The NATA Airline
Services Council (ASC) met last week in Washington, D.C. to conduct
one of its regular meetings as well as carry out its first annual
"Capitol Hill Morning." More than 15 company executives
attended the meeting that included appearances by Stewart Verdery
Jr., Assistant Secretary for Border and Transportation Security
Policy and Planning at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security,
and Congressman John Duncan, Jr., senior member of the House
Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure. ASC members also
visited with two-dozen key members of the U.S. House of
Representatives and Senate.
"In-person meetings are always invaluable when educating Members of
Congress and their staff about your priorities," NATA president
James K. Coyne stated. "We made great headway on a number of
issues and look forward to continuing to foster existing as well as
new relationships with key Congressional legislators."
During the regular
meeting, preceding the Capitol Hill Morning, John Willis, chairman
of the UK-based Independent Airline Handling Agents (IAHA),
provided an international perspective to the ASC members. A
significant number of ASC-member companies do business
internationally; several member companies are based offshore. Of
particular interest to the ASC were the international regulatory
and security-related issues addressed by Willis. One of the key
issues addressed by the Council was unified employee-badging
requirements. In order for an employee to work at an airport
in secured areas, the individual must be approved by up to three
separate entities and processes. This is not only costly; it
can cause delays in getting an employee approved to work.
Council members elected Jim Enright, senior vice president of human
resources for World Wide Flight Services, to the position of
chairman. He succeeds Tinamarie "TM" Legouffe of WSA Group,
who becomes the Council's Ex-Officio and remains a member of the
Steering Committee. Council members also distributed a new ASC
brochure to increase the awareness levels of Congress to the
supporting tiers of the aviation industry.
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