BRUSSELS and ALEXANDRIA, Va. ─ Flight Safety Foundation will gather aviation industry leaders from around the world next week for its 73rd annual International Air Safety Summit (IASS) to discuss safety and the urgent need for industry, regulators and public health authorities to work together to overcome the challenges posed by the pandemic. The theme for IASS 2020, which is scheduled for Oct. 19-22, is “Safety Leadership and Global Collaboration During Crisis.”
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council President Salvatore Sciacchitano will give opening remarks at 0900 EDT/1300 UTC on Oct. 19. Dr. Fang Liu, ICAO secretary general, will deliver the opening keynote address. Following an exhibitor networking break, Session 1 will feature an executive panel discussing the changes and challenges that are affecting the industry. The panel will comprise Alexandre de Juniac, director general and CEO of the International Air Transport Association; Luis Felipe de Oliveira, director general of Airports Council International; and Simon Hocquard, director general of the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation.
Other highlights include a panel discussion on network and small community air service, and another on the strategies different stakeholders have used during the pandemic. U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Steve Dickson will be the Day 1 closing keynote speaker on Monday. After his prepared remarks, Dickson will engage in a fireside chat with Foundation President and CEO Dr. Hassan Shahidi.
Eurocontrol Director General Eamonn Brennan will be the Day 2 keynote speaker at 0900 Central European Time/0700 UTC Tuesday. Following Brennan’s remarks will be a panel discussion on European initiatives and collaboration during the global pandemic featuring Montserrat Barriga, president of the European Regions Airline Association, and Thomas Reynaert, managing director of Airlines for Europe. Other highlights of Day 2 include presentations on industry lessons learned during the pandemic, safety management systems and tools used to improve safety performance.
Day 3 will kick off on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 0900 Singapore time/0100 UTC with a keynote address by Subhas Menon, director general of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines. Following Menon, IASS 2020 will proceed with presentations on “Safety II” and using data to drive safety improvements. The afternoon session will focus on what pilots can do to most effectively manage safety in different flight conditions.
The final day of the 73rd IASS will start at 0900 Pacific Daylight Time/1600 UTC Oct. 22 with a panel discussion on the epidemiological considerations of COVID-19 in a multi-mode travel ecosystem. Panelists include Dr. Lin H. Chen, president of the International Society of Travel Medicine and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School; Dr. Robert Steffen, who, among other positions, is a professor emeritus at the Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute at the University of Zurich; and Dr. Davidson H. Hamer, professor of Global Health and Medicine at the Boston University School of Public Health and School of Medicine.
Day 4 also will feature presentations on technology and training and what stakeholders are doing to instill passenger trust in air travel. In addition, the Laura Taber Barbour Air Safety Award will be presented.
This year’s closing keynote will be delivered by Kathy Fox, who chairs Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB). Fox, who is in both Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame and the Women in Aviation International’s Pioneer Hall of Fame, will offer a TSB perspective on the current environment and a look forward to the coming year.
“The lineup of speakers and presentations for IASS 2020 is extraordinary,” said Shahidi. “Nearly every industry leader we approached about speaking was willing and able to make time, which speaks to the industry’s commitment to collaboration during this unprecedented period in its history.”
The IASS program is a mix of live and prerecorded sessions. In addition, several on-demand sessions are available for viewing when convenient. Topics to be covered in the on-demand sessions include the state of aviation safety, which is a statistics-based presentation; pilot health and wellbeing, which is based on research being done at Trinity College in Dublin; and a panel discussion with representatives from relief organizations on the role of unmanned aircraft systems in humanitarian efforts; a panel with experts from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration on in-time aviation safety management.
Virtual IASS 2020 features more than 50 speakers in dozens of live and prerecorded presentations, speeches and panel discussions. More details on IASS are available on the IASS 2020 page on the Foundation’s website. Late registration is available.
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About Flight Safety Foundation
Flight Safety Foundation is an independent, nonprofit, international organization engaged in research, education, advocacy and communications to improve aviation safety. The Foundation’s mission is to connect, influence and lead global aviation safety.
Media Contact:
Frank Jackman
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+1 703.739.6700, ext. 116
jackman@webdeva.flightsafety.org
