French newspaper Les Echos has reported that European and US government representatives have reached an agreement on export credit. A compromise deal was reached on Friday that aims to give airlines based in the home countries access to the cheaper source of funding, while the Bombardier C series will also qualify for support. Details of the exact wording of the deal have not yet been confirmed but the report says a final agreement could be signed today if there is no refusal from Washington and the new rules will be in force from February 1 next year.
The statistic quoted by the French newspaper that one third of sales of Airbus aircraft in 2009 was financing using export credit demonstrates the importance of keeping the guarantees in place to the French manufacturer and the French economy. There was no way the respective home country governments of: France, Germany, Spain, the UK and the US, would risk protests at home by eliminating access to the funding stream altogether which opponents would certainly point towards the impact on their manufacturing businesses following such a deep recession. Airlines based in those countries would argue of course that they too are employers and drivers of the economy but airlines are too often the target for blame because of delays, cancelled flights, strikes or protest from the environmental lobbyists.
Meanwhile as the British public and government attempt to paint targets on BAA senior staff for the collapse of London Heathrow over the past five days maybe the same group of people will finally realise that you cannot expect an airport to operate at close to 99% capacity and expect it to run smoothly when something disrupts the schedule. BAA need to get this message across at speed before executive heads roll.