FNAM round table: airlines seek government strategy

Although they are inevitably weakened and legitimately worried, French airlines are not discouraged. The round table organised on 14 March on the premises of the FNAM (Fédération Nationale de l'Aviation et de ses Métiers) did not resort to group therapy, the idea being rather to identify constructive avenues to prepare for the future. " We wanted to influence the future president's choices with a great deal of enthusiasm.enthusiasm andoptimism It's a good thing that we're going to be able to work together," said Alain Battisti at the start of the morning's proceedings. However, the FNAM Chairman did not conceal the impact of recent events on an industry in pain "who was just beginning to get his head back on straight. " The Covid crisis sent airlines around the world down the lift. We were starting to climb back up the stairs, so gradually and with a lot of effort. And now the war in Ukraine leads us to believe that we'll be stuck on a plateau for a good while, or even fall back a little "says Alain Battisti. All the more so as the airlines are having to make do without some of their business travellers: " Le business traffic does not leaveor hopelessly slowsays Alain Battisti. And we imagine that this traffic, as far as domestic routes are concerned, will not return to more than the 70 or 80 % of what it was historically. ".

With this letter sent on 4 March to all the candidates in the presidential election - and of which responses will be made public - FNAM therefore hopes to start the next term of office on a sound footing. Even if this does not necessarily mean making progress on the outstanding issues, as the term of office that is coming to an end has shown...". The Air Transport Conference got off to a good start "recalls Alain Battisti. " Unfortunately, the result was an increase in taxation, and the rest was abandoned. Then the Covid crisis brought everything to a halt. So the current government can be criticised for failing to reform, but it hasn't been helped by events... You have to take reality into account. In fact, this government has been there for avoid the outright disappearance of the French airline industry. If it hadn't been for Bercy's swift intervention, we wouldn't still be sitting around this table. ".

Aware that the worst has been avoided, FNAM leaders are also aware that not all the problems have been solved. Hence this appeal to the person who will have to "settle the accounts" tomorrow. " The solution to the current crisis cannot be new loans, which increase debt even further "warns Marc Rochet, Chairman of the Economy and Competitiveness Committee. " We are calling for structural measures, such as the funding of regalian activities, which will lead to a lasting improvement in our finances and our competitiveness. ". Backed up by figures, Laurent Timsit measures the scale of the problem: " over the period 2020-2022, debt reached three billion euros, including 700 million for security. These three billion euros will be borne by the airlines if the State does not step in to pay at least part of it. This is what is at stake "says the FNAM's General Delegate.

The issue of taxes is therefore logically on the FNAM's radar. But in its plea to the candidates, the FNAM is looking further afield, and on a larger scale. Like the issue of fuelsand in particular "SAF" (Sustainable Aviation Fuel), set up as a " emergency " by FNAM officials. " Sorting out the various solutions on offer, such as hydrogen or electric aircraft, will take time. Certification of new equipment often takes seven years. That's a long time. At a time when we have an urgent need to develop the production and distribution of SAF "says Alain Battisti.

We are calling for a strategic State, because energy is a key issue.

Pascal de Izaguirre, Vice-President of the FNAM and Chairman of the Transversal Affairs Commission, said: " We are calling for The strategic statebecause there is a energy-related issues If France is unable to develop its own production sector, even though we know that the future is inevitable and that in the long term it will be compulsory to use SAF, this will pose a problem for energy independence. Another point about the strategic State: developing a new industry would also help to develop employment. ". This is also the aim of the plea made by the FNAM: not only to give airlines the means to put their finances on a sounder footing so that they can look to the future with a little more peace of mind, but also to position the industry as a possible growth lever for the major issues - and major promises - debated during the campaign. " We wanted to resonate with the major themes of the presidential campaign: air transport is an asset of national sovereignty for Franceand can constitute a lever for the reindustrialisation of the region. Two themes shared by almost all the candidates "says Pascal de Izaguirre. The ball is now in the court of the candidates for the Elysée...