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Speakers

Safeskies 2026 aims to promote awareness of aviation safety across the many sectors which make up the aviation ecosystem, such as crewed/uncrewed, civil/military, commercial/recreational, rescue/emergency services and the emerging space sector.

Our theme for 2026 builds on collaboration: bringing the various sectors together, highlighting the excellent safety work being done across the industry, breaking down the silos of excellence, and fostering even greater collaboration for more effective safety outcomes.

Within the broad theme of safety collaboration, Safeskies 2026 will consider themes such as:

SSC2024 data driven 250

Let the data speak

What is the data showing about safety trends?

SSC26 AI and safety

AI and aviation safety

The promise and the perils

SSC2024 airspace 250

Sharing the skies safely

What factors must be taken into consideration in safe future airspace usage?

SSC2024 training tech 250

Training the future aviation workforce

The best ways to develop technical and non-technical skills to ensure a professional and safe industry

SSC2024 safety culture 250

Safety culture in outsourced activities

Shifting safety culture in outsourced activities - for example, ground handling

SSC2024 accident factors 250

Safety investigation

New ways to learn from the past

Submit a presentation proposal

Thank you for your proposals

The call for abstracts opens on 27 October 2025 and will close on Sunday 1 February 2026.

Note: presenters must accept sole responsibility for the statements made in their abstract

Thank you to all those who submitted an abstract. The program has now been finalised, and we look forward to seeing you there on the 20-21 May.

Submit an abstract

Presentation proposal review and selection

The Safeskies 2026 conference committee will review all abstracts submitted. Decisions made by the committee are final.

Each abstract must specify a presenter, who will be notified of the committee’s decision when the abstract acceptances are distributed.

The presenter of each accepted abstract must register for the entire conference meeting and must be available to present on the day allocated.

Abstracts submitted for presentation to Safeskies 2026 are expected to be original and unique submissions, and not previously presented at other aviation safety conferences or meetings.

Accepted abstracts will be published on the Safeskies 2026 website/conference app/ handbook.

Presentations may comprise part of a themed grouping and involve a panel discussion, or may be stand-alone (stand-alone presentations will run for a maximum of 30 minutes, with 10 minutes for questions.

The call for abstracts opens on 27 October 2025 and will close on Sunday 1 February 2026.

Submit an abstract

We look forward to your valuable contributions to devising a program which will include an engaging and varied line-up of speakers on our 2026 theme of ‘Safety collaboration 2.0’.

We are delighted to announce that our keynote speaker at the dinner on Wednesday 20 May will be Pamela Melroy, former deputy administrator of NASA, NASA astronaut, and space shuttle commander. She is also a former colonel in the US Air Force, a veteran of JUST CAUSE and DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM, with over 200 combat and combat support hours, and a USAF test pilot with over 5000 flight hours in 45 different aircraft. 

Following the success of the play Turbulence at our last conference, on day two, award-winning company ACT Australia and New Zealand will present another safety theatre scenario. Stay tuned for details!

Thank you to those who submitted presentation proposals. With your valuable contribution, we have now finalised the program, which includes an engaging and varied line-up of speakers on our 2026 theme of ‘Safety collaboration 2.0’.

Our 2024 dinner speaker will be Major General Jeannie M. Leavitt, who was the first female jet pilot in the US Air Force, flying F-15s, and becoming the USAF Chief of Safety in August 2021. She said of her time in the USAF: ‘One thing that’s changed is women are no longer a novelty. When I started flying fighters in 1993, there were no other women. So there were no female instructor pilots, no flight commanders and no squadron commanders. The good news is this opportunity opened up, and quite a few women followed in my path.’

THE HONORABLE Pamela A. Melroy

Colonel, USAF, RET.

Pamela Melroy

Pam Melroy is a senior aerospace executive with government and industry experience across civil, commercial, and national security space. She is the former Deputy Administrator of NASA, a former NASA astronaut and Space Shuttle commander, and a retired US Air Force test pilot.

Melroy was commissioned in the United States Air Force and served as a KC-10 copilot, aircraft commander, and instructor pilot. Melroy is a veteran of Operation Just Cause and Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, with over 200 combat and combat support hours. She attended the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California. She was assigned to the C-17 initial test team as a test pilot until her selection for the Astronaut Program. She has logged more than 6,000 hours flight time in more than 50 different aircraft.

Melroy was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in March 1995. She flew three missions in space: as Space Shuttle pilot during STS-92 in 2000 and STS-112 in 2002, and as Space Shuttle Commander during STS-120 in 2007. All three missions were assembly missions to build the International Space Station. She has logged more than 38 days in space and was one of only two women to command the Space Shuttle. She was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2021.

Colonel Melroy retired from the Air Force in 2007, and left NASA in August 2009.  After NASA, she served in executive roles at Lockheed Martin, the Federal Aviation Administration, DARPA, Nova Systems Pty, and on multiple boards. In 2021 she was appointed by President Biden as the Deputy Administrator of NASA, serving until January 2025. She now serves as President and Managing Partner for MH Technology Partners, a consulting firm.

Melroy is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, and the Royal Aeronautical Society. She is a Member of the US National Academy of Engineering.

Melroy is a popular speaker on topics such as the state of the space industry and future of space, and leadership, strategy and change management.

Advanced air mobility panel

Greenbird is facilitating a panel on advanced air mobility on day one of the conference, examining the importance of gaining and maintaining consumer confidence for the successful uptake of new technology.

The expert panel comprising Sara Hales, MD Greenbird; and Greenbird members, Tim Ryley of Griffith University; Jia Le Koh of Skyports Asia-Pacific; and Andrew Moore of AMSL Aero, will look especially at how safety standards can be leveraged to foster this confidence.

Sara Hales

Managing Director, Greenbird
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Tim Ryley

Professor of Aviation, Griffith University
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Jia Le Koh

Regulatory Affairs Lead, APAC, Skyports
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Andrew Moore

CEO and Co-Founder, AMSL Aero
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Regulation and technology panel

The panel comprises three speakers: Dr Reece Clothier, a principal analyst with Boeing, and president of the Australian Association for Uncrewed Systems (AAUS); Dr Rob Weaver, the regulation & public policy global lead for Eve Air Mobility; and Zachary Kennedy, the chief regulatory officer of Australian drone-powered logistics start-up, Swoop Aero.

They will address the challenges new technologies such as drones and advanced air mobility bring for regulators, creating pressure to create fit-for-purpose, flexible regulations meeting safety needs, while allowing such dynamic technologies room to evolve.

Dr Reece Clothier

Principal Analyst
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Dr Rob Weaver

Regulation & public policy global lead
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Zachary Kennedy

Chief Regulatory Officer
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Sara Hales is a leading Australian strategist and is managing director of AVISTRA and Greenbird – Australia’s advanced air mobility industry collaboration platform.

Sara is working to deliver value for communities and economies through aviation, airports, infrastructure, air freight and advanced air mobility. With unique experience in the operationalisation of new aviation businesses and a pragmatic approach to business development, Sara is in a unique position to play a role in creating a world where air mobility is for everyone and doesn’t cost the Earth.

Tim Ryley joined Griffith University in 2015 as the inaugural Professor of Aviation. Prof. Ryley has over twenty-five years of academic experience across universities in the UK and Australia.

His research has typically been industry-linked, inter-disciplinary and problem-based, having led or co-led over 15 research projects totalling over $5 million. Collaborations have been with a wide range of aviation industry and Government partners, including major airports and airlines. Prof. Ryley’s research has increasingly focused on the environmental aspects of aviation, and he is an internationally leading expert in decarbonising the aviation industry. 

Jia Le Koh is the Regulatory Affairs Lead, APAC, for global advanced air mobility (AAM) infrastructure developer and drone services operator, Skyports. 

He plays a critical role across both Skyports’ business segments, leading conversations that inform and guide regulatory bodies, standards-setting organisations, and private sector companies to develop and mature the evolving AAM regulatory environment. He also oversees the safety and compliance of Skyports’ Asia Pacific operations.

Prior to joining Skyports, Jia Le was the Deputy Head of Hub Strategy and Connectivity with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore and also held appointments in aviation safety.

Andrew Moore is a qualified aeronautical engineer and pilot and has worked in aerospace leadership roles for over 20 years. Andrew has held a range of senior engineering and business development leadership roles, in the defence and commercial aviation sectors.

After a successful career, Andrew embarked on a PhD in 2017, researching the distributed electric propulsion for aircraft. Andrew co-founded AMSL Aero with Siobhan Lyndon in 2017, with the mission to decarbonise air transport.

Dr Reece Clothier is a principal analyst within Global Safety & Regulatory Affairs, Boeing Product & Services Safety, responsible for Boeing’s international regulatory strategy. 

In addition to his role with Boeing, Reece is the elected President of the Australian Association for Uncrewed Systems (AAUS) and an honorary associate professor at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. Reece was a founding board member of AAUS, and over the last decade has played an instrumental part in helping the Association develop into Australia’s peak national industry body for the emerging autonomous aviation sector. Since 2005 he has established, led and continues to actively support numerous national forums on the regulation of the drone/AAM sector. Reece serves on the General Aviation Advisory Network, is a member of the CASA Aviation Safety Advisory Panel, the Federal Government’s National Emerging Aviation Technologies Consultative Committee, and the Australian Strategic Air Traffic Management Group (ASTRA) Council. In 2022, Reece co-led the development of Australia’s remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) and advanced air mobility (AAM) strategic regulatory roadmap.

With over 100 peer-reviewed academic publications, Reece is recognised as a leading researcher and thought leader in the fields of aviation safety management and regulation of the emerging autonomous aviation sector. He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering (aerospace avionics) and PhD in the safety and certification of drones from Queensland University of Technology.

Dr Rob Weaver is the regulation & public policy global lead for Eve Air Mobility, the Embraer backed start-up dedicated to accelerating the global urban air mobility (UAM) ecosystem.

Previously he was Executive General Manager Safety, Environment & Assurance at Airservices Australia, where he was a member of the Executive for six years. He has also worked for the UK’s air navigation service provider and holds a PhD in safety critical systems from the University of York.

Zachary Kennedy is the Chief Regulatory Officer of Australian drone-powered logistics start-up, Swoop Aero. With extensive experience in regulatory and safety management, Zac has held safety and operations management roles with the Qantas Group, as well as the Civil Aviation Safety Authority. In addition to these roles, Zachary sits on the Australian National Emerging Aviation Technology Consultative Committee’s (NEAT CC), is a Fellow with the Commonwealth Drone Partnership, and serves as an Industry Fellow at Melbourne’s Monash University.

Zachary’s experience lends a deep understanding of regulatory engagement, certification, and safety management and its applicability to RPAS. In his current role, Zac leads Swoop Aero’s engagement aviation regulatory standards, ensuring the successful implementation of Swoop Aero’s aircraft globally, and paving the way for Swoop Aero to deliver on its goal of making integrated drone logistics accessible to one billion people in 2030.