The director of the International Air Transport Association says he wants to see a globally agreed-on standard for airlines to track planes in place by the end of this year to avoid another disappearance like that of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

Tony Tyler told a small media gathering in Abu Dhabi on Monday that the cost of tracking will have to be examined in any decision. He said profits for the global industry this year are slated at less than $6 per passenger.

Tyler says the IATA does not have a date set for when a promised task force will be created to make recommendations on how commercial aircraft can be tracked continuously.

(AP)