PEEK INTO THE FUTURE: In this section, Raini Hamdi asks industry leaders to pen their thoughts on what the future will bring. Here is Tony Tyler, director general and CEO, IATA, on the future of aviation safety
Congratulations to TTG Asia on its 40thanniversary. TTG Asia is a valued partner, reporting on the industry’s development since 1974 on a wide variety of topics: the travel trade, hospitality and air travel. Similar to TTG Asia, IATA’s involvement in the industry’s development has been multi-faceted.
Many of TTG Asia’s readers know IATA for the Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) that we operate around the world, including in 28 countries in Asia-Pacific, and the New Distribution Capability (NDC) initiative that will modernise the shopping experience for airline products. BSP and NDC are examples of IATA’s role in setting global standards to improve the industry’s processes and efficiency.
It is also through global standards that we have made flying the safest way to travel. In 2013 there were 29 million flights with Western-built jet aircraft and only 12 hull losses. This translates into one accident (after which the aircraft could not be repaired) for every 2.4 million flights. In Asia-Pacific, the region’s carriers experienced one hull loss for every 1.4 million flights last year.
Despite the tragedy of MH370, aviation accidents are rare. Nonetheless the aviation industry is determined to improve on our safety performance.
The IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA), with its 900-plus standards, is at the core of our efforts to improve safety. Almost 400 airlines are on the IOSA registry. As a group, their safety performance is more than two times better than the average for airlines that have not completed IOSA. We are making IOSA an even more effective standard with Enhanced-IOSA, changing the audit from a snapshot of an airline’s safety management into a system for constant monitoring. Enhanced-IOSA becomes a requirement for all IATA airlines from 2015.
The loss of MH370 points us to an immediate need – we must not allow another commercial airline to go missing without a trace for so long. IATA has established an Aircraft Tracking Task Force (ATTF) to develop recommendations to improve global flight tracking. ATTF includes the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and experts from around the world. A draft of recommendations will be given to ICAO in September.
Ultimately, our goal is to predict the potential for accidents, and prevent them from happening. Data has a key role to achieving this. IATA has created the Global Aviation Data Management (GADM) project, which is the world’s largest resource of operational information. It contains data collected from partners, including ICAO, the US Federal Aviation Administration and the European Aviation Safety Agency. Each new data contributed to GADM and every improvement in our analytical capabilities move us closer to this reality of preventing accidents.
2014 marks the 100th anniversary of commercial aviation. Scheduled commercial aviation began with a 23-minute journey across Tampa Bay, Florida on January 1, 1914. Since then, it has changed our world immeasurably for the better. As we embark on the second century, we look forward to even safer skies, and a long future of working together with TTG Asia to meet the industry’s future needs.
By Tony Tyler, director general and CEO, IATA
This article was first published in TTG Asia, August 8, 2014 issue, on page 10. To read more, please view our digital edition or click here to subscribe.
