In this IIL aviation lecture Dai Whittingham will talk about the regulatory framework within which commercial aviation operates and how the industry manages operational risk to achieve today’s outstanding safety levels.

Aviation is the most heavily-regulated industry after nuclear power. For commercial aviation, the basic framework is provided by the UN via the Chicago Convention and ICAO, which is then translated and amplified by National Aviation Authorities and, in Europe, by the EU and EASA. This is broken down further into so-called hard and soft law; the hard law is binding on EU states, whereas the soft law is not. Soft law is intended to provide a compliance framework that supports the hard law. Operators then apply a Safety Management System approach, as laid down in ICAO Annex 19, which provides a structure method for assessing and mitigating operational risks. EASA and the NAAs then manage an oversight programme to provide some high-level assurance that risk is being appropriately managed.

By the end of this lecture members would have gained an insight into:

• The regulatory framework for civil aviation
• The broad principles of aviation
• Regulatory risk-based oversight of aviation

Speaker Bio:
Dai Whittingham was formerly a pilot in the RAF. He has operated fast-jet, training and multi-engine aircraft. As a senior officer, he commanded a main operating base and experienced deployed operational command including the employment of drones, regulation of military flying, MOD and NATO duties. Since 2012 he has been working on commercial aviation safety and is active in a range of aviation industry safety bodies.

Chair:
Trehane Oliver, Business Development Director, McLarens Aviation.