Aviation can soar to new heights safely

If bad times are obviously bad, the return of good times is ironically not without its dangers as well. Singapore's aviation sector, along with its global counterparts, has been diminished by two disruptive years of the coronavirus pandemic. Crucial passenger flights all but vanished from the economic calculus that sustains airlines and airports. Cargo flights carrying essential goods, including vaccines, made up for some of the shortfall. But the aviation scene as a whole was grounded. Now, as international travel begins to resume, the sector is picking up. However, the troubling truth is that it must also recover ground lost to Covid-19 in the past two years, a considerable period of time for habitual skills to fall into disuse.

In particular, Singapore must address aviation safety risks, both old and new. These risks are quite severe. Flight crew and air traffic controllers may have lost proficiency, and aircraft may malfunction after prolonged inactivity. A loss of familiarity with safety processes, a weakening of safety culture, and a loss of safety expertise because of cost-cutting are also issues of concern. Clearly, while no industry can afford to countenance a decline in operational efficiency because of prolonged inactivity, efficiency is literally a matter of life and death for an industry where aircraft, flight crew and traffic controllers must function seamlessly so that passengers' lives are not jeopardised in any way. Indeed, without awareness of this protection, passengers could be unwilling to take the flights that are critical to the resumption of the aviation economy. It behoves the industry to assure consumers that it is capable of coming up to speed safely after the reverses suffered under Covid-19.