The European Regions Airline Association (ERA) launched a new strategy on Tuesday to help redefine “the future relationship between industry, politicians and regulators.” A document titled “The Future of Regional Aviation” attempts to lay down a strategy and a set of operating principles for the association’s “vision” and relationship with Europe’s main regulatory institutions.

Deciding in which direction to direct lobbying efforts represents one of the main problems faced by industry bodies such as the ERA. In Europe, a lack of focus on aviation exacerbates the difficulty of making one’s voice heard among the cacophony of other lobbyists.

At the media launch event to publicize the association’s new strategy, held at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London, ERA director general Simon McNamara noted that Europe has approached “an important turning point,” not least due to new political leadership in Brussels following last year’s European Parliament elections and the installation of a new set of European Commissioners. The ERA hopes to cultivate a more educated European leadership that better understands regional aviation, rather than one whose negative perceptions and “no clear vision for aviation” led to a “reactive and confrontational” relationship.

The ERA’s strategy sets out key principles in seven areas: safety, consumer issues, competition and market access, operations, infrastructure (i.e. ATC and airports), environment and security.

“The Commission and Parliament are still firming up their plans,” noted McNamara. “There is no clear vision [for aviation] yet, so this is an opportunity to drive that vision.” He added that the leadership at EASA and Eurocontrol had also changed recently, as have Sesar JU (Single European Sky ATM Research Joint Undertaking) and DG MOVE (Directorate General for Mobility and Transport), which represents the ERA’s first target within the new Commission due to its relatively small size. DG MOVE consists of some 40 people.

McNamara characterized the previous four-year session as “not a resounding success” for European aviation, not least due to the Emissions Trading “disaster” and lack of progress on the Single European Sky. “But in the new chapter we believe that we can work together [with the European institutions],” he said.

Boet Kreiken, CEO and managing director of KLM Cityhopper and the current ERA president, lamented the lack of an “integrated view.”

“One of the problems is that all [the issues] are very compartmentalized,” he said. “What is completely lacking is how it all comes together to the benefit of Europe. We have to act on a total package so we engage the Commission on aviation policy.” He reflected that rather than taking complicated steps such as ETS, the Commission could have helped airlines to finance newer, cleaner, more efficient aircraft through the financial crisis.

Kreiken complimented U.S. stakeholders for moving to consolidate hubs and streamline regional operations owned largely by the majors but representing half of all movements. The European system remains inefficient; load factors are low, carriers can’t grow fast enough to become sustainable and the industry has seen few new market entrants. In addition, existing airlines “stay too national,” said Kreiken.

“The European market is one of the toughest in the world,” he said, adding that the very different treatment by governments compounds the problem. “It’s time governments recognized the value of the connections to the regions and also for worldwide connectivity. The small fingers of the octopus are the regional airlines.” To survive, many regional carriers in Europe now perform ACMI services for low-cost carriers, majors and cargo operators. Thirty-nine out of 51 offer ACMI, said Kreiken.

Finally, the Commission’s Europe 2020 initiative could represent “good news, as they want to kickstart the European economy,” concluded the ERA president. “It has been the doldrums for too long.”