The former president of the Montreal-headquartered International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) wants to see more women and young people in the aviation industry.
Salvatore Sciacchitano says it’s crucial to “cultivate the young generation in aviation.”
“By 2040, the traffic will double, and aviation will miss 2.4 million employees, aviation professionals,” he said. “So there is a need to push a young generation towards aviation. And in particular women. There’s only five per cent of women in aviation.”
Sciacchitano made those comments on the future of aviation at an Italian National Day reception Monday in Montreal hosted by the delegation of Italy to ICAO.
The former ICAO president was given a declaration by the ambassador representative of Italy on the ICAO Council, Sergio Martes, in recognition of his lifetime professional achievements.
“I’ve spent 46 years, in addition, working in several positions at the national, the European and international level,” Sciacchitano said. “So for me, it’s a way to give the best gratification of the work that I’ve been doing over the years and a real appreciation. So something that will keep me as a conclusion of my career.”
The event was a mix of speeches, socializing, and cocktails. Ambassador Martes told the crowd the day had a special meaning.
“The Italian Republic Day is celebrated worldwide by our consulates and embassies,” Martes said. “I have personally celebrated it in almost the five continents. But I think that here, the ICAO in Montreal has got a special and nice taste, because our constitution, the Italian constitution and our way of making diplomacy, they have got a lot in common with the way international organizations work. There are really common values that we foster, like the pursuit of peace and dialogue between nations. And so I’m particularly happy really to have this celebration here.”
Martes praised Italy’s contributions around the world.
“Italy is the fourth exporter country in the world, and that’s also why we’ve decided to broadcast a lot of videos showing also the diverse kind of productions, excellent productions that we have in Italy, in all the different sectors, from industry, to agriculture, tourism, to whatever,” he said.
“And I really hope this is going to be a small grain of sand that will contribute to better knowledge and awareness also of this.”
–With files from Rita Kamel, CityNews
