The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which is the representative body for the global airline industry, has announced that its first World Safety and Operations Conference (WSOC) will be held in Hanoi, Vietnam, and run from September 19 to September 21. The theme of the conference is 'Leadership in Action: Driving Safer and More Efficient Operations'.

“Borders are open, airports are busy, and flights are full. As we rebuild airline networks and balance sheets, it is vital that all aviation stakeholders maintain the same strong commitment to safe operations that we exercised during the pandemic years,” stressed IATA director-general Willie Walsh. “The WSOC is the forum to discuss and debate today’s challenges and opportunities to keep the industry on a trajectory of improving safety and more efficient operations.”

The WSOC has been created by the consolidation of a series of pre-existing IATA safety conferences and forums. These were the IATA Safety Conference, the Cabin Ops Safety Conference, the Emergency Response Planning Forum and the Aircraft Recovery Forum.

The new conference will consequently have “tracks” covering safety, cabin operations, flight operations, emergency response planning, and aircraft recovery. More specifically, the topics that will be covered within these tracks will include – the risk-based IATA Operational Safety Audit (better known as IOSA); safety leadership and the IATA Safety Leadership Charter; runway safety; regional aircraft operations; lessons from recent incidents and accidents; cabin crew training and well-being; unruly passengers; the digital transformation of aircraft flight and technical operations; performance-based training; the safe integration of airspace new entrants, technology and procedures; and aircraft recovery and crisis communications.

“Safety is aviation’s highest priority and is the cornerstone of all Vietnam Airlines’ operations and practices,” highlighted Vietnam Airlines president and CEO Le Hong Ha. “We are excited to be the host airline for this important inaugural conference, bringing together cutting-edge leaders, regulators and a larger global community to address key topics relating to safety and infrastructure to ensure stronger safety operations in the wider industry.”