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Copenhagen - The aviation industry has had to become expert at managing around shocks in an era marked by terrorist attacks that have frequently targeted aviation, airspace closures from natural disasters to epidemics and risks in the air from conflicts on the ground.
This was the message from Tony Tyler, CEO of the International Air Transport Association (Iata), at the association's operations conference taking place in Copenhagen.
"Each has presented us with new challenges to be surmounted. Yet, there are still some reliable guideposts. As an industry, the safety and security of our passengers and crew is always paramount. And we are making strong progress in this regard,"" said Tyler.
According to the 2015 Iata Safety Report, the global jet accident rate (measured in hull losses per 1 million flights) was 0.32, which was the equivalent of one major accident for every 3.1 million flights. This was a 30% improvement compared to the previous five-year rate of 0.46 hull losses per million jet flights.
"Although we work hard to prevent any loss of life, the industry experienced four fatal hull loss accidents in 2015 - all involving turboprop aircraft - with a total of 136 fatalities. This compares positively with an average of 17.6 fatal accidents and 504 fatalities per year in the previous five-year period," said Tyler.
He qualified this figure, because two tragedies — the losses of Germanwings 9525 and Metrojet 9268 — are not included in the totals, as they were deliberate events, not accidents.
"Indeed, 2015 is similar to 2014 in this regard. If you look at the last two years, the industry’s safety performance has been affected primarily by events that could be previously classified as almost 'unthinkable'," said Tyler.
"There are no easy solutions to the issues that were revealed in each of these tragedies. However, aviation continues to work to minimise the risk that such events will happen again. As an industry, we have become very good at applying lessons learned via a systematic, well-researched, collaborative process, based on global standards and best practices."
By 2034, the number of air travelers will reach 7 billion annually and Tyler emphasised that the aviation industry can only accommodate this doubling of demand for connectivity if it has adequate infrastructure in place. Yet progress is lagging in many parts of the world, he pointed out.
Regulation is another area where the industry has an opportunity to help shape current debates.
"Let me be clear that the industry does not oppose sensible, well thought-out regulation, developed with participation from all stakeholders. Indeed, regulation, advanced in partnership with industry, and based on global standards developed through the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) process, is a cornerstone of our success in making aviation so safe," said Tyler.
"But over the past few years we have seen states introduce new requirements that are not based on a data-driven, risk-based approach and that create little or no added value."
This is particularly a problem, in his view, in matters involving an airline’s Aircraft Operator Certificate (AOC) and Ops Specs, in which regulators in one state issue new requirements affecting operators from another.
“Aviate, Navigate, Communicate” is an old pilot saying. At the industry level, we have done a superb job on the first two. Managing operations in a changing world will also require us to communicate most effectively about the priorities that will enable aviation to meet future demand even more safely, securely and sustainably," concluded Tyler.
