BY MOHAMMAD SHOEB
DOHA: Enhancing security and finding ways to prevent incidents like the missing Malaysian airliner MH370, will be some of the key issues to be discussed at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of IATA from June 1 to 3, the highest level event in the airline industry.
“The AGM will also focus on global issues such as better passenger safety in the backdrop of the missing Malaysian jet,” said Tony Tyler, Director-General and CEO, International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Tyler, who was here as part of preparations for the event — first time in the Gulf — said: “Certainly delegates will have MH370 on their minds. Missing of the passenger jet is unprecedented. It has been over a month since the aircraft disappeared. We need to find it to understand what happened and learn how to prevent something similar from occurring again.”
He stressed that speculation on the plane cannot be a guide to move forward.
“We need to base our efforts on evidence and conclusions that will come out of investigation.
“When an incident or accident occurs, our thoughts go to the families and friends of all those on board, and we rededicate our efforts to make this industry even safer.”
However, he also stressed that air transport is safe as the accident-flight ratio is very low, but the world cannot afford to leave the unprecedented missing of such a big aircraft as an aviation mystery.
“As I said, almost 100,000 flights operate each day. And last week we announced our 2013 safety performance. Airlines last year had one major accident for every 2.4 million flights,” said Tyler.
He said it is a separate issue that despite deploying so many assets and resource the cause of the missing jet remains a mystery.
“There are two issues that have emerged which we can address. The first is to find a way to ensure that it never takes us this long to find a missing aircraft,” he added.
“Last week, I announced that IATA would convene an expert industry task force to come up with a united industry position on how we can better track aircraft. We will coordinate our efforts with governments through International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). By year-end we will build consensus on input into their efforts.”
Highlighting security lapses on the part of aviation authorities at some airports, he said: “It is also clear that two people boarded MH370 with stolen passports. Investigators have largely discounted that this had anything to do with the aircraft’s disappearance. But I think that we were all shocked that this could happen. Passport checking and security is the responsibility of governments.
“Many governments, 60 or more, ask airlines to provide advance passenger information which includes passport information. It is clear that they need to use this information more effectively. And we will be asking governments that require advance passenger information to harmonise around global standards set by ICAO.”
The Peninsula
