IATA to boost aviation safety standards
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has outlined a new plan to develop safety standards across the aviation industry.
Following a recent meeting of the IATA Operations Committee (OPC), the industry body has outlined a series of safety initiatives to be adopted in the next 12 months.
Key to the strategy will be pilot and engineer training. In light of a recent call by Boeing’s Chief test Pilot to overhaul training methods to focus on more practical rather than classroom-based training, IATA has vowed to focus its Quality and Training Initiative (ITQI) on competency-based training for pilots and engineers.
The ITQI will adopt aptitude testing, multi-crew pilot licensing, evidence-based training and instructor qualification.
In terms of ground operations, IATA has set about developing a new standard set of ground handling instructions, which it says will aim to reduce the US$4 billion cost of ground damage.
Finally, the association has urged governments to focus on the implementation of safety measures instead of, as IATA said, “adding costly and cumbersome regulations that do little to improve safety”. Over the next months, IATA will submit three priority areas for industry to work with.
“Safety remains the top priority. We have a full agenda to make an already safe industry even safer. Industry and governments have always cooperated to achieve our common goals based on global standards and harmonization. The need to take those even further in the areas of training, ground safety, and auditing will be our priority over the coming year,” said Guenther Matschnigg, IATA’s Senior Vice President for Safety, Operations & Infrastructure.
The OPC took place alongside the IATA Ops Conference, which was held in Rio de Janeiro from 16-18 April.
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