Posted in Infanger on AirportBusiness on June 10, 2009

At the NATA Air Charter Summit in Washington …

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Posted By John F. Infanger
Editorial Director, AIRPORT BUSINESS Magazine

… there are signs of direction from FAA on SMS, something which many in industry have been anticipating. The U.S., as a signatory state under ICAO, is charged with putting together regulation for safety management systems at airports and aviation businesses, something which is already in place in other countries, notably Canada. The direction has been slow in coming.

The National Air Transportation Association, which sponsors the annual charter summit, is actually ahead of the curve on SMS. It has been offering a comprehensive SMS training program for a couple of years. Airports, meanwhile, have been waiting for clear direction from FAA before implementing a program.

Don Arendt, manager at the Flight Standards SMS office of FAA, told the Part 135 carriers that a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) is in the works. “We’re considering rulemaking at this time,” he says. First, however, FAA expects to issue an advance NPRM later this year to get industry’s input on SMS.

Other insights from Arendt …

There are four pillars of SMS: policy; safety risk management; safety assurance; and, safety promotion. These involve things like understanding the system, the environment; identifying hazardous conditions; assessing risk and risk control. Assurance focuses on “providing confidence” that quality requirements are being met, says Arendt.

He adds that despite recent criticism by some in Congress and the media that the agency may be “too cozy” with industry, SMS offers an example of a situation in which FAA and industry working closely together can be a good thing, to ensure safety. “Is anything ever enhanced by having a distant, adversarial relationship?” he questions.

Industry has accepted that SMS is coming, and speaking with operators and airports in Canada reveals that it’s more about documenting and officially managing processes and procedures which many may already have in place. It’s not about a revolution, but more about officially documenting what’s in place and having particular management taking on responsibility.

Thanks for reading. jfi

 

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