During the 4th International Conference on Aviation Safety held in Cyprus in June the big debate was if the Current Economic Crisis in Europe affects or not the safety of flights. It seems that there is not a correlation between this both, but many speakers were not convinced as there are many reasons that affect the safety.
Mr Arkady Merkulov, Assistant director, Safety IATA Russia and CIS on his speech “Economic situation – a threat to safety?” stressed out that the safety performance is improving regardless the economic situation conditions.
Mr Panagiotis Poligenis of Lufthansa Consulting unfolded the risks and the opportunities of the current economic situation in civil aviation as well as he wandered if this is a threat to safety. During his speech he admitted that the airline industry is under financial pressure but he said that “we need to seek for cost effective solutions”. Also, he notice that the airline industry need to create a zero accident and safety culture.
Mr Marc Baumgartner of International Federation of Air traffic Controllers Association IFACTA on his speech “Economic crisis and human factors” he noticed that for years now ‘safety always has the highest priority and will never be compromised’ but in nowadays this maybe need a revision and being ‘ safety will be as high as affordable – from a financial and ethical perspective.’
Mr Theodore Kyritsis Vise President of International Federation of Air Traffic Safety Electronic Associations – IFATSEA explain the objectives of IFATSEA that is to operate as a non-political Federation of Air Traffic Safety Electronics Associations, to promote safety, efficiency and regularity in International Air Navigation services, to assist and advise in the development of ANS systems in order to maintain the safe, orderly and expeditious flow of air traffic, to uphold a high standard of knowledge and professional efficiency for ATSEP (Air Traffic Safety Electronics Personnel), and to protect and safeguard the collective professional interests of ATSEP. Concluding among others he proposed ATSEP to be included in accident investigation teams.
Mr Micheal Gruninger, MBA, HF Specialist EAAP, IS-BAO Accredited & IOSA Auditor, of Great Circe Services, developed a speech on Safety in Crisis giving statistics on Fatal Aviation Accidents showing that there is an improvement of this issue. 2012 was the best ever year in aviation safety with only 39 fatal accidents while it was the one of the worst years in economics.
Mr Vangelis Demosthenous Managing Director of Kratis Training and Consulting Ltd raised the issue if the appropriate implementation of Safety and Human Factors Principals improve operational and safety performance, reduce incidents and associating cost, and finally reduce operational cost.
Mr. Frank Brenner, Director General EUROCONTROL, analyzed the role of Eurocontrol in risk issues. Eurocontrol regulate, operate and coordinate, as well as make research on aviation. He also present the Automatic Safety Monitoring Tool, ASMT, the Eurocontrol’s tool for recording safety-related events by using radar data, flight plans and ATC system alert messages.
Mr Eric Sivel, Deputy Director Rulemaking – Head of Product safety – EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) presented how the authority managing the crisis.
Mr Christos Petrou, Chief Executive Officer of Flight Safety Foundation, South east Europe-Middle East-Cyprus (FSF-SEC), welcoming the delegate to the gala dinner.
Memorandum of Cooperation between FSF-MED, Mr Michael Constantinides, Chairman, and ICAO, Mr Louis Fonseca de Almeida, Director Europe and North America Office.
Memorandum of Cooperation between FSF-MED, Mr Iakovos Papadopoulos treasurer, and Fisher Institute of Israel.
Awarding of the annual prize of FSF-MED to the Director General EUROCONTROL Frank Brenner, by Mr Tasos Mitsopoulos, Minister of Communications and Works of the Republic of Cyprus.
Snapshot from the Cypriot entertainment during the gala dinner.
Mr Ola Blomqvist, Vise President, Aircraft Engineers International mentioned that “System is not basically safe, people make it safe, they have to create safety through practice, at all levels of an organization”. He also explained the aviation industry and noticed that “the failure of a key system during aircraft operation is more likely to lead to catastrophic results than in most other transport sectors“. In the question what the industry has to do, he mentioned that “Industry must offer its unequivocal support to the Licensed Engineer and the “state” issued license.”
“The Importance of Training in difficult times”, was analyzed by Mr. Hans Houtman, trainer at JAA. He said that normal reaction during economic crisis is to stop sending people to training but training is more important during crisis as it is a big capital to the Human Resources. To train during economic crisis is more convenient as staff is more available because it works less, and employees feel rewarded and stay motivated. At the moment when crisis is over the employees are still available, and they might be more motivated then before.
Mr. Mike A Ambrose, Member of Board of Flight Safety Foundation (FSF), explained through actions that FSF is the safety partner of aviation industry and revealed that the FSF Board decided to write a formal letter of vigorous protest to the European Commissioner for Transport & Tourism and to the Chair of Transport & Tourism Committee of the European Parliament strongly urging that the proposed amendment of recent action regarding revision of Regulation 261/2004 for Passenger Compensation and Assistance, should be withdrawn.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
