Sixty years on, BACA is in good shape

The Baltic Air Charter Association welcomes the arrival of Charter Broker, and is proud to be a part of this ground-breaking venture. We wish the magazine and its publishing team the very best wishes for the future, and hope that our mutual relationship will be long and successful.

This publication is aimed at the same specialised profession which was responsible for starting up the Baltic Air Charter Association (under its original name of the Airbrokers Association) back in 1949, which makes this our 60th anniversary year.

Formed by the Baltic Exchange in the City of London, its purpose was to bring to aircraft chartering the same standards of integrity and professionalism for which the Baltic Exchange and Chartered Institute of Shipbrokers had long been renowned.

In 1976 membership was opened to include airlines and other non members of the Exchange who could show that they operated to the same high standards set by the original Association. Members may use the facilities offered by the Exchange both for social functions and private meetings.

Our 60th anniversary falls at a time when everyone is suffering the effects of a worldwide recession, so it was with some trepidation that we started to sell tickets for our regular Spring Lunch at the Ironmonger's Hall in London. This function is about half the size of our usual main event in October, so we felt it might test the water for the Autumn show, especially since we have committed to the hire of the prestigious Guildhall for our biggest event ever, and need a good response to justify this.

This was a particular concern of mine, having just stepped into the role of Chairman, and I was afraid that the membership would dwindle away to nothing as soon as I donned my chain of office. In fact we need not have worried. The April lunch was a sell-out, as had been our Annual Awards ceremony last October, when we had people waiting outside in case of no-shows. It seems that our lunches still hold an appeal, almost certainly for the networking opportunities they provide, so we remain hopeful that our combined 60th Anniversary and Awards event in October will be well attended.

That said, we are still looking for sponsors. The glittering event will be a perfect vehicle for corporate exposure to the industry, so if anyone feels they would like to be a part of this, please get in touch.

As always the hard work in the background is conducted by our stalwart Council. We have never had so much to do, and each of us has been kept busy.

Among those new responsibilities, BACA is presently under pressure from broker members to provide a safe pair of hands for funds in transit from clients to operators. Some airlines ask for substantial deposits months in advance of the flight date, and charterers are nervous that the carrier may go out of business in the interim – as well they might, and as some have indeed done. The broker has their own interest at heart, as well as that of the client, who may well turn to them for recompense if things turn nasty.

The solution BACA is pursuing is the 'client account', a form of escrow facility which would run by BACA for its members, and intended to provide a secure depository that can be trusted by all. In fact some airlines are not too delighted about the prospect, as they are used to receiving their money in cash, well in advance, and doing with it what they will. But if the brokers use it widely and insist on it, then the airlines (particularly those who are BACA members) may have to go with the flow or lose business. It will be interesting to see how it works in due course.

Another major issue for the industry is 'auditing'. The two American independent aviation audit companies (ARG/US and Wyvern) presently dominate this field, and undertake detailed assessments of airline standards of maintenance, training, operational ability, quality control and legislative compliance. At the moment, the majority of those audited are executive jet companies in USA, but the practice has crossed the Atlantic, and some bigger European operators are starting to get ratings.

This enables the broker to obtain quickly a rundown of the maintenance status, age and 'mileage' of a specific aircraft offered, and even get detailed training backgrounds of the pilots that will fly it. This report can be presented to the client before the flight, and is an impressive seal of quality. Not only that, some major client corporations demand it, and won't allow their staff to fly without it.

BACA is now working closely with both audit firms, and can offer discounted access to the service for its members. That's yet another achievement of the hard-working Council, many of whom were not even born when BACA (in its previous form) was created. At least, with a loyal Council and an enthusiastic membership, we look in good shape to launch ourselves into the next 60 years.