Tyler Addresses Latin American Air Safety

Safety statistics for the Latin American region appear to be headed in a positive direction, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). “In 2013 there were approximately 36.4 million flights and 16 fatal accidents in Latin America,” commented IATA director general Tony Tyler. “The region’s carriers had a Western-built jet hull loss rate of 0.44 per million flights, or less than one major accident for every 2 million flights … nearly a 50 percent improvement over the average of the past five years and very close to the 2013 global average of 0.41 major accidents per million flights.” Tyler’s remarks at the November 18 conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association were made in the context of the region’s formal target of a 50 percent reduction in the fatality risk for air travel by 2020 compared to 2010. Tyler pointed to the impact of ICAO’s Universal Safety Audit Program and International Operational Safety Audit in helping airlines to improve safety. He addressed the need to provide support to carriers not qualified to participate in IOSA. The association is developing the IATA Standard Safety Assessment (ISSA) to meet those needs and expects the system to become effective early next year.