international trade and business with other countries. These are “bilateral agreements that the U.S. government negotiates with other countries to provide rights for airlines to offer international passenger and cargo services.” (Novelli, 2016) A catch for the Open Skies Agreement though, is that the company can not accept subsidies from their government. Two of the airlines in this agreement are Qatar and Emirates that are said to be breaking the agreement’s policy on accepting government subsidies. Both of these airlines however are owned by their government. With this, it is claimed that both companies receive billions of dollars in subsidies, about 42 billion dollars since 2004. (M.R.,2015) These include loans that have reduced interest rates, loans from their government that don’t have to be paid back, and fuel hedging are a few to name. Fuel hedging is when an airline buys an excess of fuel now on the prediction that it will be more expensive in the future. Where the U.S. airlines are having an issue with this is that if the airline ends up losing money on this deal, their government reimburses them for the loss.

The Gulf airlines are fighting the big U.S. carriers about their use of government subsidies. One example that has been focused on is the Airlines bailout when the three airlines (Delta, United, and American Airlines) were going bankrupt. The three U.S. Airlines  have received about 70 billion since the early 2000’s. (Everington, 2015) Another report surfaced as well about U.S. airlines receiving subsidies. The report shows that the airlines received over 150 billion dollars from 1919-1998. (Reed, 2015)

The Import Export bank is a credit agency run by the government that helps outside agencies get a loan on American products. It is specifically helps them by giving these companies a lower than market interest rate on a loan. It’s purpose is to help american products become more easily available and sold around the world.

The U.S. airlines are complaining that the market is not fair for them when they are being compared to some foreign airlines, but these foreign airlines are arguing that is fair. Who is the market unfair for or is it fair? Well, I feel that there is some merit behind the airlines’ view. The U.S. airlines aren’t able to get their loans at a lower interest rate and they aren’t reimbursed on a gamble they take on fuel hedging. This puts the U.S. market at a disadvantage because these foreign airlines can charge their seats far cheaper than the U.S. carriers. However, these foreign carriers also offer a better passenger experience on average than the U.S. carriers. This means that the U.S. carriers need to step up their game before they should be screaming an unfair advantage.

Everington, J. (2015, May 15). Etihad says big three US airlines received $70bn in subsidies | The National. Retrieved November 04, 2016, from http://www.thenational.ae/business/aviation/etihad-says-big-three-us-airlines-received-70bn-in-subsidies

M.R.(2015, March 06). Airline Subsidies in the Gulf: Feeling the HEat. Retrieved November 4, 2016, from http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2015/03/airline-subsidies-gulf

Novelli, C. A. (2016, September 16). OPEN SKIES PARTNERSHIPS - state.gov. Retrieved November 4, 2016, from http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/262234.pdf

Reed, T. (2015, April 14). U.S. Airlines Have Paid the Government $250 Billion -- Amazingly, Some Claim They Are Subsidized. Retrieved November 4, 2016, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/tedreed/2015/04/14/u-s-airlines-have-paid-the-government-250-billion-amazingly-some-claim-they-are-subsidized/#5516e8576530