Travel technology giant Travelport is calling for efforts to establish a crisis management system be reinvigorated after the chaos of the European volcanic ash cloud.
The message has come from the very top of the business, president and chief executive Jeff Clarke, after passengers were left stranded around the world as airspace closures across the continent forced airlines to ground their aircraft.
Clarke says the formation of such a body is imperative in order to coordinate the airline industry's response to emergencies such as what took place since April 15 when a volcanic ash cloud from Iceland crippled the sector.
Efforts were underway to establish such a group, known as the US-EU Task Force on Global Emergency Communications, in proposals set out as part of the Transatlantic Business Dialogue proposal discussed at a transatlantic Summit in 2009.
Travelport was involved in the discussions at the time and backed its formation.
The formation of such an organisation was being called for at that point in order to tackle the spread of the H1N1 (Bird Flu) around the world.
Travelport is now urging business leaders, governments and other organisations to speed up the process in the light of recent events in Europe.
Clarke says:
“In times of global crisis, it is imperative that government decisions on travel and trade be made with all pertinent information at hand. It’s clear that is not happening in any kind of coordinated fashion right now. I strongly urge the US and EU governments to come together and establish this Global Emergency Communications Task Force.”
Clarke says:
“In times of global crisis, it is imperative that government decisions on travel and trade be made with all pertinent information at hand. It’s clear that is not happening in any kind of coordinated fashion right now. I strongly urge the US and EU governments to come together and establish this Global Emergency Communications Task Force.”
Travelport's concerns follow those of IATA director-general and CEO, Giovanni Bisignani, who was scathing during the crisis this week about the decisions made to shut down European airspace, claiming the moves were carried out with "no risk assessment, no consultation, no coordination, and no leadership".
The remarks by Travelport coincide with two of Europe's leading tour operators, Thomas Cook and TUI Travel, also voicing concerns about the length of time it took to collect data from the ash cloud and make decisions about airspace closures.
The pair's chief executives, Manny Fontenla-Novoa and Peter Long, met with UK government officials last night to discuss the crisis. Both companies had around 100,000 customers stranded overseas during the drama.