Aviation body seeks to track airlines’ flights

By Philip Mwakio

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) wants a consensus among its member States and the international air transport industry to prioritise the tracking of airline flights.

This follows a special meeting on global flight tracking of aircraft in the aftermath of the missing Malaysia Airline Flight 370 (MH370) that vanished from radar March 8, 2014. The disappearance during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing carrying 239 passengers and crew triggered an unprecedented international search effort that has so far been unsuccessful.

According to ICAO, the meeting established a framework for industry contributions through an Aircraft Tracking Task Force to be coordinated by IATA to help address the near-term needs for flight tracking.  “Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has been an unprecedented event for aviation and we have responded in a similarly unprecedented manner,” ICAO Council President Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu said.

In parallel with IATA’s task force work, ICAO said it will develop a flight tracking concept of operations covering how the new tracking data gets shared, with whom, and under what circumstances.  “The UN aviation organisation will also begin considering performance-based international standards, on a priority basis, to ensure broader adoption of airline flight tracking throughout the aviation system.”