THE International Air Transport Association (IATA) has highlighted three critical priorities for sustained progress in aviation safety as the 2024 IATA World Safety and Operations Conference opened in Marrakech, Morocco.
This came just as the international association has revealed that the average accident rate of IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) airlines between 2019 and 2023 was 0.84 per million sectors which is almost three times better than the non-IOSA average of 2.24. A growing number of governments are adopting IOSA for use in their safety oversight programmes.
According to IATA, the industry must focus on continuously strengthening global standards, safety culture and the use of data to improve performance in the face of growing operational challenges, numerous regional conflicts and evolving cybersecurity threats.
Speaking at the conference, IATA’s Director-General, Willie Walsh, remarked: “Safety is aviation’s main priority. Over 4.4 billion travellers flew safely in 2023 despite an increasingly complex operating environment.
“To progress even further, we must prioritise global standards implementation and continuous modernisation. We must also continue to cultivate a safety culture with an emphasis on collaboration and strong leadership. And we must utilise the rapidly growing capabilities of data analysis to better understand risks and drive innovation. Together, these are a winning strategy to make our safe industry even safer.”
Talking on the transition to risk-based IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA), the airline global clearing house described IAOSA as a platform that provides a globally recognised safety standard for airline operations with a 20-year history of supporting safe operations.
The transition to risk-based IOSA audits, which focuses on addressing specific risks relevant to individual airlines, will further strengthen the audit’s efficacy. A total of 63 risk-based audits have been conducted since 2023 when the programme began and the full transition will be completed by end of 2024.
Describing accident investigation reports as critical safety resource enabling the industry to continuously learn from understanding the root causes of accidents, IATA said: “Since 2018, however, the latest IATA Annual Safety Report highlighted that only 48 percent of accidents have had a final report published, as required by Annex 13 of the Chicago Convention. This gap must be addressed. IATA calls on all governments to prioritise meeting this essential safety obligation.
“A working paper and five-point plan, developed by IATA and backed by multiple states, will advance to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Assembly next year. While the conference emphasised that culture plays an essential role in aviation safety, IATA, therefore, stressed that to build a strong safety culture, senior leaders must create an environment where employees feel empowered to raise safety concerns, supported by clear and accessible processes that ensure issues are addressed swiftly and effectively. Additionally, fostering open channels for sharing safety improvements across the industry is critical to driving progress.”
To further strengthen aviation’s safety culture, IATA, with input from across the industry, has developed a safety leadership charter which enhances safety culture with a commitment to eight fundamental safety leadership principles. The charter commits aviation leaders to foster a safety-oriented culture across their organisations. The number of airline CEOs committed to the charter has reached 100.
