Sorry everyone - this goes on a bit
I cannot recall off-hand but I "think" it was 23rd 24th, it was two back to back days when Willie Walsh , possibly Virgin, the CEOs of LHR, LGW and STN all had their day in court CRUCIALLY THEY WERE FIRST UP, I would expect nothing less in this country BUT hang on why the hell were then followed by a motley collection of environmentalists !
Bagso old bean - no need whatsoever to get your knickers in a twist about this as there is NO BENEFIT in being first up. In fact coming up later can be an advantage as you may wish to refer to evidence from previous witnesses (which the MPs like because it shows you are taking it seriously). As a seasoned observer of this committee (and one time witness) although some years ago, the hearings are generally arranged on themed lines so they can ask questions pertinent to the group. Usually 3,4 or 5 witnesses at a time grouped around the same type of business and only 30-45 minutes for each group.
In such a short timescale ,would you really want a Manchester witness to appear with all the London crowd? The Manchester message would get swamped by all the disagreements about what to do in London and the SE itself - just watch the video or read the transcript! Whilst I've not seen the video with MAN in as it won't load on my PC and the transcript is not yet available, I'm sure the message about the role airports outside London can play would come over loud and clear in the hearing Manchester was involved in as all the witnesses apart from NATS were from airports outside the SE.
The process is as follows
Interested parties submit written evidence
Transport Committee pledges to scrutinise the Government
and the Committee then decide which parties to interview.
All hearings are televised and transcripts published
Oral evidence - UK Parliament
So who has been giving oral evidence?
First hearing was on 19 November 2012
Witnesses: Sian Foster, General Manager, Government & External Relations, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Paul Simmons, UK Director, easyJet, Simon Buck, Chief Executive, British Air Transport Association; - so airlines.
Then Michael O’Leary, Chief Executive Officer, Ryanair, Dale Keller, Chief Executive Officer, Board of Airline Representatives in the UK, Otto Grunow, Managing Director, Finance Europe and Pacific, American Airlines, and Malcolm Day, Sales & Marketing Manager, UK & Ireland, Air China; - so more airlines
Then Mark Tanzer, Chief Executive, Association of British Travel Agents, Andrew Cooper, Director, Government & External Affairs, Thomas Cook Group, and Eddie Redfern, Head of Regulatory Affairs (Aviation), TUI Travel PLC - so tour operators and IT airlines.
Next on Monday 3 December 2012
Witnesses: Colin Matthews, Chief Executive Officer, Heathrow Airport, Stewart Wingate, Chief Executive Officer, Gatwick Airport, Glyn Jones, Managing Director, Luton Airport, and Nick Barton, Managing Director, Stansted Airport; - so London Airports
and Tim Johnson, Director, Aviation Environment Federation, Anthony Rae, Friends of the Earth, John Stewart, Chair, HACAN, Brian Ross, Stop Stansted Expansion, and Peter Barclay, Vice-Chairman, Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign - so environmental organisations who have to be involved whether you like it or not as they have some valid points to make - and would cry foul if they did not get a hearing.
Tuesday 4 December 2012
Witness: Willie Walsh, Chief Executive Officer, British Airways
Monday 10 December 2012 - with timings
1605 - Witnesses: Andrew Haines, Chief Executive, Civil Aviation Authority, Simon Hocquard, Operational Strategy & Deployment Director, NATS, Richard Deakin, Chief Executive Officer, NATS; - so regulators and airspace policy.
1645 - Robert Sinclair, Chief Executive Officer, Bristol Airport Ltd, Paul Kehoe, Chief Executive Officer, Birmingham Airport,
Andrew Harrison, Chief Operating Officer, Manchester Airports Group; so all regional airports or airports outside London if you prefer
1725 -Graeme Mason, Planning and Corporate Affairs Director, Newcastle International Airport Ltd, Craig Richmond, Chief Executive Officer, Peel Airports and Regional Executive, Vantage Airport Group, Derek Provan, Managing Director, Aberdeen Airport, Darren Caplan, Chief Executive, Airport Operators Association - more regional airports.
No transcript has yet been produced for this hearing, no doubt due to the holidays, but the video is here
Player
The next hearing is on 14 January 2013
4:05 pm
Subject: Aviation Strategy
Witness(es): Rhian Kelly CB, Director of Business Environment, Confederation of British Industry, Mike Spicer, Senior Policy Adviser, British Chamber of Commerce, Corin Taylor, Senior Economic Adviser, Institute of Directors, John Dickie, Director of Strategy and Policy, London First and Stuart Fraser, Deputy Chairman of Policy and Resources, City of London Corporation; - so national and London business associations.
Then Emma Antrobus, Policy Manager, Greater Mancheser Chamber of Commerce, Jerry Blackett, Chief Executive Officer, Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, Garry Clark, Head of Policy and Public Affairs, Scottish Chamber of Commerce and Paul Gilbert, Chairman, International Trade Committee, Liverpool Chamber of Commerce; - so regional business organisations
Then Christopher Snelling, Head of Urban Policy, Freight Transport Association, Andrew Walters, Chairman, London Biggin Hill Airport and Brandon O'Reilly, Chief Executive Officer, TAG Farnborough Airport - freight ad business aviation
All this info is available on the Transport Committee website
Transport Committee - UK Parliament
The Committee has an independent adviser who helps frame the questions they are looking at and the Committee publishes them in advance
Transport Committee pledges to scrutinise the Government
The independent adviser also assists the Committee in the formulation of the final report. Findings are reported to the Commons, printed, and published on the Parliament website. The government then usually has 60 days to reply to the committee's recommendations - and of course is not bound by the findings......
Its about turning round perceptions AND not accepting what you think you need to hear !
It certainly is - I think we just disagree how it is done - you want it all out in the open whereas what you have to do first is influence the policy makers and that is often best done initially away from the media gaze. Negotiating in public tends not to go down too well. If that doesn't work however, you can then resort to the media if necessary - such as the campaign to get Singapore A/L traffic rights many years ago.
AND thee largest building project since the Olympics is about to get underway etc etc...
Remind me what that is please?
but there is just an impression that we are pusssyfooting about too much.If they are banging on doors, well why not "let us know". Micheal O Leary would....
I'm afraid when it comes to policy influencing, why should they let you or I know exactly what is going on?. If there needs to be public involvement, such as with the Airport's campaign on APD, we will find out. This is just what O'Leary does - he doesn't always negotiate in public - only when it suits when he doesn't get his way. And there is not much evidence to suggest he has been successful - in fact I suspect he has antagonised more policy makers than not, which means his ideas may well be given less weight.
And finally (thank goodness for that)
I appreciate a major organisation may not want to air dirty washing in public but nothing changes MPs attitudes like bad publicity, being nicey nicey will simply not work !
Being nicey, nicey to MPs DOES work. You see they are NOT the policy makers. The policy makers who you need to influence first of all are the Sir Humphreys of this world (in this case at the DfT) and the Government's special advisers. You need to get your viewpoint over when policy is being made, not after the event. When they go off piste on policy and do something detrimental to your business as sometimes happens, it is often pressure from MPs that can change things.
So keeping MPs on side is usually a sensible thing for businesses to do. For example how many MP's around the region supported the second runway? Or the MAG campaign to ease bilateral constraints? Without MPs "on side" putting pressure on the policy makers, some of the achievements of previous years might never have happened. And if they want, they can say that they have achieved something for their constituencies.
Also note that there are 3 MPs from Greater Manchester on the Committee, which means that the MAN viewpoint on aviation and airport strategy will be well known. Would you want them or your side or not?
Suzeman