AEA proposes new approach to managing ash hazards at Iceland Conference
21-Sep-2010 AEA Secretary General Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus addressed a high-level conference in Iceland on September 15th-16th, to review the volcanic ash crisis which virtually grounded European aviation for five days in April, and to explore ways to manage such events in future, so as to maintain absolute safety while minimising disruption to airline passengers.
Many conference participants agreed with AEA's assessment, that the airspace closures had been a total over-reaction to the risks involved, with hasty decisions taken on the basis of flawed theoretical models. In the Secretary General's words, "political safety prevailed over aviation and consumer safety".
Mr Schulte-Strathaus renewed AEA's call for a 'New European Approach' to atmospheric ash contamination, placing responsibility for managing such situations in the hands of the airline professionals - pilots and ground-based operations experts - who confront these and similar hazards, such as severe storms, in the course of day-to-day operations around the world.