The tragedy of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has saddened us all. Through the media, the world continues to follow the extraordinary international response. As human beings, we have kept all those on board, their families and friends in our thoughts through these difficult weeks.

The continuing search is being conducted on an unprecedented scale and the efforts of those involved are no less than heroic. We admire their determination and hope for their safety and success.

Something terrible has happened on what should have been a routine flight. Much though we would like, we cannot wish the event away. From the moment tragedy struck, our colleagues at Malaysia Airlines have been working with the families to help them deal with the trauma of their loss. It is a challenging task, especially in a case with so much uncertainty.

The airline industry, its stakeholders and regulators are at the beginning of the journey to unravel this mystery, understand the cause and find ways to ensure that it is not repeated. That is the best way for all of us involved in aviation to honour the memory of those on board.

In “normal” circumstances, accident investigations take a year or more. In this case, given the difficult area in which the aircraft was lost, it will surely be a long journey before we can draw any certain conclusions on mitigation.

In the meantime, speculation — of which there has been much — will not make flying any safer. The so-called “black boxes” will tell the story with information on flight data and the cockpit conversations. The priority is to recover these as soon as possible. And we should not jump to any conclusions on the likely cause before the investigation closes.

There are, however, areas of process — not cause — where there are clearly challenges that need to be overcome.

Chief among these is how we follow aircraft as they move around the globe. In a world where our every move seems to be tracked, there is disbelief both that an aircraft could simply disappear and that the “black boxes” are so difficult to find. Air France Flight AF447 brought similar issues to light a few years ago. While some progress has been made, it is clear that we must accelerate our efforts. We cannot let another aircraft simply disappear.

Even in our eagerness, however, we must also ensure that prudent decisions are made in line with global standards. This is not the time for hastily prepared sales pitches or regional solutions. The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has well-established processes to move this forward. And I have no doubt that governments are as eager to reach a conclusion as soon as possible.

Careful analysis

The aviation industry must and will play a role in supporting ICAO in this effort with a united position. That is why the International Air Transport Association (IATA) is convening an expert task force to examine all the options available for tracking commercial aircraft. The group will weigh considerations of implementation, investment, time and complexity to achieve the desired coverage. Our goal is to report conclusions by December, reflecting the need to balance urgent action and careful analysis.

Although the task force has been brought together under extraordinary circumstances, its approach — to involve partners across the industry in a methodical process — is typical of the way aviation tackles safety issues. Another example is the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA), which is an internationally recognised system designed to assess the operational management and control systems of an airline. All IATA members are IOSA registered and must remain registered to maintain IATA membership, but the registry is open to all carriers, whether IATA members or not. At present some 392 airlines are on the register, including 61 from the Middle East and North Africa. Last year, the total accident rate for all types of aircraft by IOSA-registered carriers was twice as good as for non-IOSA carriers.

To raise the bar further on safety, IATA is introducing a significant change to the IOSA programme. Known as Enhanced-IOSA, the new standard requires operators to complete continuous internal assessments rather than simply meet the current IOSA standard for an audit every two years. In June 2013, the IATA Board of Governors mandated Enhanced-IOSA for all registration renewal audits taking place on or after September 2015.

Clearly, airlines need support to comply with this new requirement, so IATA is providing Enhanced-IOSA workshops in partnership with our members. Carriers in the Middle East and Africa benefitted from a two-day workshop held in Dubai on April 16-17, hosted and sponsored by Emirates airline. More than 103 participants from 22 airlines were in attendance, which demonstrates the commitment of carriers in the region to building their safety capabilities, as well as a vote of confidence in the improvements being made to the IOSA process.

Thanks to continued vigilance and process improvement, the safety record of the aviation industry is strong. Accidents are rare. Each day, nearly 100,000 flights take people safely to their destination. That is because the aviation industry and its regulators are never complacent. Even before we know what happened to MH370, we have already begun important work to make a safe industry even safer.

Tony Tyler is Director General and CEO of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).