Jean-Emmanuel Hay : Dans l'ensemble, êtes-vous optimiste quant à l'avenir de l'aviation civile ?
while maintaining visibility) and complete blackout. Yes, every detail counts when it comes to enhancing passengers' flying experience...
TimClark : Je suis toujours optimiste. Il faut des optimistes dans ce secteur. Sinon... Je peux en citer quelques-uns qui sont dans un état désespéré. Ils ne savent plus où donner de la tête. Et cela affecte l'ADN, la façon dont une entreprise est gérée. La volonté de se lever et de faire les choses, de les régler frontalement. Beaucoup de PDG et de conseils d'administration se retranchent derrière des indicateurs de performance et des retours sur inves- tissement. Mon approche est tout à fait différente. Je vais au charbon, je fais ce qu'il faut et je me préoccupe du retour sur investissement. Je sais que cela fonctionne. Trouvez ce que les gens veulent. Souvenez-vous de ce que vous faites et l'argent coulera à flots. Ne vous préoccupez pas du bilan. Tout fonction- nera pour vous si vous êtes visionnaire. Si vous ne l’êtes pas, dans l’aérien, vous serez en faillite en moins d'un an. When you ask Sir Tim Clark, Chairman of Emirates, what his best flight was, his whole life flashes before his sparkling eyes. He recalls his memories, and this seventy-year journey through the world of civil aviation is well worth the diversions! It gives us a better understanding of the extent to which, over the course of a man's life, the aviation industry has challenged itself in terms of its technical performance (today, more rapidly than ever before) and how Tim Clark's life experience as a child was a determining factor in his future professional choices, making Emirates one of the best airlines in the world. The interior design of cabins and seats was neglected for a long time, as manufactu- rers focused on research and technological advances, and the travel experience as it was once conceived was forgotten. Tim Clark has always focused on this experience, right down to the smallest detail. The latest example? The portholes had not seen any innovation for decades. This year, Emirates will be the first airline to offer its passengers aerBlade variable-intensity win- dows, manufactured by Aerospace Technologie Group and avai- lable on board Airbus A350s and Boeing 777Xs. In their business and premium versions, these windows offer three options: full light, solar protection (which reduces the intensity of the sun
Jean-Emmanuel Hay: Sir Tim Clark, you've spent so much time in aeroplanes in your life... Do you remember the first time?
TimClark: No, not really. I was a baby (smile).
Jean-Emmanuel Hay: So what's the earliest memory you have of flying?
TimClark: It was in 1952, 1953, a flight in a DC-6 I think; I'm not sure, I was 3 or 4. My memories are more precise from the mid- 50s, when I flew Dakota and DC-3s with Malayan Airways (now Malaysia Airlines) and Cathay Pacific; Super Constellations with Air India and Qantas; or the magnificent Britannia with BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation, now British Airways) and
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