The IATA World Safety and Operations Conference (WSOC 2026), where AirwayBuzz participated as a Gold Media Partner, was held in Istanbul, hosted by Turkish Airlines. Under the theme “Human Performance,” the conference addressed key operational priorities across the aviation industry, including aviation safety, flight and cabin operations, maintenance processes, crisis management, and emergency planning.
IATA Director of Safety Mark Searle emphasized the importance of addressing human factors, technology, and global standards together to improve aviation safety.
Searle stated that the fatal accident rate had declined from one accident per 3.5 million flights a decade ago to one per 5.6 million flights in 2025. However, he noted that 394 people on board aircraft lost their lives in aviation accidents in 2025, highlighting the need for continued efforts to improve safety.
Emphasizing that technology should support decision-making processes, Searle also stressed the importance of ensuring that operations can continue safely when systems fail or generate incorrect information.
Interference with Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), including jamming and spoofing, was another key topic of the speech. Searle reported that, compared with 2023, reported GNSS jamming incidents increased by 67% in 2025, while GPS spoofing incidents rose by 193%.
In 2025, airlines registered with IATA’s International Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) registry recorded one accident per 1.09 million flights, compared with one accident per 390,000 flights among airlines not registered with IOSA.
#partnership
