In a groundbreaking move for aviation safety, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) recently unveiled the IATA Safety Leadership Charter during the IATA World Safety and Operations Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam, hosted by IATA member Vietnam Airlines.
Safety advocates from over 20 global airlines have pledged to uphold the charter.
The list of early adopters:
| Air Canada | Emirates Airline | Philippine Airlines |
|---|---|---|
| Air India | Ethiopian Airlines | Qantas Group |
| Air Serbia | EVA Airways | Qatar Airways |
| ANA | Garuda Indonesia Airlines | TAROM |
| British Airways | Hainan Airlines | United Airlines |
| Carpatair | Japan Airlines | Vietnam Airlines |
| Cathay Pacific | Pegasus Airlines | Xiamen Airlines |
| Delta Air Lines |
Why the Safety Leadership Charter Matters
This charter isn’t merely a document—it embodies a vision. It underscores the aspiration to fortify organizational safety culture, backed by eight central safety leadership guiding principles. Drafted with insights from IATA members and the broader aviation community, the charter guides industry leaders toward nurturing a robust safety ethos within their companies.
Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General, emphasized the significance of this initiative, stating, “Leadership matters. It’s the strongest factor affecting safety behavior. By signing up to the IATA Safety Leadership Charter, these industry leaders are visibly demonstrating their commitment to the criticality of safety culture within their own airlines and the need to continuously build on the work that has gone before.”
Five Pillars of Safety
The guiding principles that anchor the Safety Leadership Charter are:
- Leading with Integrity: Upholding safety in both words and deeds.
- Awareness Creation: Instilling a safety consciousness among staff, leadership, and the governing body.
- Cultivating Trust: Creating an environment where everyone owns safety and feels empowered to share safety-centric insights.
- Safety Strategy Integration: Weaving safety into core business blueprints, operations, and performance metrics; fostering the skills to achieve and maintain organizational safety objectives.
- Continuous Appraisal: Regularly evaluating and refining the organization’s Safety Culture.
Nick Careen, IATA’s Senior VP of Operations, Safety, and Security, encapsulated the spirit of the initiative: “Commercial aviation has benefited from over 100 years of safety advances that inspire us to raise the bar even higher. The commitment and drive by aviation leaders for continuous safety improvement is a longstanding pillar of commercial aviation that has made flying the safest form of long-distance travel. Signing this charter honors the achievements that should give everyone the highest confidence when flying and sets a powerful and timely reminder that we can never be complacent on safety.”
The charter’s inception is a testament to the aviation sector’s unyielding drive to prioritize passenger safety. It amplifies the importance of an established safety culture and underlines the industry’s commitment to ensuring that flying remains the safest means of long-distance travel.