The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that "Technological Progress and Safe Operations -- Embracing Technology-Driven Change," will be the theme for the 2018 Safety and Flight Ops Conference.

"Advances in technology have contributed to improvements in safety and operational efficiency throughout aviation's history. At the same, some of these advances have also introduced new challenges to be addressed. The Safety and Flight Ops Conference provides a forum for safety and operations experts to come together to understand and discuss the opportunities and challenges being created by aviation's latest technology advances," said Gilberto Lopez Meyer, IATA's Senior Vice President, Safety and Flight Operations. The 2018 Safety and Flight Ops Conference will take place in Montreal, Canada, 17-19 April.

IATA's Director General and CEO Alexandre de Juniac, and Dr. Fang Liu, Secretary General of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), will deliver keynote remarks. Other presenters include:

-Ali Bahrami, Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety, FAA

-Steve Creamer, Director Air Navigation Bureau, ICAO

-Sara de la Rosa, UAS Program Lead, UNICEF

-Steve Lee, CIO, Changi Airport Group

-Eric Laliberté, Director General, Space Utilization, Canadian Space Agency

-Patrick Magisson, Executive Vice President, Safety and Technical Affairs, IFALPA

-Jeff Poole, Director General, CANSO

-Claudio Trevisan, Head of Air Operations Department, EASA

-Jorge Vargas, Executive President, COCESNA

"Aviation safety is built on global standards and working together. The diverse stakeholder groups participating in this event illustrate this partnership approach, which has been so important to making aviation the safest form of long distance travel the world has ever known," said Lopez Meyer.

Session tracks will cover:

-Aircraft Data: Who Owns It?

-UTM, ATM and Space Traffic Management

-Rethinking the Way We Train Our Pilots

-Technology - Optimizing Airline Operations

-Regulatory Preparedness

-Developing the Future Leaders of Aviation

A new feature this year is the "SFO (Safety and Flight Ops) Bistro" speed networking event in which delegates will have the opportunity to visit up to five tables hosted by experts on more than a dozen subjects including fatigue management, cyber security, cabin safety and pilot training. All attendees will have the opportunity to interact, engage and contribute in this small round-table environment. The conference will also offer a number of specialized workshops on safety and operations-related subjects.

Contributed by IATA