In the book ‘Black Box Thinking’ the author Mathew Syed describes how the turning point for the airline industry was the 1978 United Airlines crash in Portland Oregon. The Captain, Malburn McBroom, circled the city whilst radioing for guidance on how to repair the failed landing gear, as he was doing this the fuel was running low and he had suddenly run out of time, his skill in landing the aircraft meant he saved 179 lives, sadly 10 were lost. … read more

It’s a bit like Cricket, you expect your opener to do something exceptional and Simon Ralph from IATA did not disappoint when he took his position, he hits a six straight into the crowd, telling the delegates ‘this is long long overdue’. This was the inaugural IATA Global Accessibility Symposium in Dubai; I believe the start of something special and Simon said what every advocate and accessibility stakeholder had been saying for many years. All the speakers delivered with passion … read more

This weekend I fly to Dubai for the first ever symposium on accessibility in air travel held by IATA, titled ‘Global Accessibility Symposium’. This follows IATA’s recent statement in Seoul from Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO. “Airlines were ahead of their time when, 50 years ago, we set out standards to ensure passengers with disabilities had access to air travel. But now we need to go further. The numbers of persons with disabilities travelling by air are … read more