The Swiss Helicopter Association was founded 25 years ago. The fight against excessive regulation was and is one of their main tasks. Three founders from back then look back.
“It was a great spirit of optimism,” recalls Valair CEO Hansruedi Amrhein of March 29, 1993. Representatives from 20 companies came together at the Bern train station buffet to found today's Swiss Helicopter Association as the “Association of Swiss Helicopter Companies.” Amrhein (56) is the only member of the current SHA Board who was already involved in the founding of the SHA. “I was the smallest person at the table. My fleet consisted of a single Robinson R22,” he smiles.
“Nevertheless, it was clear to me that we would all benefit if we stood up for common interests.” It was the now deceased Air Grischa managing director Hans Küng who had rounded them up. There were lots of competitors sitting at the table. “In the beginning, it was about us being able to represent all parts of the country and all types of helicopter companies. This is the only way we could make ourselves heard by the air authority,” says Bruno Bagnoud (83), the founder of Air Glaciers. Bagnoud was on the SHA board for more than 20 years, had a significant influence on the association and its work and is now an honorary member of SHA.
It was also he who formulated the association's guiding principle at the founding meeting: “The association's first goal is to take joint action against the trend towards more rules and regulations.”
“I would have hoped for more support from our FOCA when dealing with EASA”
However, the regulation of European aviation has not declined in the last 25 years. Beat Perren (88), founder of Air Zermatt, describes it figuratively: “The original Swiss air law was a relatively small book and the American one is still manageable. In EASA aviation law, on the other hand, the rules for OPS and Flight Crew Licensing alone consist of two volumes of over 3,500 pages.”
When asked about the success or failure of their work, the three founders interviewed were rather cautious. “Although we quickly achieved a certain level of acceptance in Bern, I would have hoped for more support from our FOCA, especially when dealing with EASA,” says Bruno Bagnoud. However, SHA had certainly achieved success on some points.
“The opportunities to influence politics are very limited,” summarizes Beat Perren. “Despite all our efforts, the company has become ever more bureaucratic, complicated and therefore more expensive for all of us.” It is primarily the task of President Martin Candinas to achieve the necessary attention and acceptance in politics for industry concerns. (See interview).
Acceptance among the population
Not all problems come from Cologne and Brussels: The demands for ever more restrictive regulations for foreign landings and the closure of mountain airfields keep the association busy even a quarter of a century after its founding. Acceptance among the population is the basis for all efforts. Not only is the association working on it, but each of its members day in and day out.
Even within the industry, raising awareness is a task for the association every day, admits Hansruedi Amrhein. “Sometimes you have to jump over your own shadow. Out of ten association topics, maybe seven benefit my company. The other three are unimportant in the best case scenario. Yet I support them when I see that they are important for the industry.” Bruno Bagnoud nods: “Not everyone has the same interests and finding a common denominator is not always easy. Together, however, we have undoubtedly achieved more than if everyone had represented their interests alone.”
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By Martin Candinas, President SHA
Side by side
Anniversaries are popular occasions to look back. The SHA is also leafing through its history books on its twenty-fifth, and many ancient stories were unearthed at the anniversary general meeting. It makes sense to look back, because if you don't know your story, you can't learn anything from it.
The helicopter industry has had an eventful quarter of a century. Like almost every Swiss sector, it is under severe cost pressure and customer demands on personnel and their aircraft have grown enormously. The goals that SHA set itself 25 years ago have lost none of their relevance.
On the contrary: National and international regulation has reached an extent that many companies can barely cope with, and aircraft noise opponents and alpine conservationists are systematically fighting landing sites, training rooms and approach routes.
It is the fate of many industry associations that they seem to be fighting windmills. This requires a lot of strength and is often frustrating. That is why SHA's anniversary is also the moment to say thank you. My predecessors as president, Francesco Maurer, Hans Küng and Rudolf Joder, managing directors Dieter Neupert, Hans Schumacher, Adrian Stäger and Philip Kristensen, my current board colleagues and, on behalf of all former board members, our honorary member Bruno Bagnoud. Side by side, they have brought SHA and its concerns forward. There was a lot of work, fought, discussed and even quarreled.
The fact that not everyone always had the hay on the same stage is just as much a part of everyday life at an industry association as the fact that you hardly ever easily achieve your goals and that you sometimes have to make compromises that hurt.
Cooperation with the authorities is just as typical of an industry association. The fight against excessive regulation is not a fight against the authorities, but rather a collaboration to develop practical regulations that companies can implement sensibly. SHA will not run out of work in the next few years.
Christian Gartmann is Communications and Media Officer for the Swiss Helicopter Association (SHA). This article was published in the June issue of the Swiss aviation magazine cockpit.