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 ast
week FlyingTypers presented an exclusive report detailing the ouster of
TIACA Secretary General Daniel Fernandez, despite his April re-election
(by 11 to 1, and for the 7th time) to a two-year term, and the resignation
of two high profile Board members Issa Baluch and Chris Leach.
Here, TIACA Board Chairman Oliver Evans answers some of our questions
about that activity.
If this text reads a bit like boilerplate,
or a cut and paste of speeches and position pages, stick with it, because
delivering fair and balanced news stories means everybody has their say.
We deeply appreciate that Oliver Evans took
time to answer our questions.
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Please address for our readers the recent publicity surrounding Daniel
Fernandez, and also the Issa Baluch and Chris Leach resignations from
the TIACA Board of Directors.
Issa Baluch is a universally respected air
cargo executive who has been honored everywhere and has, among other things,
served as President of FIATA.
How do you respond to Issa’s comments
in FlyingTypers, and what are your feelings about Chris Leach
resignation from The TIACA Board?
 I
hope you understand that it is inappropriate and unhelpful to our membership
to respond to comments or reported comments made by any individual.
TIACA is a well-established, distinguished,
and precious institution.
We fulfill a special role in the industry
in that our membership is open to companies small and large in every segment
of our industry from shippers to forwarders, airlines, integrators, and
every imaginable supplier to the air supply chain.
 We
take very seriously our responsibility to create platforms for knowledge
exchange and networking, and to advance the agenda of the industry and
its most pressing issues through the work and interactions of our many
committees.
Like any company or association, members
join the Board or step down according to their personal circumstances.
We are very fortunate to have had, and to
continue to have, very distinguished and dedicated captains of the industry
serving on our Board, and every departing member is warmly thanked for
his or her contribution. Although selection is subject to election by
the voting members, we actively seek to encourage diversification (geographical
and type of company) on the Board and an appropriate balance between stakeholder
groups.
I am very happy to say that the latest additions
to our Board, Mr. Edward, Mr. Kuehner, Mr. Charaf, and Mr. Al-Saleh are
not only once again outstanding representatives of our community, but
also have added, both in their person and in their company, to the diversity
of our Board.
Like any company or association, our Board
regularly reviews strategy and resources, and evaluates organizational
needs. In view of our ambition and influence, it was decided long ago
(in fact, well before the election of the current Officers) to strengthen
the team by bringing in new skills and experience.
Such organizational evolution inevitably
involves a review of all job descriptions. Daniel Fernandez had served
our Association well and loyally over the course of years, and every effort
was made by the Board to retain his services in a modified, substantial
role at TIACA.
He chose not to take up this offer and consequently
he left the company.
Why did you insist that Daniel resigned when in fact we have confirmation
from sources that he was sent a letter of termination?
I
have never stated that Daniel resigned.
Why did the Board feel it was unnecessary to discuss the reasons for this
unprecedented move with the Trustees, since they are the true owners of
the Association and its assets?
Many are still baffled as to why such drastic
action was taken.
It
is inappropriate for any member of the Board, including myself, to discuss
proceedings except to communicate decisions taken as required.
Why did the Board feel that Doug Brittin was a good choice—given
the restrictions he faces as a recent TSA employee —to interact
with the TSA?
Our
reasons have been stated in our press release and in subsequent interviews,
including my statement below.
What new revenue streams are you looking for Doug to bring in given his
lack of experience with trade shows and membership recruitment/retention?
TIACA
is constantly looking at ways of enhancing revenues, whether through trade
shows or membership.
Doug comes in as leader of a team, which,
as you know, has skilled and experienced staff and management who have
successfully accompanied several previous shows.
In the meantime, TIACA was able to recruit an
outstanding individual as Secretary General in the person of Doug Brittin.
Not only does he bring many years of air
cargo knowledge and experience gained both on the side of industry and
on the regulatory side, he also possesses the necessary skills to maintain
and enhance TIACA’s various sources of revenue and to enable the
appropriate support to our very important industry agenda.
Is there a plan to farm out to third parties the major revenue generating
TIACA trade shows etc.?
There
is no plan to outsource any major activity of the Association, but of
course it is normal for the Board to continuously review strategy and
options.
 |
As we have looked further into this story,
we acknowledge that Oliver is right; he never said Daniel resigned—a
blogger reported that.
As we understand it, Daniel Fernandez did
not “leave” TIACA; his employment was terminated in a letter
from Oliver Evans, TIACA Chairman.
But looking further into Daniel’s
sudden and surprise departure from TIACA, the “substantial role”
verbiage used by TIACA in its original press release appears to be more
rhetoric than reality.
How can a demotion, subject to termination
on the spot, be considered a “substantial role,” especially
since Daniel was just re-elected for two years as an officer of TIACA?
To our mind, a “substantial”
offer would have been in a contract for Daniel, which sources tell us
Doug Brittin, the new TIACA Secretary General, now has.
Setting aside for a moment how the actual separation
occurred, why did the TIACA Board not at least allow Daniel some form
of recognition for his decade-plus years of service, and give a good guy
who is well liked and respected throughout the transportation world a
chance to formally offer his farewell to the members?
If the recently completed Ram Menen retirement
tour, which lasted for over six months and was conducted all over the
world proved anything—aside for universal love for Ram—it
was that air cargo respects and takes care of its own.
And for serving TIACA well and faithfully
for so many years, Daniel Fernandez deserved more than to be taken out
of TIACA with the trash.
The perfunctory way his termination was
announced seems punitive.
Also, contrary to Oliver’s statements here,
there is to our mind nothing “inappropriate” about the Board
of a non-profit Membership Association communicating openly with its Trustees.
To us this secrecy and lack of transparency
is precisely the problem to which Issa Baluch and others are referring,
and why Issa quit the TIACA Board in protest.
Like it or not, illuminated in the resignation
and words of Issa Baluch is that TIACA is operating with a toxic import
from the private sector, which has lead to the Association agenda being
driven by a select few.
Reportedly Chris Leach's resignation was
over this situation, and we hear there may be more trustees joining Issa,
but that remains to be seen.
We also have wondered about TIACA’s new
Secretary General Doug Brittin’s TSA restrictions.
Doug at TSA proved to be a great spirit
in air cargo, a middleman who worked very well between TSA and air cargo
during some tough years of implementing mandated security regulations.
But that aside, the TSA edicts continue
and are getting even more stringent, so the challenges to air cargo are
tremendous in the upcoming year.
That begs the question: why did TIACA, while
lauding the expertise of Doug Brittin, hire someone muted by law, who
cannot represent its and therefore the air cargo industry’s vital
interests before the interests of the TSA?
We asked Oliver about outsourcing TIACA’s
prized revenue driver, the biennial ACF. The next event will be held in
2014.
Our bet is that outsourcing is exactly what
could happen, as the majority of TIACA’s staff was hired this year
and most of the in-house group now has no ACF experience.
It might be a good time for 2014 TIACA exhibitors
to look for discounts.
Our guess is the market will be heard from
in that case.
Whatever the event, our hearts go out to
the TIACA staff, which cannot feel very secure in their jobs anymore,
not after the way Daniel was treated.
What do you think?
All letters and comments are welcome.
Geoffrey |
elegates,
exhibitors, and speakers lauded this year’s FIATA World Congress
as a huge success, breathing new vigor into a logistics industry battling
against strong global headwinds.
Brian
Lovell, (right) CEO of the Australian Federation of International Forwarders
Ltd, praised the organization of this year’s Congress. “The
Congress always provides delegates with a prime opportunity to exchange
ideas around complex international freight logistics issues,” he
said. “It is also a forum to hear the plans and direction for some
of the solutions. As expected the Singapore Logistics Association, together
with FIATA, organized a first class event.”
The benefits of exhibiting at the World
Congress this year were outlined by a host of executives, many of them
based in Singapore. Parag Wankhede, director presales at SCMProfit, a
Singapore-based software firm, said his company had made a number of new
contacts at the show. “We would definitely attend FIATA again,”
he added.
Stanley
Lim, (right) Immediate Past President of FIATA, said that in a rapidly
changing global trade environment, the contacts and contracts secured
at FIATA events were mutually beneficial to members. He pledged his organization
would continue to improve industry standards and look at new ways to expand
its professional training programs.
nd
Flying Typers has him!
Above
(L to R) flanked by TT Club's EMEA Regional Director, Andrew Kemp on the
left and FIATA President Stanley Lim on the right are this year’s
winners: Ms Janna Van Burgeler, Germany; Mr Kaloyan Petrov, Canada; Mr
Mohamed Samy, Egypt and Mr Prabhot Singh, India.
