Interview with Jared Harckham

Jared Harckham  

Vice President, ICF Aviation, Travel & Tourism Advisory

Jared Harckham, Vice President of ICF Aviation Advisory is one of the world's leading experts on international business aviation.

With 22 years of experience with major airlines in the United States and Mexico, Mr. Jared Harckham joined ICF because of his expertise in the areas of airline strategy, network and fleet planning, alliances and marketing, as well as air service development and airport planning.

Mr Harckham previously worked in commercial aviation; he held a number of network planning positions at TWA and was senior vice president of commercial planning at Aeromexico, where he led strategy, scheduling, planning, forecasting, pricing, revenue management, distribution, government affairs and alliances for Mexico's largest airline.

Jared Harckham is regarded as the designer of the Skyteam alliance, of which he was one of the founders.

Mr. Harckham holds an M.B.A. in Management with a concentration in Marketing from Columbia University and a B.A. in History from Emory University.

 What is ICF Aviation Advisory and what does it offer?

Before talking about Aviation Advisory, it is important to understand a little about ICF in general.  ICF is a consultancy, founded in 1969, based in Washington, in the United States.  With $1.6 billion USD in revenues and 9000 employees, ICF works in multiple areas. The primary purpose of ICF is to make the world a better place. This is reflected in ICF's work in multiple areas of sustainability, climate change, public policy, public health and much more.

You have a wealth of experience not only in the day-to-day planning of an airline or an airport, where do you feel most at home?

I have worked as a planner within airlines in the United States and Mexico.  The job gave me a lot of satisfaction.  But, consulting work offers enormous variety, with clients in every corner of the world, with every type of airline, airport, investment, regulator, tourism project and more.  A job that changes every week is fascinating.

What is the current state of commercial aviation and where is it heading?

We have all seen the effect of the pandemic on the global travel and tourism sector.  Fortunately, the sector is recovering strongly, with results above 2019 in many regions of the world.   Commercial aviation can continue to grow with more aircraft varieties, routes, changes in traveller focus, emphasis on the environment.

Without air transport, there is no international tourism. What role do international airline alliances and strategies play in the development of tourism destinations?

Global alliances, like tactical airline alliances, serve to link the networks of two or multiple airlines in a way that makes it easy for passengers to travel seamlessly on a multi-flight itinerary.  Also, alliances allow the accumulation of miles or points in frequent flyer programmes.  For destinations, alliances give access to more source markets and more flight options, which leads to overall market growth.

In your opinion, do destinations know how to plan their air connectivity strategies, or are we still in the myth of "it's all about the number of flights without planning"?

ICF has decades of experience working with tourism ministers, regional and local destinations and airports on "Air Service Development". External consultants are hired by destinations/airports because the job profile is different; technical, fast changing and involves personal contacts. DMOs and airports are experts in managing their business, but dealing with airlines requires another expertise, with in-depth knowledge of how airlines make their decisions and what market information they need to define the profile of a destination.

Do you think the airline industry is making efforts to provide creative and innovative solutions to users?

The airline industry has been one of the most important forces of change in the last hundred years and will continue to be so. Today, key airlines have their own investment funds and innovation workshops, investments in supersonic aircraft, artificial intelligence, sustainable fuels, passenger experience and many more that can be mentioned in this forum.   It counts on airlines and related businesses to keep changing the world.

Many passengers consider travel, with all the airport crossings, security checks, moments spent on the plane, etc., to be very aggressive and to have big moments of friction that fall on the passenger, what do you think of this statement?

The industry is polarising and both ultra-low cost airlines and semi-private airlines are growing. There is room in aviation for all traveller profiles and segments, so there is demand to appeal to all these groups. If you are looking to pay the minimum and buy a no-frills fare on an ultra-low-cost flight, the service is going to be extremely basic, but the airline is going to get you from point A to point B at a very reasonable price.