Responsive Regulation Days present cases and methods to reduce the fatality rate of air accidents

The National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) held, on June 20, the webinar "Journeys of Responsive Regulation - Part 2: case studies". The event sought to share experiences and best practices from other authorities and the industry in relation to compliance with rules, collaborative forms and performance-based initiatives.

The webinar was moderated by ANAC’s civil aviation regulation specialist, Mário José Dias, and featured an opening message from the Agency’s director, Tiago Pereira. In the opening, Pereira stressed that “good regulations depend on constant dialogue between the regulated sector and the regulatory body.” In addition, the director indicated that the Agency has discussed and gradually adopted some of the best practices of regulation, such as responsive regulation and smart regulation, although there are still challenges in the sector, which is very regulated.

Aviation Safety

IATA’s Head of Operational Safety, Gabriel Acosta Cardenas, addressed performance-based safety risk management. According to Acosta, in the IATA Annual Safety Report 2007, the air accident rate in Latin America and the Caribbean region was 9.77 - double the global average, which was 5.61. North America, Asia, and Europe, on the other hand, had a zero index. Based on this, the safety initiatives of these regions were researched.

In the United States, a commercial aviation safety team was created in 1997. Fatality rates were not decreasing. Then, with a focus on passenger safety, a goal was set to reduce the risk of fatalities by 50% over the 10-year period from 1997 to 2007. After the deadline, the 2007 report showed an 82% reduction in risk. Then a goal was set to halve the risk again from 2007 to 2020. During this period, the reduction was 90%.

According to Acosta, this achievement is the result of a set of actions. First, there was benchmarking, in which the risk was identified from the sharing of information, such as pilot reports and flight monitoring data. Next, a collaborative, non-punitive environment was created to study opportunities to mitigate the risks of fatality, including pilots, industry, regulatory agency, etc. From there, actions became voluntary because the mindset became that collaboration was the expedient course of action.

In 2020, IATA developed the public platform Global Safety Risk Management Framework for industry consultation for information on systemic risks, risk assessments, and the materials from IATA, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF), and others in the industry to address these risks.

Operator Assessment

 IATA’s Senior Manager Audit Standards, Beat Jund, presented the current procedures and future plans for the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA). He then talked about maturity assessment, which consists of examining operator-specific systems, whether they are compliant (the basics required for registration), how well they are performing, and whether they go beyond pure compliance.

“Compliance alone is not enough to reduce accidents. We have to look at other ways,” Jund stated. He later presented the maturity scale that aids in evaluating the operator, indicating where they stand and where there is room for improvement.

Responsive Regulation Days

The events with the brand “Jornadas da Regulação Responsiva” aim to stimulate the debate with the market and the aeronautical industry about ways for a more responsive and collaborative regulation in the Brazilian airline industry.

To review or watch the first webinar, which addressed principles and best practices of Responsive Regulation, visit ANAC’s official YouTube channel. The videos are available in English.