The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has named Luc Tytgat as its new Acting Executive Director, replacing Patrick Ky whose second five-year term expired on September 1, 2023.
Tytgat joined the European regulator as Director of Strategy and Safety Management in January 2015, after previously working with the air transport and space domains at the European Commission (EC).
“I am honoured to be entrusted with leading EASA through this transition period,” Tytgat said.
According to the new Acting Executive Director, his main goal moving forward will be to “ensure that the Agency continues to deliver on its many projects and that our operational and reputational position remains intact, so that the new Executive Director can begin the new role at full speed”.
EASA noted that Tytgat’s previous work at the regulator included increasing the “level of safety intelligence” and developing a “better and more agile regulatory framework”.
“He set the strategic direction for key challenges faced by the sector, such as the need to reinforce the Agency’s role in countering climate change and emerging safety risks such as cybersecurity, conflict zones, and health,” EASA continued.
Meanwhile, Ky has worked as Executive Director for 10 years through the second half of EASA’s 20-year history.
“I am proud of my legacy,” Ky noted, adding that the European regulator is now the global “reference point for aviation safety”.
During his tenure, Ky oversaw some of the most important events in aviation safety’s history, including the Boeing 737 MAX groundings, the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines MH17, and the Germanwings Flight 9525 crash, as well as managing the agency during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Most recently, he was part of the certification process for the Boeing 777X in Europe, where EASA and Boeing previously did not see eye-to-eye on certain matters, including the 777X’s flight control systems.
The process to name a permanent Executive Director is underway under the auspices of the EC.
