The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is calling for closer integration of people, technology and global standards to strengthen aviation safety, warning that further progress will depend on how effectively the industry brings these elements together.
Speaking at the opening of the IATA World Safety and Operations Conference, IATA director of safety Mark Searle said fatal accident rates had improved over the past decade, falling from one accident per 3.5 million flights to one per 5.6 million. However, 394 people lost their lives in aviation accidents in 2025, highlighting the need for continued improvement.
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“Every fatality strengthens our resolve to do better,” Searle said. “The next advance in safety will come from people, technology, and standards working together better as one resilient system.”
Three Priorities For A Stronger Safety Culture
IATA has identified three priorities for sustaining safety performance as a new generation of aviation professionals enters the workforce: transferring knowledge, combining experience with new capabilities, and protecting safety culture.
Mentoring, training and succession planning can help preserve operational expertise as experienced professionals retire or move on. At the same time, the industry can benefit from combining veteran specialists’ practical judgment with younger professionals’ digital skills and familiarity with artificial intelligence.
Equally important is maintaining an environment where employees can report hazards, errors and near misses without fear of punishment. Searle said aviation had developed “something genuinely rare, a positive safety culture in which people report their own errors, and mistakes become opportunities for everyone to learn from”. He warned that this culture must be preserved as responsibilities pass between generations.
Technology Must Complement Human Judgment
Artificial intelligence and other new tools can help safety professionals identify risks earlier, understand operating conditions and make better-informed decisions. However, IATA stresses that safety systems must remain reliable even when technology is unavailable or compromised.
This is particularly relevant as the industry faces increasing Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) interference, which can disrupt navigation and affect operational reliability. Technology can support early intervention, Searle said, but it must work alongside redundancy, established procedures, training and human judgment.
Consistent Implementation Of Global Standards
IATA pointed to the safety performance of airlines on its IOSA registry as evidence of the value of common standards supported by effective oversight. The association argues that persistent safety challenges often stem not from a lack of rules, but from inconsistent implementation and supervision.
“The next step change in safety will not come from writing more standards,” Searle said. “It will come from making sure the standards we already have are understood, implemented and overseen consistently, everywhere.”
The association is calling for oversight resources to focus on the areas of greatest risk, stronger compliance by states with international obligations on conflict-zone risk information and accident reporting, and updated requirements that reflect technological, operational and regulatory changes.
Building A More Resilient Aviation System
IATA’s position is that aviation safety depends on people, technology and standards reinforcing one another. This applies across a range of challenges, from runway safety and GNSS interference to conflict zones and accident investigations.
“When one of these pillars is weak, the resilience of the entire system is reduced,” Searle said.
Further improvements, the association argues, will depend on consistent implementation, effective use of technology and a strong safety culture that can withstand generational change.
