The SMS Mandate is Near: We’ve Been Ready for Years

It's no surprise that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed mandating the use of a Safety Management System (SMS) for Part 135 operations. After the organization-wide mandate was handed down to Part 121 airline operations in 2015, business aviation began the countdown to compliance. But it's not just for the commuter and on-demand sector. Operators may be surprised that the proposal intends to expand the requirement to all holders of Letters of Authorization (LOA's) issued under FAR 91.147 (passenger carrying flights for hire—commercial air tour operators).

As the worldwide regulatory agencies become more unified, the U.S. proposal also contains requirements coming from international civil aviation authorities that will bar U.S. companies from flying into other mandated countries without an SMS program.

Now that the moment is near and no longer optional, flight departments are tasked with getting ready to meet the regulatory requirements while keeping up with evolving best practices unique to business aviation.

While many operations might have a general SMS program, the intent of the new rule is to increase every company's safety culture, which means setting a standard across the industry. Each SMS must include systematic procedures, practices, and policies for safety risk management. Every flight department intends to be safe, but through training and using the four core elements of the SMS (Policy, Risk Management, Assurance, and Promotion) to build on, operators can set a standard and then customize the concept to their unique organization.

An SMS wouldn't be successful without training all flight operations personnel, not just aircrews. It sounds like a daunting task, but as a forward-thinking aviation training company, Advanced Aircrew Academy has been ready for this regulation since the idea first took hold within the industry.

Advanced Aircrew Academy's Safety Management Systems (SMS) module sets the benchmark for eLearning, designed as an introduction and overview of the four core elements that support the program and explain the overall safety culture concept. Versions of the module are available for Safety Managers, Pilots, Flight/Cabin Attendants, Schedulers/Dispatchers, Line Service, Mechanics/Engineers, and Office Staff. The most unique feature is that each module can also be customized to your organization's procedures, such as how you file safety reports and your safety policy, change management process, and safety committee protocols.

Advanced Aircrew Academy's SMS for Safety Managers is accepted by the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) to meet the IS-BAO/IS-BAH auditor training requirements and can also be used for one credit hour towards IA Renewal (FAA Course Acceptance Number: C-IND-IM-160330-K-006-002).

Module Content includes the following:

• Introduction to SMS
• SMS Elements
• Safety Policy
• Safety Risk Management
• Safety Assurance
• Safety Promotion
• SMS Documentation
• Scenario-based training applicable to each operational group

For more information or to demo an SMS module, email info@aircrewacademy.com or review the SMS module.

Aircrew Academy's comprehensive offerings include over 100 eLearning modules to meet all your training needs—and if we don't have it, we'll create it for you. Download and review the eLearning module catalog.