Ian Sheppard has acted as Editor International Show Editions for AIN since June 2013. Based in the Redhill, England, Ian reports for the various AIN publications as well as providing support to International Editor Charles Alcock in covering international air shows (such as Farnborough, Paris, Singapore and Dubai), and the EBACE and MEBA business aviation events. His central role is to cover Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
Prior to becoming more involved with AIN in mid-2011 (initially as deputy international editor), Ian worked for various aviation publications through his company, First Aerospace Media. This included being part of the AIN team covering daily news at international air shows.
Ian has worked for publications such as Flight International (technical reporter, 1997-8) and Aerospace International (editor, 1999-2000). He was publications manager at Airclaims (Ascend) between 2000 and 2004 before forming First Aerospace Media. Since mid-2009 Ian has also been managing editor of Regional International, the journal of the European Regions Airline Association (ERA).
Ian hasis working towards a European commercial pilot licence, having held an FAA private pilot license in 1991, and instructor rating. He also has a degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Bath, England, and a graduate diploma in law from Kingston University, and is a graduate of the legal practice course (College of Law, Guildford).

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Ian Sheppard

At the end of 2012 Mike Ambrose, 67, will retire as director general of ERA after serving more than 25 years in the post. The ERA board has approved the elevation of Simon McNamara, 40, to the role from his current position as deputy director general.
“When I joined ERA the industry was in a position where the commercial opportunities had been unleashed, with the prospect of total freedoms in the near future,” Ambrose told AIN. “During the first half of my time we enjoyed growth rates that were nearly always double those of the major airlines. However, in the latter years we’ve had to make radical changes at ERA’s directorate, metamorphosing from one that could rely on strong representation from member experts, to undertaking more and more activities by the directorate team itself, as members have faced severe constraints. Since 2008 we have been stretched to maintain vigorous lobbying to help protect our members from additional cost burdens, as economic viability has been increasingly hard to achieve.
“My 25 years have been full of different challenges and I’ve had a great team,” added Ambrose. “I’m happy to be leaving the organization in the hands of someone who is very capable, someone of high caliber, to look after the members’ future interests.”
New Broom 
McNamara and Ambrose agree that challenges for the ERA have changed dramatically over time. While once the ERA’s efforts yielded far more immediate results, today the directorate must attend to far longer-term, more strategic concerns. “We spend a lot of time protecting [members’] interests on things that may come to affect them only on the next CEO’s watch,” said Ambrose. “So demonstrating added value is hard.”
Serving as Ambrose’s deputy for more than two years, McNamara recognizes the magnitude of the task at hand. “The challenge we face is to remain relevant to an important and fast-changing business,” said McNamara. “A lot of the role is about the strategic protection of our industry, so it has an infrastructure and environment in which it can thrive.” 
Part of ensuring such a foundation exists will require working “incredibly closely” with the other airline associations, said McNamara, although he noted that interests do sometimes clash. “We do have different market segments, so we are not always in complete agreement,” he said. 
Still, said Ambrose, different sectors of the airline business carry largely common interests. “We have to take those points and communicate them better to politicians,” he added.
He also noted that the average size of regional aircraft has grown steadily, to an average capacity of 72 seats. Meanwhile, the fleet as a whole has evolved from one dominated by turboprops 25 years ago to one served by just as many jets. Several communities in Europe might never need more than a double daily service with a small turboprop, said Ambrose, “yet those services remain critical to the regional communities, and we don’t want them disappearing.”
Examples include Sata of the Azores and Wideroe in Norway, said McNamara, seemingly heartened by the spirit of free enterprise still evident in the industry. “There still seems to be no shortage of innovators and entrepreneurs [in our sector],” he noted.
In an ironic twist, runaway costs and red tape more than ever limit the ability of such individuals to inject the vitality the industry needs, notwithstanding the good intentions of liberalization. Under the watch of McNamara and his staff, the ERA clearly intends to continue the good fight.

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