DUBAI (June 3): The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said it has concluded 2023 as the safest year for 336 member airlines, with the industry continuing to improve safety performance.
“We never stand still [on safety]. That helped make 2023 our safest year by many parameters,” said IATA director general Willie Walsh at the association’s annual general meeting (AGM) on Monday.
Walsh said there were no fatal accidents among all IATA member airlines or the 433 IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) registered carriers.
“Globally, there was one fatal accident claiming 72 lives — a tragic reminder that safety must be earned with each and every flight. And recent severe turbulence incidents have brought that reminder into sharp focus once again,” he said.
Discussion on aviation safety was of interest here at IATA's AGM following the recent severe turbulence suffered by Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways.
In addressing the increased risk of turbulence, Walsh said IATA has developed a product called “Turbulence Aware” for airlines to collect real time data from turbulence events, alerting other aircraft that are connected to the system.
“Obviously, we will continue to assess the recent events to understand them better and see if there's anything else that can be done. But there is a lot of work going on to ensure that we continue to move forward and enhance the safety of our operations,” he said.
“Our strong safety record and the actions we take to make it even stronger are built on global standards. 2023 marked 20 years of the IOSA. It’s become a cornerstone of global safety standards. And historically, airlines on the IOSA registry have outperformed airlines not on the registry by a factor of nearly three.
“This year we will conduct 100 IOSA audits with a new risk-based model. Doing this adds an extra focus on pertinent safety risks unique to each audited operator,” he added.