Dear fellow pilots & aviation professionals,

As a fairly new ECA President I want to begin by addressing something at the very core of what we do: safety. As pilots, flight operators, and aviation professionals, we know the responsibility that comes with our roles. Every day, thousands of lives depend on our focus, our decisions, and our commitment to the highest standards of safety. It’s not just a job – it’s a trust. 

But here’s the thing about safety: it’s never static. It doesn’t stay where we left it unless we’re actively maintaining it. I worry that as an industry, we risk falling into the “complacency trap.” When accidents become rare, it’s easy to assume the system is unshakeable. But in aviation, we know better. Just because nothing happens today doesn’t mean there’s no risk. 

Aviation is built on lessons learned – sometimes from tragedy. Growing up, I remember seeing heartbreaking images of aircraft accidents on TV: Alitalia in Zurich, Condor in Izmir, Crossair in Zurich. Those scenes stick with me, and they serve as painful reminders of what’s at stake. Melanie Thornton’s “Wonderful Dreams” still brings me back to that Crossair crash – it’s something I’ll never forget. 
 

The truth is, aviation is as safe as it is today because we built it that way. Layer by layer, we’ve created a system designed to mitigate risk at every angle. But like a Jenga tower, those safety layers are delicate. Removing one might not cause a visible problem immediately. Remove several, though, and the tower will collapse – it’s only a matter of time. 

Lately, I’ve seen discussions that make me uneasy – calls to reduce training hours, extend check intervals, shorten rest periods, stretch duty limits. The rationale is often, “The system still works. Nothing happens. It’s still safe, isn’t it?” But the absence of accidents doesn’t mean we’re accident-proof. It means the safety layers are doing their job. Start removing them, and we’re pressure-testing a system that wasn’t designed to bend. 

We can’t afford to forget the hard lessons of the past. Complacency has no room on the flight deck. Maintaining safety isn’t easy – it takes effort from every single person in the system, every single day. And as aviation grows, it’s not enough to simply maintain. We have to improve safety. We have to build stronger, smarter, and better. 

I don’t ever want to wake up to the sight of an aircraft’s tail floating in the ocean or debris scattered across a hillside – knowing it could have been prevented. None of us want that. That’s why we do the hard work, why we stay vigilant, and why we never take shortcuts when it comes to safety. 

Aviation is not a tower of Jenga blocks. It’s an interconnected system of trust, precision, and dedication. And every one of us plays a role in keeping it standing tall. 

Let’s commit to this together. The work is hard, but the stakes couldn’t be higher. 

Fly safe, 

Capt. Tanja Harter 
ECA President