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377 35 “I’m Coming Back to Montreal” 66 chance had it that Pierre Jeanniot was still at the helm of iata as one millennium passed to the next (y2k), and when the September 11 tragedy, sadly inaugurating the twenty-first century, took place. His faultless handling of these two pivotal events attracted a great deal of media attention and helped him to consolidate iata’s position as a key organization among important international decision makers. If this occurred to such acclaim at that moment in time, it is because iata, in ten years, had acquired the political stature and influence its director general and ceo had envisaged for it from the time he assumed his post in 1992. Systematically, patiently, stubbornly and strategically, Pierre Jeanniot had altered the culture of the organization in such a way as to make it a powerful medium of change for international civil aviation, and this without wielding any power over governments or international regulative organizations, nor any direct sway over the operations of the airlines for whom he was spokesperson. Regardless of certain discreet detractors in the ranks of the members, he attacked head-on those issues that were dear to him: security, administrative efficiency and respect for the environment, three values in which he deeply believed. His rich personal story, his education, his determination, his credibility as the inventor of the black box, as Operations Research practitioner and as president of a major airline company that he had masterfully shepherded from the public to the private sector, had almost providentially prepared him for his accession to this post as the commander of civil aviation. His destiny was, as it were, written in the skies! Nine years later, when he was on the verge of bowing out, exceptional circumstances had given him the opportunity to demonstrate the pertinence and effectiveness of iata in a time of crisis. Independently of the strategic advantages accruing to the organization, Pierre Jeanniot himself was vouchsafed the respectful admiration of all who are active in the sector—a recognition whose scope is unsuspected outside industry circles. It was common knowledge that in June 2002, after the members’ General Assembly, Giovanni Bisignani, his designated successor, would be taking over. (After eight years, Bisignani was himself replaced by Antony Tyler.) In the Taking Aviation to New Heights 378 meantime, after catching his breath following the chaotic sequels to September 11, Pierre Jeanniot had plenty of time carefully to prepare his departure, because, after two false exits, this one would be for real. He wanted to be certain, however, that at the moment of passing the baton, the house would be in perfect order. Of course, the record was excellent. The governance , the expression of the mission, the management of human resources, the revenues, internal and external communications and, above all, the administration had all been greatly transformed. The organizational culture had been turned 180 degrees. The member companies had seen their fees much reduced, while the provision of services had increased proportionally. iata had become financially autonomous vis-à-vis its members, which gave the management team all the freedom it needed to stay at arm’s length from the fray when circumstances required. He left his successor a choice political tool that he would be able to manipulate in his own fashion, while maintaining the same concern for effectiveness that had become iata’s trademark. However, Pierre Jeanniot wanted to resolve one last issue that irritated him: the funding of small regional clearing houses that still persisted in a few corners of the world. In addition to the central clearing house,67 whose functions had been systematized , computerized and attached to the Montreal headquarters, before his arrival there existed here and there around the world small financial entities, locally operated and also called, ambiguously, clearing houses, whose managers claimed to be part of iata. These establishments had taken upon themselves the clearing of funds from national airlines and local travel agencies. Called the Billing Settlement Plan (bsp), these regional organizations were responsible to boards often dominated by the most important local carriers. What bothered Pierre Jeanniot about these structures was that iata was cited as overseeing them, which was not the case. There were about a hundred of these local ‘clearing houses’ in almost as many countries, on all continents. After having sent accounting teams into a few of them, an act justified by the fact that iata’s name was involved, Pierre Jeanniot saw his worst fears confirmed. In...

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