The International Air Transport Association

The international air transport is one of the most dynamic and fastest-changing industries in the world. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is an international forward-looking and universal trade association for the world's
airlines, operating at the highest professional standards. Originally founded in 1919, it contributed a lot to the newly created International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which was reflected in the annexes of the Chicago Convention, the international treaty that still governs the international air transport today.

Today IATA represents 240 airlines in 118 countries, including Russia, comprising 84 % of scheduled international air traffic. Its mission is to represent, lead and serve the airline industry.

IATA has 63 offices in 61 countries, with its Head Office in Montreal, Executive Office in Geneva and Regional Offices in Amman, Beijing, Brussels, Johannesburg, Madrid, Miami, Moscow, Singapore and Washington. Members of the International Air Transport Association include Africa regional office, Asia-Pacific regional office, China and North Asia regional office, Europe regional office, Latin America and the Caribbean regional office, Middle East and North Africa regional office, North America regional office, Russia and the CIS regional office. The IATA Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit, held in June each year, support airline activity and help formulate industry policy and standards.

Since all airlines face a rapidly changing world, they must cooperate in order to offer a seamless service of the highest possible standard to passengers and cargo shippers. Much of that cooperation is expressed through IATA, whose mission is to ensure that people, freight and mail can move around the vast global airline network as easily as if they were on a single airline in a single country. In addition, IATA helps to ensure that all aircraft can operate safely, efficiently and economically under clearly defined rules. Safety is the number one priority for IATA. The main instrument for safety is the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) The IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) program is an internationally recognized and accepted evaluation system designed to assess the operational management and control systems of an airline. IOSA uses internationally recognized quality audit principles and is designed to conduct audits in a standardized and consistent manner. It was created in 2003 by IATA. The program is designed to assess the operational management and control systems of airlines.

For consumers, IATA simplifies the travel and shipping process. Price flexibility became increasingly important. By helping to control airline costs, IATA contributes to cheaper tickets and shipping costs. Thanks to airline
cooperation through IATA, individual passengers can make one telephone call to reserve a ticket, pay in one currency and then use the ticket on several airlines in several countries – or even return it for a cash refund.

Aviation grew rapidly over the following decades and IATA’s work duly expanded. It transformed its trade association activities to take account of the new dynamics in aviation, launching a number of important programs. IATA provides consulting and training services in many areas crucial to aviation. Training covers all aspects of aviation and ranges from beginner courses through to senior management courses. IATA controls a number of business intelligence publications and services. A number of standards are defined under the umbrella of IATA. One of the most important is the transport of dangerous goods (HAZMAT).

Despite its factual influence, the IATA is a trade group with no legislative power.

Ex. 11. Read the text again and answer these questions.

1. What is the International Air Transport Association (IATA)? When was it founded?

2. How many members does the IATA bring together?

3. What is IATA mission in providing seamless air services?

4. What advantages do the individual passengers have thanks to airline cooperation through IATA?

5. Decode IOSA. Why was this program designed by the International Air Transport Association?

6. What is the role of the IATA today?

Ex. 12. Give definitions to these word combinations.

Scheduled airtraffic, seamless service, legislative power, dangerous goods, provisional organization, airline network.

Ex. 13. Form nouns from the verbs given below.

To represent, to serve, to ensure, to control, to reserve, to face, to pay, to cost, to cooperate, to meet, to travel, to simplify, to found, to contribute, to define, to grow, to reserve, to expand, to manufacture, to cover, to assess, to meet.

Ex. 14. Translate these word combinations from Russian into English.

Всемирная торговая организация, грузоотправитель, регулярные перевозки (по расписанию), расходы по отправке груза, заказать билет, оплатить в валюте, возврат наличной суммы, четко сформулированные и доходчивые правила, сеть авиакомпаний, под эгидой всемирной торговой организации, учитывать новую динамику в авиации, охватывать все аспекты, законодательная власть.

Ex. 15. Read the text.