|
IATA
NEWS RELEASE
2004
Safest Year Ever for Air Transport
 "2004
was the safest year ever for air transport," said
Giovanni Bisignani, Director General and CEO of the
International Air Transport Association (IATA).
"Despite the US$35 billion in accumulated losses
since 2001, the industry continues to invest in our
number one priority with fantastic
results." In
2004, the industry-wide hull loss rate declined by
10% to 0.78 hull losses per million sectors flown.
In real terms the number of accidents increased
from 99 in 2003 to 103 in 2004 while global traffic
increased in the order of 15%.
IATA
members significantly outperformed the industry on
safety. IATA member airlines account for 94% of
scheduled international traffic but were only
involved in 39% of hull losses. The hull loss rate
for IATA members stood at 0.57 per million
sectors.
 "Over
1.8 billion people traveled safely in 2004.
Tragically, however, 428 people lost their lives in
commercial aircraft accidents. To put that into
perspective, that is a similar number to 1945 when
the industry carried only 9 million passengers. Air
transport is the safest form of transport but every
accident is one too many. We are fully committed to
further improvements," said
Bisignani.
"While
we have made tremendous progress in safety, IATA
has an aggressive program to lead the industry to
even safer levels. This includes a commitment to
reduce the accident rate by a further 25% by 2006,"
said Bisignani.
"A
pillar of our approach to aviation safety is the
IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA). This is the
industry's first global standard for safety audit
and it will become a standard for IATA membership,"
said Bisignani. "Air transport is safe. And we are
committed to make it even safer. With 100 audits
scheduled in 2005, airlines committing to operate
in accordance with IOSA standards are making a
clear and positive safety
statement."
 IOSA
has won recognition from regulators. At its 35th
General Assembly in September 2004, the
International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO)
identified the great value of IOSA as a tool to
augment and focus the safety oversight activity of
States. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) has recognized IOSA as a program that may be
used by U.S. carriers to meet their obligation to
conduct safety audits of their code share partners.
Whereas previously each codeshare required an
individual audit, sharing of audit data through the
IOSA registry can provide the same quality while
eliminating the need for duplicate
auditing.
"IATA
is not only committed to improving safety, we are
investing our resources to help raise the bar
industry-wide," said Bisignani. The IOSA Standards
manual is available free of charge to all airlines,
including those who are not IATA
members.
1.
Jet aircraft is defined as Western-built jet
powered aircraft with a maximum take-off weight of
15,000 kg.
2.
A Hull loss is defined as an accident in which an
aircraft is substantially damaged and is not
subsequently repaired for whatever reason including
a financial decision of the owner.
Western-built
Jet Traffic, Hull Loss & Passenger Fatality
Rates 1995-2004
FAA
Approves IATA's Airline Safety Audit
Programme
GENEVA:
The US Federal Aviation Administration's approval
today of the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA)
programme "is a valuable step in strengthening
global safety standards," said Giovanni Bisignani,
IATA Director General and CEO.
"The
United States and its aviation partners around the
world share a commitment to improving global
aviation safety. This new audit accreditation
programme is an important step toward achieving a
single international set of audit standards that
will make flying safer," said FAA Administrator
Marion C. Blakey.
Many
governments, including the US Department of
Transportation, require their flag airlines to
audit foreign code-share partners. The FAA's
recognition of IOSA
[http://www.faa.gov/apa/pr/2004/july04.cfm]
permits US carriers to use the programme's
accredited audit organisations to comply with the
US audit requirement rather than perform an audit
themselves.
"IOSA
is the world's only airline safety audit programme
incorporating globally recognised standards and
best practices," Bisignani said. "IOSA is
available to all airlines and will bring great
benefits by confirming the thoroughness of
operational structures and enhancing code-share
opportunities."
Bisignani
noted that airlines in the US and elsewhere will be
spared performing redundant audits of prospective
code-share partners provided those partners hold
upstanding IOSA audits, which are valid for two
years. To make IOSA as accessible as possible
to all airlines, IATA is absorbing the programme's
operating costs in 2004.
"IOSA
creates the first global industry benchmark for
safety while removing the inefficiency of
repetitive auditing," he said. "Today's
announcement is not only an approval but a
validation of the joint commitment by FAA and IATA
to improving global aviation
safety."
Following
are highlights of a Q&A on IOSA.
Q:
What is the goal of IOSA?
A: To
provide a standardized audit programme of the
operational management and control systems of an
airline that is based on internationally-recognised
standards and supported by a rigorous quality
assurance process, for the purpose of serving the
airline industry in terms of improving worldwide
operations and reducing the number of operational
audits that are conducted. All airlines (IATA and
non-IATA) are welcome to seek an IOSA audit. All
IATA member airlines have committed to seek
registration as an IOSA Operator by January 1,
2006.
Q:
Which operational areas of an airline are audited
under the IOSA Programme (i.e. what is the scope of
the audit)?
A: IOSA
audits the following areas:
· Corporate
Organisation & Management
· Flight
Operations
· Operational
Control/Flight Dispatch
· Aircraft
Engineering & Maintenance
· Cabin
Operations
· Aircraft
Ground Handling
· Cargo
Operations
· Operational
Security
Q:
What are the benefits of IOSA?
A: The
audit under IOSA is based on internationally
recognized operational standards, and assesses the
operational management and control systems of an
airline. An airline that has been audited to full
conformity with IOSA standards makes a clear
positive statement about the integrity of its
operations and its ability to manage associated
risks.
IOSA
&endash; through a system of audit sharing &endash;
will reduce the number of operational audits that
are conducted throughout the industry. The result
will be fewer airline resources dedicated to this
function, which in turn means lower costs. IOSA
represents operational excellence and for the
registered IOSA Operator, there is an enhanced
potential for a whole range of shared commercial
opportunities (e.g. code-share, wet lease, aircraft
leasing, etc).
Q:
What is the general structure of the IOSA
Programme?
A:
To ensure integrity, quality, and oversight of the
Programme, these are the principal entities of the
IOSA Programme and their basic
functions:
· IATA
&endash; Developer of the Standards, keeper of the
IOSA Registry, Accreditation of Audit Organisations
and Endorsed Training Organisations, and ongoing
Quality oversight of the IOSA Programme
· Audit
Organisations &endash; Accredited by IATA, they
conduct the IOSA audits
· Endorsed
Training Organisation &endash; Accredited by IATA,
they train IOSA Auditors
· IOSA
Oversight Committee &endash; Comprised of 25
Airlines, 10 Regulatory Authorities plus Observers,
this committee provides oversight of and guidance
to the IOSA Programme.
IATA has
an internal quality assurance system that will
maintain stringent oversight of all functions that
make up the IOSA process.
Q:
Who conducts the audits under the IOSA
Programme?
A: IATA
has accredited Audit Organisations (AOs) to conduct
audits on its behalf. For a list of accredited AOs,
visit: www.iata.org/iosa/accreditation. The AOs
engage experienced aviation auditors that have
undergone a stringent training and qualification
process and have been approved as IOSA
Auditors.
Q:
What is the Regulatory Authority involvement in
IOSA?
A:
Certain key regulatory authorities from around the
world have been involved in the development of IOSA
from the beginning. IATA recognises the necessity
of regulatory acceptance to ensure the future
success of the IOSA Programme. Regulators see the
benefit of IOSA in being able to enhance and extend
their regulatory oversight of both domestic and
foreign airlines.
The FAA
has been involved in IOSA development from the
beginning and is supportive. After extensive
investigation and verification, FAA has now fully
accepted IOSA. Therefore, US airlines may now
submit to FAA code-share audit programmes based
upon IOSA. This will bring great benefit both to
the US airlines and their many commercial airline
partners globally.
Current
members of the IOSA Oversight Committee include
representatives for the regulatory authorities of
Australia (CASA), Canada (Transport Canada), China,
European Union, France (DGAC), Scandinavia and the
United States (FAA). Many other authorities
participate as observers.
Q:
What is ICAO's position on IOSA?
A: ICAO
has been involved with IOSA from the very
beginning, is fully supportive and considers IOSA
as fully complementary to the ICAO Universal Safety
Oversight Audit programme of states.
Q:
What is the IOSA Registry?
A: The
Registry is a publicly available list of all
current IOSA Operators. An Operator is not added to
the Registry until all findings identified in the
course of an IOSA audit have been satisfactorily
closed, and the operator is in conformity with all
IOSA standards. The registry is found on the IATA
website www.iata.org/iosa/registry Registration is
valid for a period of 24 months from the closing
meeting. IATA will provide notification for audit
renewal for carriers that are on the IOSA
Registry.
-IATA-
Contact
Information:
Anthony
Concil
Director,
Corporate Communications
Tel:
+41 22 770 29 60
Fax: +41
22 770 26 41
E-Mail:
Corpcomms@iata.org
|
