Why We’re Failing at Communication—and What It’s Costing Us

Let me be clear; we’re not suffering from a lack of communication—we’re drowning in it. Every day, billions of messages are sent, posted, and emailed, yet in critical environments like aviation, people are still hesitant to speak up. And it’s costing us—financially, operationally, and most importantly, in terms of safety.

Why Is Communication So Difficult?

We often assume communication is easy. But it’s not. Three key elements make it difficult:

• The Environment- organizational structures, physical settings, and reporting systems often hinder real communication.
• The Audience- generational differences, company culture, and societal pressure influence how people receive messages.
• The Speaker- whether it’s fear, embarrassment, or lack of experience, many are simply afraid or unsure of what to say.

Communication is the Causal Factor, but to what problem?

In a study I took part in that analyzed over 3,300 aviation incidents, there is one clear factor:

• 84% of them—2,795 to be exact, were due to human error.
• Of those, 65% involved communication failure.

Why the Silence?

There’s a lot of noise, but when it comes to critical moments, there’s silence. Why?

• Access to reporting systems is often cumbersome.
• We say we believe in a Just Culture, but do we actually implement it?
• Fear of reprisal or being ignored prevents people from reporting.
• Cancel culture, generational divides, and past bad experiences silence voices before they even speak.

Understanding the Environment, Audience, and Speaker Environment

People are hesitant to report because:

• They’ve been ignored or penalized in the past.
• We confuse digital convenience with emotional accessibility.

Audience

With over 100 major social media platforms and billions of users, we are saturated with content—but lacking connection. Culture, rank, and internal politics add to the disconnect.

A truly “safe” organization isn’t just one with the best metrics—it’s one where:

• Breakrooms are loud (yes, really—it means people feel safe talking).
• Mentorship feels like parenting, not policing.

Speaker

Aviation is full of unique personalities:

• Ramp and ground crews tend to be introverted.
• Pilots are often extroverted.
• Industry Veterans carry years of mistrust or past trauma.

If a person feels they’ll be punished, ignored, or humiliated, they won’t speak up. Safety Teams must realize that they are not productive because they are a department of processes enforced by regulations. Safety is productive because Trust is the key component. It takes years to fully develop a trustworthy safety program, and one mishandled incident can cause it all to collapse. Remember, trust is gained in drops and lost in buckets.

What Do We Do About It?

We need to break the silence, not with more noise, but with intention. Here’s what I believe we must focus on:

• Ask the hard questions. Get uncomfortable. Don’t shy away from challenging the status quo.
• Control what we can: our systems, our culture, our responses.
• Embedded a Just Culture that rewards honesty, not perfection.
• Empower leaders to serve. Leadership isn’t control; it’s responsibility. Leaders must be accessible and serve rather than rule.

Every Action Counts

To quote the author of Atomic Habits, James Clear, “every choice we make is a vote for the kind of person [—and organization—] we want to be.”

No single action defines us, but the sum of our actions does. If we want a culture of safety and trust, we must build it deliberately.

Communication isn’t a checkbox in a form—it’s the foundation of everything we do in aviation. And when it's missing, it echoes like silence in a hangar.

Let’s change that—together.

Bombardier Safety Standdown  is an annual event that promotes knowledge-based aviation safety training, personal discipline, and responsibility as essential elements of aviation safety and professionalism.

The aviation safety program is free of charge, and the information is targeted at pilots, crewmembers, maintenance technicians, and managers regardless of what aircraft they operate.