Does change challenge safety? Complexity in the civil aviation transport system

The paper describes our attempt at mapping the complexity of the civil aviation system, in terms of how changes affect safety and interactions between actors within the system. Three cases were selected to represent three distinct levels of the transport system: the civil aviation authority case, the air traffic control/airport operation case and the maintenance case. Through the complexity perspective, we identified several positive system characteristics or mechanisms that contributed to maintain and improve safety during change processes, including a strong safety consciousness, collective coordination among individuals, and safety practices based on flexibility and knowledge sharing. These system characteristics were strengthened by changes with a positive perceived influence on safety, such as new technology improving flight safety. However, changes involving efficiency, merging and relocation were perceived to influence safety negatively by creating conflicts of priorities and reducing safety margins. The mixed effects of changes represented a common challenge across the three case organizations.