AGENDA SETTERS AND INDUSTRY INFLUENCERS
CHRIS GRAYLING, SECRETARY OF STATE FOR TRANSPORT In July 2016, following Theresa May winning the Conservative vote to become prime min- ister, Chris Grayling was named transport secretary, replacing Patrick McLoughlin. One of his first major acts was to over-
haul an outdated UK rail network, with plans to join up the operations of tracks and trains. He also wants the country’s first fully-privatised rail line, linking Oxford and Cambridge. Not surprisingly, with the
words ‘rail’ and ‘privatisation’ he faces a battle with the unions. There is also the small matter of airport expansion, with Grayling confirming last year that Heathrow had won the long drawn- out process – but promptly announced a year-long consultation process, allowing MPs and the public to voice their concerns. This will expire towards the end of 2017, so expect Grayling to feel the wrath of the sector if he kicks this political football for longer than necessary.
CHRISTOPH MUELLER, CHIEF DIGITAL AND INNOVATION OFFICER, EMIRATES In 2015, Christoph Mueller was charged with turning round Malaysia Airlines, which was on the verge of bankruptcy following two major disasters with flights MH370 and MH17. However, a year into his three-year tenure Mueller quit, citing personal reasons. A few months later he was snapped up by Emirates as its chief digital and innovation officer, with the Gulf carrier embarking on a ‘digital disruption’ programme. At a recent event, Emirates CEO Tim Clark said Mueller’s role was to look at escap-
ing the constraints of legacy distribution systems after warning that the GDSs are no longer “fit for purpose”. For 2017, Mueller will also be expected to drive Emirates’ ‘open architecture’ platform, which will be driven by blockchain technology –the ‘distributed database’ that underpins and records all Bitcoin transactions.
BJORN KJOS,
CEO, NORWEGIAN AIR SHUTTLE At the end of last year Norwegian finally got its long-awaited application for a foreign carrier permit approved by the US. This enables the airline to establish a subsidiary in Ireland to grow its low-cost transatlantic model – something it has been fighting for over the last few years. It comes at a time when its long-haul traffic figures jumped significantly – a good indication of the long-term success of the airline.
Less than 24 hours after the decision, Nor- wegian announced a tranche of new daily routes from Cork and Shannon to the US east coast with the promise of expanding the transatlantic routes in the “near future”. Many have tried to offer options such as
low-cost and all-business class on the lucrative UK-US routes, but few have succeeded. Bjorn Kjos has been praised across the industry with the direction he is taking Norwegian, and its rivals will be watching closely as to how this model will unfold this year.
VIOLETA BULC, EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER FOR TRANSPORT In the weeks after the historical vote on the UK leaving the EU, business leaders across the industry were fielding question after question on Brexit and, as regards the aviation market, all queries were met with more-or-less the same response: “We will carry on as normal.” However, there is one issue that still does concern certain airline chiefs, and that is air
traffic access across Europe. Easyjet CEO Carolyn McCall recently warned: “Currently we have a very liberal and deregulated aviation agreement. We can travel freely across 28 states and so can everyone else. No-one really knows what’s going to happen with that.” And this is where Violeta Bulc has an important role to play. She is also deeply
involved in the EU’s Aviation Strategy, which was rolled out last year and covers airport congestion, passenger rights and restrictions on foreign ownership and investment.
BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM BBT January/February 2017 71
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