ACTE Sees Red From Green Taxes

The Association of Corporate Travel Executives last month during its global conference in Munich announced opposition to new green taxes not used for investing in infrastructure improvements or reductions in carbon emissions. ACTE president Richard Crum voiced its opposition to such taxes at the opening of ACTE's conference. "It is very difficult to justify the logic that implementing green taxes will minimize the impact that travel has on the environment, particularly when you look at the taxes put in place so far," said Crum, also AirPlus president and CEO. "None of the money has been put into improving infrastructure that is going to have an impact on reducing airline fuel burn."

Crum cited estimates that an efficient worldwide air traffic control system would reduce fuel burn by 10 percent to 15 percent. He also said the business travel industry, including hotels, airlines and aircraft manufacturers, has stepped up voluntarily.

"History shows us green taxes will not minimize demand," Crum said. "There won't be any reduction in travel as a result. Forecasts show that travel will increase."

He said taxes deplete resources individuals or companies might put into other corporate social responsibility initiatives and create other industry cost pressures. "If governments want to make a dent in what the United Nations has estimated is 2 percent of the world's carbon emissions that are generated from air travel, the real opportunity is to fund air traffic management improvements," he said.

He suggested that rather than creating taxes that create revenue and constrain industry growth, governments should provide incentives for change, including emissions-trading programs. Therefore, Crum said ACTE is "adamantly opposed to any type of green tax that is not going to be part of the process to make a difference in travel's impact on the environment."

ACTE presented International Air Transport Association director general and CEO Giovanni Bisignani with its 2007 Corporate Social Responsibility Award for IATA's role in fuel conservation and carbon emissions control in the airline industry. IATA has embarked on a plan to invest in new technology, build efficient airport infrastructure and operate aircraft more efficiently to head off "other economic measures by the government." ACTE said under Bisignani's leadership, "IATA has pushed governments for shorter routes to save fuel, reduce emissions, and reduce the current 12 percent industrywide operating inefficiency. The air transport group is striving to lower aviation industry carbon emissions, while boosting fuel efficiency by 25 percent by the year 2025." IATA director of aviation environment Philippe Rochat accepted the award on Bisignani's behalf.

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The association named as its president-elect travel buyer and former travel management consultant Douglas Weeks, who is global sourcing manager for Herndon, Va.-based consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. He will succeed Crum, who just began his two-year term as ACTE president.

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HRG global industry affairs director Mike Platt, during a session entitled "IATA and Travel Management," said the airline organization is gearing up to change the settlement period for air tickets from monthly to weekly, which he said would deprive agencies of important cash flow. Platt called IATA "an airline club, by and for airlines," noting that the organization does not allow for meaningful travel management input on rule changes that affect buyers and agencies. British Airways general manager for global corporate sales Richard Tams said, "If you collect our money on our behalf and then sit on it for a month, it's not your money." Platt replied, "It's the customers' money. We're acting on behalf of our clients."

Platt also warned against IATA selling corporate information through its Passenger Intelligence Services, which collects data from its billing and settlement plan. "Now IATA has discovered how much money the GDSs make selling corporate data," Platt said, adding, "There's a strong likelihood of an appeal to the EU on some of the things IATA is doing."