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This month has been one where we as ECA were able to once again highlight our slogan that drives our daily work here in Europe: “Piloting Safety”.

First there was the EU-US Aviation Safety Conference in Vienna. ECA made presentations on three safety issues: Pilot Training, Fatigue Risk Management, and Atmospheric Hazards, as you can read in the article in this Cockpit News. Since ECA is active through our experts in dozens of working groups of EASA and many other EU aviation bodies, our representatives are requested as leading experts on almost any subject related to safety. It was very clear that due to the hard work and commitment of our expert volunteers we can make an impact – and even make the difference.

In addition, we had our first kickoff action – aimed at EU Transport Ministers and the general public – to change the current EASA NPA-proposal on Flight Time Limitations (FTL). It was great to see that almost 100 pilots used their days off to come to this event, in Luxembourg, to demonstrate for safe science-based FTL rules. Thanks to the good work of the ECA staff, our Luxemburgish member ALPL and the local union LCGB it was a great success. The EU Ministers and their staff’s attention was drawn to our commitment to aviation safety. After the demonstration leaflets were distributed to the surrounding public and in a nearby shopping mall – which showed the great interest of the general public in air safety.

As we are trying hard to convince the European Commission and other EU Institutions about the importance of safety it was a bit disappointing to receive the Commission’s White Paper on Transport. The goal of competitiveness (and resource-efficiency) dominates the Commission’s vision for the future of the air transport sector. Safety is mentioned but does not seem to be at the center of their vision for 2050. Whereas we need a competitive and resource-efficient air transport industry, the glue that will hold it all together – especially in times of deep technological, operational changes and regulatory changes – is safety. Our industry will neither be competitive, nor sustainable if it is not first and foremost a safe industry.

With Europe being only the 3rd safest aviation region in the world, with EU safety levels no longer improving recent years, and with air traffic expected to grow significantly over the next 15-20 years, a lot of work still remains to be done. But we are convinced that our commitment together with our expertise can help make Europe the safest aviation region in the world.