Calling for technology-first thinking! IATA Director General's speech at the annual meeting said these valuable things
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Civil Aviation Resources Network, June 13, 2025: According to WiT, at the 81st Annual Meeting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) held in Delhi, India, IATA Director General Willie Walsh delivered a speech that was both optimistic and urgent. He called on the aviation industry to move towards a future characterized by digitalization, data-driven and sustainability, otherwise it will face the risk of falling behind seriously.
For an industry that serves nearly 5 billion passengers a year and generates $979 billion in revenue, Walsh's message is very clear: the future of air travel depends not only on aircraft or passengers, but also on how the ecosystem intelligently applies technology, from AI-driven security to seamless digital ID and data sharing infrastructure.
Data, AI and a zero-accident future
"Aviation has long been the safest mode of long-distance transportation." Walsh mentioned that in 2024, the aviation industry operated 40.6 million flights and transported 4.8 billion passengers, but only 7 fatal accidents and 244 deaths occurred throughout the year. "However, our future goal remains to achieve zero accidents and zero fatalities. Data is critical to achieving that goal."
To reach that goal, Walsh highlighted the power of data and AI, particularly IATA's Global Aviation Data Management (GADM) initiative, which collects data on 8 million flights and $11 billion in maintenance costs by 2024 alone.
"As AI capabilities grow, every new data point has the potential to make flying safer," he said.
But a familiar enemy stands in the way: government inaction. Walsh noted that fewer than half of accident investigations in the past six years have produced final reports. "A loss of insight is a loss of safety opportunity," Walsh said. "It's a dereliction of duty."
Digital ID: The Tech Game Changer Airlines Need Now
One of Walsh's strongest tech calls is for global adoption of digital IDs. "Travelers are at ease with the digital travel process. They love using their smartphones to skip the line. But we still make them wait in line for paper document checks."
He urged ICAO and governments to accelerate the development of standards for digital travel documents and promote smart cross-border data exchange. "With a digital ID, passengers can navigate airport processes without having to show any documents."
It's a clear signal to industry innovators that the tools are in place, but regulatory consistency is not. Walsh wants digitalization to be the default, not an experiment.
ONE Record: Finally solving air cargo's data chaos
On the cargo side, Walsh is all for ONE Record, IATA's single-source digital standard for air cargo, set to launch globally in January 2026.
"For too long, airplanes have been flying faster than the documentation that can accompany cargo," he said. "ONE Record will be the single, real-time source of truth for the value chain."
For ONE Record to succeed, he called on stakeholders to not only adopt the standard but also pressure governments to recognize it in customs and facilitation systems.
Sustainability requires more than good intentions – technology can help
Walsh is not shy about the climate crisis and the supply chain's slowness in promoting sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
He criticized SAF mandates that have increased costs without boosting production, calling the EU's approach a "huge green scam" that funneled billions of dollars in windfall revenue to fuel suppliers.
While Walsh acknowledged that SAF is the biggest lever in driving aviation's net-zero emissions roadmap (it's expected to contribute 65% of carbon reductions by 2050), he also stressed that technological progress must be accelerated in every area, from next-generation aircraft engines to smarter air traffic systems.
"Airlines can't make SAF, and we can't make aircraft. But we need those who can to move fast," he said. IATA's new CADO SAF Registry and SAF Matchmaker tools are technology platforms designed to scale up production, ensure traceability and unlock global distribution.
Drags on aircraft supply, infrastructure and outdated systems
While digital transformation offers an opportunity to take off, Walsh pointed to capacity bottlenecks in aircraft supply and infrastructure as major roadblocks.
On aircraft supply, he shared the following data:
-A 17,000-aircraft delivery backlog means a 14-year wait from order to delivery.
- Planned deliveries for 2025 are 26% lower than promised a year ago.
- More than 1,100 aircraft less than 10 years old are in storage, accounting for 3.8% of the fleet, almost three times the pre-pandemic rate of 1.3%.
- Annual fleet replacement is 3%, well below the normal 5-6%.
"These factors have impacted revenues as some demand has not been met. At the same time, the scarcity of aircraft has pushed up maintenance and leasing costs. Manufacturers estimate that it may take until the end of this decade to sort out this mess, which is unacceptable," he said.
On infrastructure, he listed positive actions in this area:
- India is opening new secondary airports in Delhi and Mumbai to cope with demand.
- Vietnam has set a goal of having an airport within 100 kilometers of 97% of the population, and Morocco plans to double its airport capacity by 2030.
- Dubai will begin a phased opening of the world's largest airport, while Singapore has broken ground on a super terminal that will open in the mid-2030s.
- Major Latin American hubs such as Bogota, Buenos Aires, Lima, Mexico City, Panama City and Sao Paulo have either recently opened new facilities or have expansion projects underway.
- The United States is moving forward with a major air traffic management modernization effort.
Europe is, as always, the exception, Walsh said, "where there is more talk than action."
"The decades-long saga of the Single European Sky is an example of this. It involves costs, efficiency, safety and environmental benefits. Yet narrow national interests cater to air traffic controllers at the expense of passengers. We are likely to see this again in a summer of disappointing flight delays.
"Even worse is the situation in the Netherlands, where the government is deliberately undermining competitiveness by cutting airport capacity under the guise of reducing noise. Its so-called 'balancing act' consultations to shrink Schiphol Airport do not even take into account noise reduction measures taken by airlines. We must continue to resist such short-sighted approaches that incentivize copycats.
"Competitiveness and capacity go hand in hand. Good policies stimulate economies and benefit consumers who want more connectivity, and that's a message worth repeating to any government willing to listen."
The final "boarding call"
At the end of his speech, Walsh reminded the audience of aviation's historical promise and future potential.
"Flying has gone from a luxury for the privileged to a global mass transportation network. Billions more people deserve to enjoy the prosperity that aviation brings," he said. "But we must digitize, decarbonize and debureaucratize. That's the path forward."
For the travel tech audience, Walsh's speech was both a diagnosis and a challenge: The technology is there, and the demand is growing. Now, can the systems, regulators and supply chains keep up?