Airlines warned against complacency after dream safety run

Global airlines, coming off a record-low accident rate in 2017, need to guard against complacency over safety as heavy growth in travel demand stretches the air transport system, industry leaders warned at a conference this week. There were no jet crashes in 2017 and 19 fatalities across the sector, while some 301 passengers have died in 5 crashes over just the first 5 months of 2018, including the first fatality on a US airline since 2009. The other fatal accidents occurred in Cuba, Russia, Iran and Nepal. Air transportation advocates say it is still by far the safest form of travel. But the industry also needs to modernise a fragmented infrastructure and adopt new technology to keep it safe even as demand balloons. <br/>