+ ON THE SOAPBOX: Karl Brunjes and the Aviation Club

Karl Brünjes has stood down after five years as Chairman of the Aviation Club of the United Kingdom.  He is succeeded by Tony Whitty, SVP of AJW Group, the engine procurement and leasing specialists. 

In this special TNU SOAPBOX Brünjes reflects on his time in the chair, the normal three years extended due to the pandemic.  

"The Aviation Club is unique. It is the largest private aeronautical club of its type in the world, independent of any specific area in the aviation sector. We are not a trade organisation or lobby group, and this uniqueness must be understood, remain, and be safe-guarded.  

When I took over as Chairman in April 2018, little had changed at the Club since its foundation in 1990, yet the aviation sector had changed greatly.  Since the Club was founded new trade and lobby groups had been founded, existing ones merged and enlarged as the sector quickly grew. These organisations run to a different financial model to a private club, block corporate membership ensures very large memberships and sponsorship, all very good as that is their purpose, to push the interests directly of their members.  By being a private members' club we are supportive of all areas of the commercial aviation sector, but not tied, and therefore not beholding, to any, thus the Club provides a unique platform for debate and discussion on all issues and areas within the commercial aviation sector.

When becoming Chair in 2018 I stated that for the Club to remain viable we needed to remain relevant.  To achieve this we needed to build upon the excellent foundations and reputation established by all the previous Chairs and Club Committees.  We needed to expand the range and scope of events offered by the Club, raise our international profile in this most international of sectors, improve the tangible benefits of membership, and importantly source more revenue streams to ensure the Club’s financial standing, my mantra being “we are a not-for-profit organisation but must be a not-for-loss one as well!”  

In my time the Committee was re-structured and established working groups to focus upon specific issues. It now has Working Groups that cover Young Aviation Professionals (YAPs), Benefits and Membership (BAM), International and Forum events, along with the established but renamed Speakers Working Group.  The changes the Committee put into action over the last five years have borne fruit.  The Club now has twice the number of Corporate Supporters and holds twice as many events annually than it did in 2018.  The rapid improvement in the Club’s finances from 2018-2020 allowed the Club to weather the pandemic storm, although the almost two years of the pandemic have, as with all businesses and clubs, had a financial impact. That said, the Club has bounced back very strongly, our recovery ahead of our expectations.  The Covid pandemic merely delayed, it has not put off course, the expansion of the Club activities and its increasing presence in the aviation sector, nationally and internationally.  

Over the past year we’ve had again excellent speakers at our London lunches. We hosted Adel Ali, Founder and CEO, Air Arabia; Ed Bastion, CEO, Delta Airlines; Stan Deal, CEO, Boeing Commercial Aircraft; Guillaume Faury, CEO, Airbus; Shai Weiss, CEO, Virgin Atlantic; Jonathan Hinkles, CEO, Loganair; and most recently Jozcef Varadi, Co-Founder and CEO, Wizz Air.  Covid still impacted our international events, notably so in Asia, but we did hold two packed dinners in Dublin where Steve Udvar-Hazy, Founder and Chairman of ALC and Andy Cronin, CEO of Avolon were our guest speakers.  

But who would have believed what has happened in the last five years.  Our next Guest of Honour is John Holland-Kaye, CEO of Heathrow Airport, who is also about to stand down. He was a speaker back in 2015.  His airport passengers number reflect what we have been through; 80.9m in 2019, 22m for 2020, 19.4m 2021, 62m 2022, and if all goes well an expected 73m for this year.  The Heathrow third runway is not forgotten, I’m sure he’ll cover these issues when he speaks in June.

Over the years we’ve had the CEOs of all the major airframe and engine OEMs speaking at the Club, and the CEOs of a majority of major airlines and flag carriers speaking too.  Carolyn McCall, when she was in charge of easyJet, all the Director-Generals of IATA through three decades, many a Secretary of State for Transport, the heads of the CAA, NATS, FAA, and some who are not with us any longer and whose names may not be familiar to our younger Members including Sir Chris Chataway, Sir Peter Masefield, Lord (Colin) Marshall of Knightsbridge and, just once, Michael O’Leary.  The current Director-General of IATA was out of work when he addressed us back in 2005 before taking over at British Airways. It proved a fine platform for the largely unknown Willie Walsh, the then BA CEO Rod Eddington making an approach. Richard Branson briefly posed with a Club tie following his address to the Club and amongst other famous guests, but not speakers, was ‘Man on the Moon’ (the second landing) Pete Conrad.  In short, the Club’s various lunches, dinners and other events attract the great and good of the commercial aviation sector, and in doing so provides a unique opportunity for members, corporate supporters and guests to interact and network and make full use of the opportunity the functions offer; this is well set to continue.

The Aviation Club has a proud history, and one that we are building upon to ensure a very bright future.  The aviation sector faces major issues ahead both economic and environmental, but it will find a way through these due to it being vital to how the modern world operates commercially and socially.  Over the last five years I have been blessed with so many hard working and effective Committee members that have got things done. I might have provided the aims and targets, but none would have been achieved without the support and efforts of the Committee, truly a team effort and I thank them all hugely.  

It has been a real privilege to be Chairman of this unique and great club, and I look forward to supporting the Club in any way I can in the years ahead."

https://aviationclub.org.uk

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READERS' COMMENT

All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 200 words maximum

Malcolm Ginsberg, Travel News Update

The Aviation Club programme for 2023 is now in place but I will raise the subject at the next committee meeting.

Jill Jones, Chelsea

The Transport Minister under Johnson, for whatever reasons, did not appear during Karl Brunjes tenure. Let us hope that the committee invites Mark Harper, who seems forward looking

Jeff Bing, Berwick on Tweed

Tony Whitty has a lot to live up to, but hopefully his term will be only three years.

James Wheeler, Chelsea

Well done to whoever thought up the idea of the banner this week. And One Stop too. Also a thankyou to Karl Brunjes for his thoughtful piece.