Alexandria, Va. – September 19, 2026 -- Flight Safety Foundation will host its 79th annual International Aviation Safety Summit (IASS) on Nov. 10-12 at ICAO Headquarters in Montreal, drawing more than 350 attendees from across the global aviation ecosystem.
ICAO Secretary General Juan Carlos Salazar opens the summit with a keynote on scaling safety
International Civil Aviation Organization Secretary General Juan Carlos Salazar will deliver the opening keynote on Day 1, framing the summit's central theme: whether aviation is ready to scale safely amid growth, complexity, and disruption.
"Secretary General Salazar's perspective will be especially timely as aviation confronts rapid growth and increasingly complex operational challenges," said Dr. Hassan Shahidi, president and CEO of Flight Safety Foundation.
Executive panel to tackle accountability as growth pressures mount
Following the keynote, an executive panel of industry leaders will discuss how senior leaders build trust and maintain accountability when growth, cost, schedule, and disruption compete for organizational attention.
Agenda addresses AI-driven safety detection and airspace integration challenges
Session topics include scaling the workforce without shrinking safety margins, integrating advanced air mobility and uncrewed aircraft systems into shared airspace, and using artificial intelligence to detect weak safety signals without breaking chains of accountability. Additional sessions will cover converting data into trusted safety intelligence, managing future airspace systems, and coordinating more frequent commercial space operations alongside commercial aviation traffic.
Day 2 breakout tracks focus on recurring incidents and airspace infrastructure
Three breakout sessions on Day 2 will examine breaking the cycle of recurring safety events, building infrastructure and capabilities for tomorrow's airspace, and developing resilience for safe operational recovery. Each track pairs panel discussions with interactive workshop sessions where attendees and panelists will identify priorities and barriers to progress.