European regulatory burdens and weak political influence

The heavy regulatory demands facing European carriers was discussed by four ailrine CEOs at the IATA Congress 2026 in Rio de Janeiro.

Moderator Richard Quest contrasted the lobbying power of American airlines with the weakness of European carriers, and shared that in Europe particularly the mandates that you have to follow and the difficulties of the regulatory regime and the complexity of it is phenomenal and it is not working, noting that he goes to Airlines for Europe every year and hears the same argument and the same discussion about the lack of progress and the commissioner turns up and gets the same beating up and nothing changes.

Luis Rodrigues of TAP Air Portugal shared that we are going to sue them. When pressed on the use of political influence, Luis Rodrigues of TAP Air Portugal shared that it is a different world and that we do we just do not have the same response from the European politicians, adding that “they ignore you.”