The last 10 years have not seen the overdue consolidation in the world’s airline industry. There are still too many airlines chasing too few passengers. The provision of infrastructure has been haphazard (new airports in China, new runways in the Gulf, prolific discussion in the UK). The continuing regula tory drag, and inter state imbalance, has inhibited many necessary efficiencies.

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Al-Qaeda has shown a consistent and persistent interest in Civil Aviation which has also seen itself become one of the poster children in the climate change debate. Emissions trading, offsetting, and alternative fuels , were little discussed in 1999; in 2009 they were on the front page of the websites. Printed front pages are now a part of history as are printed tickets, fixed prices and uncrowded airspace. This Lecture will explore the current environment and endeavour to encourage the participants.

2009 Beaumont Lecture

Recorded: Wednesday 25 March 2009

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About the speaker:

Robert Webb

QC, General Counsel, British
Airways 1998-2009

Robert Webb QC is General Counsel of British Airways.
He was called to the Bar in 1971 and became Queen’s Counsel in 1988. He practised as a QC for 10 years as Head of Chambers at 5 Bell Yard, London from whence he joined British Airways in 1998.
He is a Non Executive Director of the London Stock Exchange, of the BBC and of Hakluyt Ltd. He is a Bencher of the Inner Temple and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He sat as a Recorder of the Crown Court from 1993 to 1998 and is a past Chairman of the International Relations Committee of the Bar Council. He also sits on the Board of “London First”. He was for five years (1999-2005) also a Director of Air Mauritius.
He is a Trustee of the Migratory Salmon Fund, an Honorary Fellow of UNICEF, and a golfer.