Flying has become deadlier than it has been for years and it’s hard to pin it solely on Boeing Co.’s infamous 737 Max.
Aircraft accidents occurred more frequently in almost every region worldwide in 2018 as the death toll climbed to a four-year high of 523, according to the International Air Transport Association. The fatal crashes of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 and Aeroflot Flight 1492 ensure that this year will be another bad one.
So what happened to the safest form of travel? It’s one of the biggest questions hanging over airline and aircraft executives as they congregate this weekend in Seoul at IATA’s annual meeting for the industry’s largest gathering since the two Boeing 737 Max disasters.
What’s clear is that demand for air travel is growing so fast — IATA expects it to double in the next 20 years — that airlines, plane makers and regulators are struggling to keep up. Meanwhile, the pressure to keep costs low has intensified with the proliferation of no-frills carriers catering to travelers obsessed with ticket prices.
And the reality is that safety, whether it be the training of pilots or add-on features in planes, costs money and there’s a limit to how much the industry can spend safeguarding human life.
“You get what you pay for,” said Geoffrey Dell, a safety scientist at Central Queensland University in Australia who’s been an air-safety investigator since 1979. “Everyone is moving back to a minimum regulatory standard. It’s designed to give you the best outcome for the cheapest price.”
01/06/19 Angus Whitley/Bloomberg/Indian Express
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Aircraft accidents occurred more frequently in almost every region worldwide in 2018 as the death toll climbed to a four-year high of 523, according to the International Air Transport Association. The fatal crashes of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 and Aeroflot Flight 1492 ensure that this year will be another bad one.
So what happened to the safest form of travel? It’s one of the biggest questions hanging over airline and aircraft executives as they congregate this weekend in Seoul at IATA’s annual meeting for the industry’s largest gathering since the two Boeing 737 Max disasters.
What’s clear is that demand for air travel is growing so fast — IATA expects it to double in the next 20 years — that airlines, plane makers and regulators are struggling to keep up. Meanwhile, the pressure to keep costs low has intensified with the proliferation of no-frills carriers catering to travelers obsessed with ticket prices.
And the reality is that safety, whether it be the training of pilots or add-on features in planes, costs money and there’s a limit to how much the industry can spend safeguarding human life.
“You get what you pay for,” said Geoffrey Dell, a safety scientist at Central Queensland University in Australia who’s been an air-safety investigator since 1979. “Everyone is moving back to a minimum regulatory standard. It’s designed to give you the best outcome for the cheapest price.”
01/06/19 Angus Whitley/Bloomberg/Indian Express
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