First 11 Months Better Than Any Year Since 1945

International Air Transport Association CEO Tony Tyler noted in a December 7 speech in Geneva, Switzerland that while it's been an up-and-down year from a business standpoint, 2011 has been a remarkably safe one for airlines. In fact, IATA now says the first 11 months of the year have been the safest since 1945, when records were first kept.

In his speech at IATA's Global Media Day, Tyler commented, "The hull loss rate for Western-built jet aircraft is at an historic low with one accident for every 2.9 million flights across the industry over the first 11 months of the year."

In additional data reported to the Los Angeles Times, IATA adds that passenger and crew fatalities through November dropped from 784 last year to 486 this year. IATA says 23 percent of all accidents reported for the period were runway incursions, a current focus of the NTSB and aviation regulators worldwide.

IATA spokesman Perry Flint says it's not clear exactly why 2011 is going so well, but better aircraft and the spread of good, international safety standards with audits to back them up are part of it - "In general, the safety trend line is moving in the right direction."

FMI: www.iata.org