Larry Coyne, Founder and Chairman of Coyne Airways, and Olivier Bijaoui, former CEO of Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) were inducted into the TIACA Hall of Fame.
Coyne was recognised for building up Coyne Airways, his time as Chairman of TIACA and being a strong advocate for security after 9/11, liberalisation of cargo traffic rights and removing obstacles to growth.
Coyne was the inductee for 2020 but, due to the pandemic, this was the first time he could be honoured in person.
He explained how it all started back in December 1993 when Coyne was unemployed. He met a Russian insurance broker who came to London to reinsure aircraft who told Coyne that there were hundreds of freighters scattered around Russia and if Coyne could find work for them, he would insure them.
Having set out to be a charter broker, serving markets in central Asia and around the Caspian Sea, Coyne had to become an airline, which he admitted was difficult if you do not own any aircraft.
Interline agreements were set up and schedules to cities like Tbilisi and Yerevan were established, and Coyne transported freight to Baku for the James Bond film, The World is Not Enough.
Following success in the Caspian, Dubai became Coyne Airways’ base and flights started to Iraq in 2004, followed by Afghanistan in 2006, and select African locations in 2012.
He joined TIACA in 1996 and started going to board meetings even though he had not been invited, and Coyne thanked TIACA members who helped him succeed in business.
Soon after becoming Chairman in 2001, Coyne was faced with the aftermath of 9/11. New restrictions would have choked off business if they were not changed, and the industry had to make them effective without damaging the industry.
It brought about closer relationships between trade bodies, which had never happened before. Coyne singled out John Raven for praise, saying, “In the regulation hungry period after 9/11, John was the right man to cut through all the red tape and he had a great influence in Brussels because he knew if he could convince the WCO to introduce rules, all 150 member countries would adopt them.”
Praising the air cargo industry, Coyne said it had long been overshadowed by the passenger sector but proved its value during the pandemic.
“I think we can all be very proud of our industry,” he said.
Bijaoui, the 2022 inductee was next on stage, who changed the face of ground handling through turning small cargo handling company SFS into WFS, the world’s largest cargo handling company.
Since leaving, he launched OB Invest and recently was appointed an advisor to Alliance Ground International as it expands outside North America.
Taking to the stage, Bijaoui thanked the man, who dropped him in air cargo aged 14 during the school holidays where he sorted air waybills and customs clearance in a freight forwarding office, his father, who founded SFS and only retired last March at the age of 88.
Without him, who Bijaoui called much more of a cargo man than him, having done 65 years in the industry compared to Olivier, who has done a mere 40 years, his career would not have happened.
Two companies were thanked for helping Bijaoui build up WFS. One was AMR Corporation, and Bijaoui thanked colleagues from American Airlines for buying SFS in 1993, giving him the opportunity to build up a complete European network. The other was French construction, Vinci, that built up WFS into what it became.
Thanking the industry, he said, “It has been a great adventure for so many years and I hope it will continue. This recognition goes straight to my heart.”
This article was published in the December issue of Air Logistics International, click here to read the digital edition and click here to subscribe.