In My Perspective
In My Perspective
A couple of weeks ago, Airbus hosted its 10th annual Latin America & Caribbean Air Transport Seminar (ATS) in Miami. As part of its commitment to the region, Airbus conducts a series of seminars, each time in a new Latin America city, designed for airline executives to discuss the latest market trends, challenges and best practices.
In this last gathering, it struck me how far the industry has come in our region. One example is that just some years ago, a meeting like this would have required several simultaneous translators, as many attendees did not speak fluent English. Today not only did everyone speak English fluently, but may are bilingual or even trilingual. I was also struck by not only how young today’s executives are, but also by their impressive academic training, as the majority have MBAs from some of the world’s most prestigious institutions.
One of our participants seemed to capture the sentiment best when he said that “Aviation in Latin America has progressed in 15 years what it took the aviation industry worldwide 50 years.”
I am very encouraged by the breadth of today’s generation of young and dynamic executives and future industry leaders. Independent of their birthplace or airline, each seems to have embraced the entrepreneurial and creative spirit of our region’s aviation pioneers, those who drove the industry to the highest levels in the world.
With more than 30 years in the aviation industry, Rafael Alonso is the Senior Vice President of Airbus Customer Affairs for the Latin America and the Caribbean region, responsible for all Airbus commercial activities and customer relations in more than 40 countries.