From the very first powered flights of the Wright brothers to today’s highly automated and interconnected aircraft, weather has remained one of the most decisive factors influencing flight safety and operational efficiency. 

The air transport system relies on a delicate balance of human expertise, technology, and robust regulations. The pilot’s role as the safety conscience of the system is essential, serving as the final arbiter in decisions that directly impact safety.

Replacing the traditional out-of-the-window view with cameras and transferring data between airports and a Remote Tower Center (RTC) introduces new hazards and challenges to flight operations.

As the EU is moving towards mandatory exclusive use of PBN from 2030, significant safety issues as well as technical, operational, and regulatory challenges have emerged.

The long-awaited revision of Air Services Regulation (Regulation 1008/2008) has made a new turn since the arrival of the new Commissioner for Transport, Apostolos Tzitzikostas.

This publication demonstrates the ECA's position on avoiding flying over or near conflict zones and provides recommendations in the event that airlines consider to conduct operations near or over conflict zones.

This paper raises awareness about UV-A exposure in the cockpit as a workplace risk, linked to health issues such as cataracts and skin cancer. ECA urges the inclusion of UV safety measures in occupational health policies, crew training, and certification of UV-blocking cockpit windows.

This paper presents ECA’s vision for a modern, fair, and evidence-based approach to managing mental health in aviation. It calls for addressing factors like fatigue and job insecurity, and for a system where pilots can seek support without fear of stigma or license loss.

A broad view and briefing, covering topics such as human perception and assistance systems, calibrated trust, creativity and intuition, human-centered systems design, data governance, cybersecurity, training, accountability, and flight data monitoring, is contained within the paper.

ECA

With the advancement of IT technology and the widespread use of portable devices (smartphones / tablets) in flight operations and crew support there have been initiatives to design device applications (“apps”) that are supposed to fulfil health / mental health / wellbeing monitoring as

The accident investigation process is one of the most important learning tools when building global safety standards. But to learn from an accident, the aviation industry needs reports that are complete, accessible, and timely.