The 63rd IASS was held in Milan this year and attracted over 600 delegates from around the world. There was a very moving opening speech by Paolo Pettinaroli, the President of the Foundation 8th October 2001 which was set up after the tragic accident at Linate on that date and who were one of the hosts of the IASS this year. His speech strongly reminded all of the aviation safety professionals packed in the hall why they were there and the importance of what we all do in this industry. He urged us to continue our work to improve safety levels. The conference was then formally opened by the Mayor of Milan, Letizia Moratti, who stressed the importance of aviation and aviation safety to the economic prosperity of the region.
Over the next three days there were excellent presentations on the current status of the Safety Roadmap globally, various safety initiatives taking place in the industry and the current challenges. The presentations were grouped under expert panels on Global Update, Operational Issues, Training, Current Challenges and Safety Management Systems. The AQD team at the conference was especially focussed on Safety Management Systems as the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) had selected two Superstructure Group papers out of hundreds of applications to be presented in this session.
Our Aviation Solutions Director, Eddie Rogan who sits on the FSF Icarus Committee, presented his paper on "Integrated Risk Management – The practical approach for an effective SMS”. Eddie highlighted the importance of an integrated safety and risk management tool as a real and practical enabler to close the gap between creating SMS interventions and implementing them which was identified by the FSF IAC (International Advisory Committee) as a key issue currently facing the industry. He told the audience that the new AQD Portal tool had Risk at its heart and is a truly integrated, enterprise, cost effective solution for the aviation industry helping customers become more proactive and predictive in their approach to safety and risk management.
Our Senior Aviation Safety Advisor, David Mawdsley who sits on the FSF IAC, presented his paper on “Measuring Safety”. David reminded everyone of that well founded maxim “if you can’t measure it then you can’t manage it”. He explained how it is of extreme importance that we agree on some industry standard metrics and targets to allow risk-based performance to be effectively monitored. David highlighted that the AQD team had been discussing this very issue with our customers and IATA over the past three Customer Conferences and have collated some good feedback on what they and IATA think are the important metrics.
The five speakers on the SMS Panel: Left to right Phillip Pilloud (easyJet), Eddie Rogan (Superstructure), Peter Muller (FOCA), Andrew Kilner (Eurocontrol) and David Mawdsley (Superstructure).
After his presentation, Eddie said that he was thrilled to have taken part in the SMS panel and that it truly was an honour for the company and AQD that David and he were chosen to sit on the SMS panel. It reflects our position as the leader in the marketplace and expertise that we have in our team.
Eddie praised the other members of the AQD team at the event. He said; “Azam Begg, our AQD Sales Director and Nina Gill, our AQD Account Manager were constantly busy over the three days with prospective and existing customers at our booth in the exhibitor’s hall and the feedback so far has been excellent.”
On behalf of the AQD team we would like to thank and congratulate the Flight Safety Foundation, our Italian hosts, “Fondazione 8 Ottobre 2001” and “Demetra” and all of the sponsors for staging a great event.
We all look forward to participating in the 64th IASS in Cairo next year.