Addressing the priorities in terms of how air transport ‘builds back better’ and more sustainably, the Council President of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Salvatore Sciacchitano noted it will require “the vision and leadership of all of us” and “a heavy reliance on innovation going forward.”
Stressing that we are living through an important turning point for aviation today, Sciacchitano called for innovation to hep aviation’s restart be safe, secure, and more climate friendly.
“Whether we are talking entirely new technologies, or new applications of existing technologies, solutions are now at hand to permit us to pre-screen passengers more extensively than ever before, for both health and security risks, and in a manner less disruptive than today. We are also presented with a reality whereby many older and more emissions-intensive aircraft are being pulled from the skies, and in significant numbers. This presents opportunities to assure a much greener post-COVID fleet, and in light of recent targets which were announced even the age of electric commercial aircraft could be upon us by the next decade.”
Sciacchitano also emphasized that most of the onus toward addressing these priorities and enabling innovation also falls to air transport operators, manufacturers and others, even as they now face incredible challenges to the fundamentals of their businesses and operations.
He said it was of the utmost importance that all aviation stakeholders continue to show solidarity with one another, and to “work as one aviation team” toward the shared goal of safely and sustainably reconnecting the world.
“This is a time not only for great leadership, but also deeper collaboration, and I can think of no other sector more capable in those capacities than our own.”
