IATA to prioritise safety and sustainability at 42nd ICAO Assembly

IATA director general Willie Walsh stated (17-Sep-2025) "IATA will be participating in the ICAO Assembly with safety, sustainability and efficiency at the top of our priority list". Mr Walsh said: "It is critical that we secure stronger support for SAF production and CORSIA as key enablers of aviation's commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2050". He continued: "Equally, we need agreement to follow the principles and provisions of the Chicago Convention to avoid patchworks of debilitating tax measures and passenger rights regulations". Mr Walsh noted: "We must shore-up safety with timely accident reports, mitigations for GNSS interference and preservation of critical radio-frequency spectrum". IATA called for states to take action on the following topics:

• Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production:
  • Support IATA's efforts to create a functioning SAF market;
  • Step up economic incentives for fuel producers for SAF production;
  • Make timely policy interventions to address anomalies;
• CORSIA:
  • Reaffirm the commitment to making CORSIA "a success as the only economic measure to manage aviation's climate impact";
  • Make available sufficient CORSIA Eligible Emission Units for airlines to be able to fulfil CORSIA obligations;
  • Revisions to Aviation Corporate Tax;
  • Ignore Article 8 revisions and continue with residency based taxation for airlines;
• Consumer protection:
  • Reaffirm the commitment to ICAO's Core Principles and align regulations accordingly;
  • Develop supplementary guidance to globally align on definitions of extraordinary circumstances, smooth discrepancies among jurisdictions, share accountability among stakeholders and consider the specific challenges of mass disruptions;
• Radio frequency spectrum:
  • Protect safety critical frequencies used by aviation from interference;
  • Strengthen coordination among telecoms and aviation regulators to ensure safety of flight, follow best practices of successful implementations, and agree realistic timelines for any retrofits;
• Aircraft mandates:
  • Acknowledge that airlines "hold the final compliance responsibility and are therefore the most exposed to variability in the implementation chain";
  • Create a mechanism to set "realistic applicability dates for aircraft mandates, with active monitoring and flexibility to adjust timelines if global disruptions occur";
• Pilot age limits:
  • Approve the increase to 67 years for multi‑pilot international operations, with the "one‑under‑65" rule maintained, existing medical frequency preserved, and no change to the single pilot limit. [more - original PR]