The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has unveiled its groundbreaking Safety Leadership Charter at the IATA World Safety and Operations Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam. Over 20 global airlines have already signed this charter, signaling their commitment to prioritizing safety culture within their organizations. The participating airlines include Air Canada, Emirates, Qantas Group, Qatar Airways, Delta Air Lines, and many others.
The IATA Safety Leadership Charter aims to enhance organizational safety culture through the adoption of eight core safety leadership principles. Developed in close consultation with IATA members and the broader aviation community, this initiative intends to assist industry leaders in fostering a positive safety culture within their respective organizations.
TATA Air India’s Executive Director-Headquarters Dr. Harpreet A De Singh represented the premier Indian Airlines as a signatory and reaffirmed their efforts toward safe and comfortable flights.
“Commercial aviation has benefited from over 100 years of safety advances that inspires us to raise the bar even higher. The commitment and drive by aviation’s leaders for continuous improvement on safety is a longstanding pillar of commercial aviation that has made flying the safest form of long-distance travel. Signing this charter honors the achievements that should give everyone the highest confidence when flying and sets a powerful and timely reminder that we can never be complacent on safety,” said Nick Careen, Senior VP Operations, Safety and Security, IATA.
Safety leaders from more than 20 airlines are the first signatories:
| Air Canada | Emirates Airline | Philippine Airlines |
| Air India | Ethiopian Airlines | Qantas Group |
| Air Serbia | EVA Airways | Qatar Airways |
| ANA | Garuda Indonesia Airlines | TAROM |
| British Airways | Hainan Airlines | United Airlines |
| Carpatair | Japan Airlines | Vietnam Airlines |
| Cathay Pacific | Pegasus Airlines | Xiamen Airlines |
| Delta Air Lines |
The Safety Leadership Charter is aimed at strengthening organizational safety culture through commitment to eight key safety leadership guiding principles. It was developed in consultation with IATA members and the wider aviation community to support industry executives in evolving a positive safety culture within their organizations.
“Leadership matters. It’s the strongest factor affecting safety behavior. By signing up to the IATA Safety Leadership Charter, these industry leaders are visibly demonstrating their commitment to the criticality of safety culture within their own airlines and the need to continuously build on the work that has gone before,” said Willie Walsh, Director General, IATA.
Safety Leadership Guiding Principles include:
- Leading the obligation to safety through both words and actions.
- Fostering safety awareness among employees, the leadership team, and the board.
- Creating an atmosphere of trust, where all employees feel responsible for safety and are encouraged and expected to report safety-related information.
- Guiding the integration of safety into business strategies, processes, and performance measures and creating the internal capacity to manage and achieve organizational safety goals.
- Regularly assessing and improving organizational Safety Culture.
