Civil aviation safety and security are number one priorities for IATA and its members. International aviation safety performance is so safe that one accident can skew the accident rate as underscored by the IATA 2021 Safety Report. However, ERP remains a highly critical and sensitive element of any airline’s safety and security management systems. A plan for when things do not go to plan is a plan that needs continuous investment and support. Specifically, partnerships are required whether that be during normal operating periods and/or times of heightened crisis. The ERP Forum emphasized that getting to know your partners during a crisis phase is not the optimal time. Partnership is required throughout the lifecycle of any airline flight operations.
Through the collaboration of the ERP Forum, participants were able to adopt a lessons-learned approach to strengthening an airline’s ability to respond, coordinate and continue safe and secure flight operations. Two airlines specifically spoke about their accident experiences and shared insights that could have only been done through the trusted ERP Forum community of attendees and strategic partners. Furthermore, the ERP Forum produced several key outcomes that will be documented via the IATA Emergency Response Planning Task Force (ERPTF), one of which focused on airports emergency preparedness and specifically the humanitarian aspects of any emergency/crisis plan. Airports were well-represented at the ERP Forum and provided a balanced perspective when taking into consideration - from a master planning to operational point of view - the requirements of airlines and by extension, IATA strategic partners. In this connection, IATA’s strategic partners helped shape that conversation and demonstrate where partnership is required in the early hours of a major response effort and/or subsequent in the days and weeks following.
Planning for the 2023 version of the ERP Forum has begun and several outcomes need to be worked on in the time between Forums. IATA will continue its outreach with strategic partners to take advice and guidance where needed in the delivery and implementation of certain outcomes. In the words of US notable Senator, “…it might seem like all has been said, but I assure you, not everyone has said it”. A quote that is seemingly apt when working in partnership on efforts as a durable as ERP.
