Professor Ion SMEDESCU, Founding Rector of the ROMANIAN-AMERICAN UNIVERSITY (RAU) often quoted one of the Fathers of the American nation, Thomas JEFFERSON: “Let us in education dream of an aristocracy of achievement arising out of a democracy of opportunity”. Getting ready to celebrate the 25th Anniversary RAU, it is our pleasure to remember one of the significant achievements of RAU in the past five years: IATA Authorized Training Center RAU (ATC RAU). Since 2011, RAU hosted all the examination sessions organized by IATA Montreal in Romania (taking place on a global scale, 4 times every year), and two years later, in 2013, the Romanian-American University dedicated one of its classrooms to the ATC RAU, the “IATA Montreal Classroom” allowing students to better focus on their training and benefit of the best facilities (http://iata.rau.ro).
It is well-known that the International Air Transport Association (IATA – the trade association for the world’s airlines, representing some 260 airlines or 83% of total air traffic) is supporting many areas of aviation activity and helping formulate industry policy on critical aviation issues. In a recent speech (end of March 2016) of Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General & CEO since July 2011 (who will retire at the next IATA Annual General Meeting in Dublin in June 2016), it was underlined the “Value of Partnership” between airlines, governments and key stakeholders (as the pre-requisite for aviation to deliver the unique economic and social benefits this industry generates when it is allowed to thrive), pointing out the importance of partnerships covering such areas as: Safety; Harmonization of taxes and charges with global standards; Smarter regulation; The right infrastructure; Environmental commitment. IATA’s Director General & CEO pledged for “Putting aviation at the forefront” and helping to build a brighter future (Source: http://www.iata.org/pressroom/speeches/Pages/2016-03-30-01.aspx). It is also worth mentioning that IATA is promoting the so-called “New Distribution Capability ” (NDC) that: “will enable the travel industry to transform the way air products are retailed to corporations, leisure and business travelers, by addressing the industry’s current distribution limitations: product differentiation and time-to-market, access to full and rich air content and finally, transparent shopping experience” (http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/airline-distribution/ndc/pages/default.aspx).
That is why we salute the achievements of this innovative and creative “pilot station”: IATA Authorized Training Center RAU (ATC RAU), offering our heartfelt thanks and gratitude to all ATC RAU employees and – the last but not the least – to all RAU distinguished Partners.
