IATA Calls for Stronger Aviation Safety as Technology and Workforce Changes Gather Pace

IATA identified structured mentoring, training and succession planning as priorities for preserving that expertise as people move on from their roles.

Aviation's next major safety gains will depend on bringing people, technology and global standards together more effectively, according to the International Air Transport Association. Speaking at the opening of the 2026 IATA World Safety and Operations Conference in Istanbul, Mark Searle, the association's director of safety, said fatal accident rates had improved over the past decade from one accident per 3.5 million flights to one per 5.6 million flights. The loss of 394 lives in aviation accidents in 2025 underlined the need for further progress, with IATA calling for a more resilient system that can identify risks, support sound decisions and remain safe under pressure.

Passing Experience to the Next Generation

A new generation of aviation professionals brings digital skills and familiarity with artificial intelligence, creating an opportunity to combine those capabilities with the operational knowledge accumulated by experienced colleagues. IATA identified structured mentoring, training and succession planning as priorities for preserving that expertise as people move on from their roles. The exchange needs to give younger professionals access to lessons learned through years of operations and allow experienced staff to benefit from new ways of working, helping the industry retain practical knowledge as its workforce changes.

Protecting aviation's safety culture is central to that handover, particularly the willingness of staff to report hazards, their own errors and near misses without fear. Searle said the industry had deliberately built this culture over decades, turning mistakes into opportunities for others to learn and prevent future incidents. Maintaining that openness requires more than passing on technical instructions, because the next generation also needs to understand why honest reporting matters and feel confident that raising a concern contributes to safer operations.

Technology Must Help When Conditions Become Difficult

IATA said new technologies, including AI, should face three practical tests: whether they improve safety professionals' understanding of the situation around them, support better decisions and allow operations to remain safe if the technology becomes unavailable or compromised. Tools that reveal emerging risks can help teams act before an incident develops into an accident, but the wider system also needs to cope with degraded services or misleading information. Searle pointed to rising interference with Global Navigation Satellite Systems, known as GNSS, as a reminder that technology needs support from backup capabilities, clear procedures, training and human judgment.

The emphasis on resilience places the response to failure alongside the benefits of innovation, making the ability to recognise unreliable information and continue operating safely part of the assessment. IATA's message was that technology should strengthen the people responsible for safety and the procedures they follow, with each element supporting the others when conditions become difficult. That relationship matters across everyday operations and during disruptions, when access to accurate information can become uncertain and decisions still carry consequences.

Applying Global Standards Consistently Matters Most

The strong safety performance of airlines on the IATA Operational Safety Audit, or IOSA, registry demonstrates the value of common global standards supported by effective oversight, according to the association. Many of aviation's biggest safety challenges arise from uneven implementation and oversight rather than missing standards, making consistent application a priority. IATA called for limited resources to be concentrated on areas of greatest risk, stronger state compliance with international obligations concerning conflict-zone risk information and accident reporting, and requirements that are simplified, modernised and updated as technology, operations and regulation change.

Searle said the next major improvement would come from ensuring existing standards are understood, implemented and overseen consistently everywhere. Runway safety, GNSS interference, conflict zones and accident investigations all depend on people, technology and standards reinforcing one another, with weakness in any part reducing the resilience of the whole system. The challenge for aviation is to preserve the experience and reporting culture behind its progress, introduce technology that supports dependable decisions and make established safety requirements work reliably across borders.