When the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) gathered for its 42nd Assembly, one message rose above the noise of policy debate and economic forecasts: “Safety starts with people”.
The paper presented by Austria, IFALPA, IFATCA and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) makes a clear case: aviation safety depends not only on technology and regulation, but on the social sustainability of those who keep aircraft flying. In other words, decent work and fair treatment are as vital to safety as the engineering of an aircraft’s wings.
The Link Between Decent Work And Safer Skies
ICAO’s argument is simple but impactful: where aviation workers are respected, listened to, and supported, they are more likely to speak up about risks. A culture of fear, fatigue or retribution, by contrast, silences the very people who could prevent accidents before they happen.
This is the essence of what ICAO calls a “Positive Safety Culture”. It is the human side of the Safety Management System (SMS), a culture that empowers pilots, engineers, cabin crew and controllers to report hazards without fear of punishment.
The organisation has now gone further, urging its Member States to embed social sustainability, decent work, fair pay, safe working hours, and career development into national aviation policies. In its new partnership with the International Labour Organization (ILO), ICAO is signalling that economic growth in aviation cannot come at the expense of people’s wellbeing.
Africa’s Safety Challenge Is Also A Social One
Across Africa, civil aviation is entering a new growth phase. Passenger traffic is forecast to double by 2040, new airlines are emerging, and several countries are modernising fleets and airports. Yet this progress risks being undermined by a quiet crisis of human capital.
Many African states have successfully adopted ICAO’s Safety Management System frameworks; Nigeria and Ghana are good examples, but both still wrestle with cultural barriers around error reporting and accountability. Too often, safety incidents are met with blame rather than learning. That discourages openness and stifles the continuous improvement SMS depends upon.
In regional carriers, issues such as pilot fatigue, extended duty hours, and uneven employment conditions persist. These are not just labour disputes; they are safety risks. Fatigued crews make mistakes. Underpaid or undervalued maintenance engineers may leave the industry altogether, deepening the skills shortage already facing the continent.
As one safety consultant from the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) recently noted, “Africa’s next great leap in safety will not come from new technology, it will come from how we treat our people.”
A Culture Of Trust
ICAO’s partnership with the ILO could provide the blueprint Africa needs. The two agencies have committed to working jointly on the “future of decent and sustainable work in aviation”, including initiatives on women in aviation, fair employment, and data collection to track workforce wellbeing.
For African regulators and airlines, this is an opportunity to align safety oversight with labour policy. Encouraging non-punitive reporting systems, setting realistic duty time limits, and strengthening social dialogue between management and workers can help embed the “just culture” ICAO advocates.
Positive Safety Culture, after all, is not a slogan; it is a system of trust. It begins when a young first officer can report a near miss without fearing for their job, and when a maintenance engineer knows that raising a concern will be rewarded, not punished.
A Future-Ready Aviation Workforce
Sustainable aviation in Africa will require more than new airports and air routes, it will need an aviation workforce that feels valued, motivated, and heard. ICAO’s social sustainability agenda is not a distraction from economic growth; it is its foundation.
As ICAO reminds us, the economic development of air transport is meant to “assure the delivery of prosperity and societal well-being for all.” For Africa, that means building safety from the ground up, starting with the people who make flight possible.
