People seem to become more forthright when they are about to step down from their positions. That may be why Giovanni Bisignani, director-general and chief executive officer of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) since 2002, placed the European Union and its parliament on a "wall of shame" in his "state of the industry" speech on Monday.

The reason: the European Union plans to charge all airlines worldwide for what it says are excessive CO2 emissions.

"They are ignoring international law with plans to include international aviation in Europe's emissions trading scheme," said Bisignani, who will step down next month, at the IATA's annual meeting in Singapore.