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What they said…

"There are fundamental problems in Africa, related to standards of living. Before the airline industry can catch up, economies need to stabilise and grow. But economies need airlines…”
John T Donelly, aviation consultant, Eclat Consulting

"Do you want a job or do you not want it? We’ll give you a job with no pension at US$12 an hour, or see if someone else will give you more.

This was the situation at US Airways a few years ago. The company was ready to go out of business. The last employee contract was not approved by the union, it went straight to employees. It was literally a question of the survival of those jobs.”
John T Donelly

"We say if you sneeze in the US, we will catch a cold here.”
Pat Breslin, TGWU, Great Britain

"The industry is doubling in size every ten years.”
David Bentley, air transport writer and consultant,
Center for Asia Pacific Aviation

"We have a responsibility to support the development of trade unions in countries where they don’t exist.”
Brendan Gold, TGWU, Great Britain

"The aviation industry is rubbish. If you put £100 into a major airline, you will only have £71 now. It’s better to put your money under your bed and sleep on it. Lousy companies are not disappearing, allowing good ones to grow. Governments are bankrolling companies with no decent business plan. For the industry to get healthy we need more exits, and better, fewer airlines.”
Andrew Lobbenberg, equity research analyst, ABN-AMRO

"Some 53 low cost airlines have failed. What makes one succeed and one fail? You need to increase efficiencies in order to grow. The best model depends on the region, but the requirement for cost efficiencies remains.

Low cost routes are spiralling. Passenger numbers are increasing by 45 per cent per year. Post 9/11 it was low cost flying that brought people back. .. 1000 jobs have been created per million passengers passing through.

We will be taking a decision at our AGM on whether to enter into social dialogue.”
Jan Skeels, secretary general, European Low Fares Airlines Association

"It’s not jobs or the environment, it’s jobs and the environment, and we shall continue to develop our policies accordingly with our affiliates.”
Ingo Marowsky, Civil Aviation Secretary, ITF

"We have to stop passengers from thinking only of the price of the ticket. We want them to understand why these tickets are cheap.”
Olivier Sekai, CGT, France

"The number of ticket sales are back to pre 9/11 but profitability is not.”
Mark Pilling, Editor, Airline Business