True to their commitment, students from the French National School of Civil Aviation (ENAC) have presented their conclusions to CSAE following several months of research, stakeholder interviews, and on-site analysis. Going well beyond a purely academic project, the students propose five interconnected drivers of change aimed at achieving a lasting reduction in airside vehicle accidents across airport environments.
A continued commitment to strengthening airside safety
Despite the growing number of prevention initiatives and the ongoing commitment of stakeholders across the airport community, the number of airside accidents did not decline in 2025. Faced with this initial finding, four ENAC students chose not to produce yet another list of recommendations. Instead, they set out to design an integrated framework in which each action serves as a prerequisite for the next, creating a coherent and mutually reinforcing system.
Starting from operational reality and exploring best practices
Following an international benchmarking study and an examination of high-risk industries with strong safety cultures – including construction, transportation, and the nuclear sector – the students also conducted in-depth interviews with key airside stakeholders. These included a commanding officer from the Air Transport Gendarmerie at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, a manager from TCR Group, and a representative of the French Aviation Industry Federation (FNAM).
Interdependent actions for a systemic approach
Drawing on this body of research, the students selected five actions from a pool of thirty identified initiatives. These measures are not intended to stand alone; rather, they form an interconnected system in which each lever reinforces the others:
- The safety joker initiates the sequence.
- The buddy system pairs each new employee with an experienced colleague for a three-month period, enabling the transfer of practical knowledge and operational know-how that formal training alone cannot provide.
- The 360° debrief embeds a culture of collective learning by systematically reviewing incidents without assigning blame, turning each event into an opportunity for continuous improvement.
- Virtual reality training allows drivers to practise critical operational scenarios – such as nighttime pushback operations or activities in highly congested airside areas – in a safe, risk-free environment.
- The points-based permit concludes the sequence. It promotes individual accountability through a jointly developed scoring framework that includes opportunities to regain points. Its placement as the final measure is deliberate: without the foundation of trust established by the previous four initiatives, it would likely be perceived as a purely punitive mechanism.
Planning for implementation
The students also sought to quantify both the cost of implementing these measures over a three-year period and the performance target that could realistically be achieved: a 40% reduction in injury-related accidents within eighteen months at a major airport platform such as Paris Charles de Gaulle.
The next step is to present the findings of this work to the sector’s various governing and advisory bodies.
A first presentation took place on 19 May 2026 at the CSCE Commission (Safety Competencies for Drivers and Operators of Airport Vehicles and Equipment), which brings together ground handlers, airlines, and airports to address airside operational safety challenges.
A second presentation was held on 25 June 2026 at the CSAE Executive Committee.
At each stage, the objective is to assess the feasibility of the proposed measures and explore how they could be incorporated into the sector’s strategic roadmap.
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