The Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association’s (ALTA’s) 3rd Pan American Aviation Safety Summit presented the region’s aviation leaders with an opportunity to congratulate each other for progress in improving the region’s safety record and, more importantly, to warn each other that complacency will result in an increase in accidents if for no other reason than a strong growth rate.
Multiple speakers at the summit, held in mid-June in Bogotá, Colombia, talked about the importance of cooperation among the many aviation stakeholders, about open communication, and about how both will be even more essential as the region’s aviation market continues to grow. Fabio Villegas, the chief executive officer of AviancaTaca, said that safety cannot be a competitive differentiator between airlines, but rather that it must be a common objective. He went on to say that aviation is no longer a “national industry,” and he called for harmo…
