Mark Searle, Director of Safety at IATA, the trade association for the world's airlines representing more than 300 airlines and 83% of all passenger journeys, invited Matthew to keynote this year's IATA WSOC Summit in Hanoi, Vietnam. More than 600 aviation leaders, government officials, regulators and operators gathered to hear the industry's latest safety and operations practices and breakthroughs.
With a focus on efficiency, safety and sustainability, Matthew explored what the next ten years hold as the industry digitises and embeds AI into every part of its operations. The pandemic hit hard, with over 97 percent of aircraft mothballed, heavy layoffs and some operators close to bankruptcy, but the industry has rebounded and needs another 37,500 aircraft to meet future demand.
"Famously one of the safest industries on Earth, aviation, like many others, faces new threats, with a dramatic increase in cyber attacks now threatening Air Traffic Control operations."Matthew Griffin, Hanoi, December 2023
Aviation is famously one of the safest industries on Earth, with no fatalities again last year, yet it faces new threats: a sharp rise in cyber attacks on air traffic control, and data and GPS spoofing that now affect airline operations worldwide.
On efficiency, new technologies are automating operations and speeding up the development of autonomous aircraft and ground vehicles. On sustainability, arguably the industry's greatest Achilles heel, he covered advances in ammonia, electric and hydrogen aircraft and the growing role of Sustainable Aviation Fuel as capacity increases, which should see the industry make much greater inroads into decarbonising itself from 2030.
