FlyingTypers Logo
#INTHEAIREVERYWHERE
FlyingTypers Ad
   Vol. 13 No. 96  
Wednesday November 26, 2014

Tony Tyler's Uber Overspeak

Tony Tyler's Uber Overspeak

     There’s no shortage of IATA press releases. Not surprisingly, these press releases often convey the IATA spin-doctors’ perspective on events and trends rather than a mere objective accounting of facts.
     While it is IATA’s genuine right as an industry association to stand up for what it considers to be the best interest of the air transport industry as a whole, sometimes facts tend to backfire as the spin takes on a life of its own.


Uber Car Most Admired?

     Back in June 2014, Tony Tyler, DG of IATA spoke at the Air Transport IT Summit in Brussels, focusing on the benefits of proper IT and its importance for the bottom line and future of aviation per se.
     Mr. Tyler opined the obvious—that airlines “need to keep their customers happy, so that they want to return.”
     He urged listeners to “always remember that we fly people and cargo, not planes” and that an airline's “mindset has to be oriented to view things from the perspective of the customer in all that they do—including how they design, integrate, and implement IT systems.”
     In order to further illustrate the point, Mr. Tyler also declared:
     “We certainly see this occurring outside of aviation—just look at companies like Uber, Airbnb, Pandora and Open Table that created new market niches by identifying consumer needs and meeting them using existing and emerging IT.
     “There are lessons here both in terms of the power of creative, customer-focused thinking and the speed-to-market with which innovations are being introduced,” Tony Tyler said.
     When you think about those concerned with the privacy of their data being handed over to airlines, ground handling providers, travel agents, and other stakeholders in the air transport business, Tyler’s choices in illustrating his points may not have been well thought out, and may even be worrisome.
     We are thinking specifically about Tyler’s choice of Uber and Airbnb as companies to admire, as ongoing revelations this year have cast widespread doubt that either outfit is one that air cargo should aspire to be like.
Uber      For those unfamiliar with the Uber business model:
     Uber is a non-asset based transportation provider competing with cabs, minicabs, and taxis via a smartphone app that allows one to book transport.
     The transportation is provided by anyone whose vehicle has signed up and been accepted by Uber.
     Whether the vehicle is properly insured, whether VAT is deducted by the driver and any taxes are paid at all, and whether or not the driver and/or his vehicle are licensed by the appropriate national authorities is neither verifiable by Uber nor the passenger.
     Some other revelations about Uber:
     Recently one report said Uber manager Emil Michael disclosed plans to spend in excess of 1 million USD to dig up compromising facts about journalists being overly critical toward Uber.
     Another report noted the Uber software apparently also includes a function dubbed “god view,” where pretty much anyone working for Uber is able to access all customer data including a complete transport profile.
Airbnb     As for Airbnb, a day rental service that matches up apartment space with renters via the web, there have been several reports of dissatisfaction amongst people living in residential buildings—The State of New York is coming down especially heavy on Airbnb , stating that “more than 72 percent of all Airbnb day rentals are illegal,” according to New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
     “There are serious concerns about the proliferation of illegal hotels and the impact of Airbnb and sites like it on the City of New York,” Eric Schneiderman emphasized.
     “We must ensure that, as online marketplaces revolutionize the way we live, laws designed to promote safety and quality-of-life are not forsaken under the pretext of innovation,” the AG said.
     Real Estate Board of New York President Steven Spinola adds:
     “We have serious concerns for the safety of residents who live in buildings with apartments that are rented by the day.
     “Hotels correctly are required to have a higher building code standard than residential buildings to protect the public. We also question the appropriateness of purchasers or renters discovering different people moving in and out after correctly assuming they had purchased or rented in a residential building, not a transient hotel.”
     In New York especially, where buildings in every Manhattan neighborhood are becoming wholly remodeled and turned into exorbitantly expensive housing, the concern with Airbnb arises not so much with a single renter subletting a spare room via the Airbnb service, but rather a corporation purchasing an entire building and turning it into a makeshift Airbnb hotel. Not only does this limit the already sparse housing situation in NYC, but it also provides an illegal hotel model that exists outside hotel code standards.
     IATA may want to be more careful with whose business models they associate themselves.
     But the good common sense held by most air cargo stakeholders would indicate that at least some of what IATA says goes in one ear and out the other, including industry number projections that are either behind the curve or regularly all over the lot.
     But since the Tyler faux pas was raised at an IT gathering, we shouldn’t forget IATA’s last attempt to create software for air cargo aimed at the end-user.
     “EasyDGR” met a pretty devastating end. The much ballyhooed IATA software, which would issue shipper’s declarations for dangerous goods, was unceremoniously pulled off the market because IATA was unable to adapt their own software to their own set of regulations—something we might recall their commercial competitors had no trouble doing.

Predicting Reality Check

     According to IATA’s own figures, worldwide penetration for e-AWB in air cargo stands at 19.9 percent.
While that number may show at least some upward movement, it is important to recall that IATA originally told us in 2010 that the e-AWB number would be 100 percent by 2014.
Jens


If You Missed Any Of The Previous 3 Issues Of FlyingTypers
Access complete issue by clicking on issue icon or
Access specific articles by clicking on article title

FT111314Vol 13. No. 93
New FedEx COO Recaps Pacific
Hapag Lloyd Looking Better
Air Options As ILWU Go Slow
Best Cargo Area Hotel On Earth
Chuckles For November 13, 2014
FT111714
Vol 13. No. 94
Andreas Otto Has Pizzazz
Ports On Ice Move Air Prospects Up
Lufthansa To The Rescue
Chuckles For November 17, 2014
Giving Thanks With Harold