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Part 121 Air Carriers will now need a Safety Management System

Posted on March 20, 2015 by ProDIGIQ

This final ruling by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires all authorized Part 121 air carriers to create and put into place a safety management system (SMS).

The rule came into effect on March 9th, 2015 and requires Part 121 Air Carriers to begin the process of planning and implementing an SMS. Within six months of the date, air carriers will need to submit their implementation plan to the FAA; then within three years of the same date, have it operating.

The FAA put this ruling into place as part of a concerted effort to improve the safety of air transportation and change the industry’s reactive attitude towards safety into a proactive one.

According to the FAA, the commercial air carrier accident rate has decreased by a great amount in the United States over the past decade – but the FAA discovered a trend of what could have been preventable hazards and accidents. Spurred on by this, part 121 air carrier’s must submit an implementation plan within six months of the final ruling, and implement the SMS proposed by the end of this three-year period.

What goes into a Safety Management System?:

The Safety Management System must have the four major components: safety policy, safety risk management, safety assurance, and safety promotion. These four parts must be fulfilled in order to have a functioning and proper SMS.

Safety Policy requires the air carrier to define safety objectives and commit towards reaching them. It also calls for the designation of an accountable executive who is responsible for the safety performance and management of its operations. This executive and a sufficient management staff will be responsible for the organization, integration, implementation and maintenance of the safety management system.

The safety risk management component is fairly straightforward. It requires air carriers to develop a process of analyzing existing and potential systems, and identify hazards that might impact operations. Once they’re identified, the risk and the possibility is analyzed to determine if it’s an acceptable safety risk or not. If it is not, then methods of risk control must be implemented.

Safety assurance is the method through which “the air carrier will develop and implement processes to monitor the safety performance of its aviation operations,” according to the FAA. It is designed to be a way to monitor and audit operational processes, investigate incidents and accidents, and allow for confidential reporting of hazards and new safety improvements.

Safety promotion is the training of employees and managers to develop the tools needed to communicate necessary safety information. Involvement of employees is vital to the success of an air carrier’s safety management system. Employees must know their responsibilities and duties, and be trained in everything relevant to the safety performance of the air carrier. They must also be made aware of any information resulting from various safety management system analyzes.

The cost of implementing the rule is estimated to be $135.1 million dollars over ten years, but the benefits could be anywhere from $104.9 to $241.9 million dollars across the decade. The benefits depend heavily on the mitigation costs, but they are difficult to quantify.

The FAA has adopted the final rule with a number of minor modifications based on comments. Some of the important changes are as follows:

Scalability:

Scalability was addressed – though the rule was not limited as suggested. The FAA recognized the impact that the rule could make on small businesses. The FAA designed the requirements to be applicable to all air carriers, making sure that all sizes, scopes, complexities and types were covered. 14 CFR 5.3 was revised in order to fit these changes.

Scope:

A number of entities asserted that the rule was too broad and would reach beyond the Federal Aviation Administration’s oversight authority. Commenters suggested that the rule be revised in such a way to limit SMS to areas that would only directly affect aviation activities. The FAA took the comments into account and limited it as such.

The FAA acknowledged that some airports may only use their safety management systems on the narrow range where it is required, and others may expand it beyond that. If an air carrier decides to expand, the FAA will continue to only oversee SMS related activities in accordance with the provision.

Protection of Information under FOIA:

Sixteen organizations raised concerns about SMS data not being protected from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. The consequence would be that the Federal Aviation Administration’s oversight would be compromised because of the lack of data being submitted to them. Commenters said that the protection of data is vital to ensuring the free-flow of information with the FAA.

The FAA noted that there are already protections afforded to voluntarily submitted reports, data and such under Public Law 112-95 (the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012) – as long as it has been produced or collected to develop and implement a safety management system.

Enforcement:

The FAA was asked to publish its plan for compliance and enforcement. The FAA stated that each SMS would be uniquely designed to meet the needs and wants of each air carrier. Determining compliance will depend on what is needed in each case – meaning discretion will be exercised in deciding how to enact enforcement.

The FAA also acknowledged that a fundamental concept of safety management system is for the air carriers to identify and correct their own noncompliance – which is not a new concept with FAA policy.

There are many more items that were discussed and addressed in the comments and by the FAA – so if these are of interest or affect you, read on in the full final ruling on the topic issued by the FAA here. (January 2015)

Posted in Abstracts, Aviation Industry News, News | Tags: Part 121, Safety Management System, SMS |

Resource Library: SMS Collection 3

Posted on March 7, 2015 by ProDIGIQ

ACRP Synthesis 37:

The Airport Cooperative Research Program’s (ACRP) Synthesis 37 is a collection of lessons learned from Airport Safety Management System (SMS) Pilot Studies.

The goal of the synthesis was to provide U.S. Part 139 airport operators with data and experiences that were learned through the pilot studies, but the lessons could certainly be applied to airports that are safety-minded.

The synthesis covered the management of the pilot program, all findings related to the components of SMS and lessons learned from them, along with challenges and benefits to an SMS with conclusions and trends.

For more information, read the ACRP Synthesis 37. (March 2012)

FAA Office of Airports SMS Desk Reference:

In 2012, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Office of Airports released the Safety Management Systems (SMS) Desk Reference. It’s a massive collection of all the information pertinent to SMS as of 2012.

The Desk Reference is written as a supplement to FAA Order 5200.11 by bringing to light the necessary requirements needed to implement an airport SMS. The reference mostly covers the procedures needed to bring all the components of SMS in line with Safety Risk Management (SRM).

There are a number of sections on general SMS guidance, one on the FAA, airport and state roles and responsibilities when implementing SMS, FAA Airport (ARP) specific implementation of SRM, funding for ARP SRM activities, a description of the ARP SRM Tracking System (SRMTS), and a description of ARP SMS Safety Assurance and Promotion.

For more information, read the FAA Office of Airports Safety Management System (SMS) Desk Reference. (June 2012)

Posted in Abstracts, Aviation Industry News, News | Tags: abstracts, ACRP Synthesis, FAA SMS Desk Reference |

Resource Library: SMS Collection 2

Posted on February 27, 2015 by ProDIGIQ

ACRP Report I, Volume II:

The Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Report I, Volume II is aimed towards airport operators and others responsible for organizing any Safety Management Systems (SMS) at an airport.

It is a guidebook that expands on the information in ACRP Report I, Volume I, thoroughly detailing the components of the system and presenting all the information needed to perform all the necessary SMS tasks.

The chapters within cover the basics of Airport SMS, how to get started, implementing SMS at an airport, Safety Risk Management, and finally the continuous operation of SMS.

Though the Guidebook was published in 2009, and though the final FAA guidance has not been released and could change, it can still be a good resource for those wanting to learn more.

For more information, read the ACRP Report I, Volume 2: Guidebook. (June 2009)

Roundtable Review Nov. 2011 of Part 139 Implementation Studies:

Through Gap Analysis, a number of airports have begun adopting implementation of Safety Management Systems (SMS) after the original pilot studies. They began to identify what components needed to be added on top of what had already been in place.

The goal of the Implementation Studies was to determine what methods and policies were best for the adoption of Safety Policy, Safety Risk Management (SRM), Safety Assurance and Safety Promotion.

The fourteen airports that participated in this study applied the changes necessary through a few different methods, but came together and decided on changes that needed to be made before full implementation of SMS at airports.

To read the full study and their conclusions, download the Part 139 Safety Management System (SMS) Implementation Study’s November 2011 Roundtable Meeting Summary. (November 2011)

Posted in Abstracts, Aviation Industry News, News | Tags: abstracts, ACRP Report, roundtable review |

Resource Library: SMS Collection 1

Posted on February 13, 2015 by ProDIGIQ

This is the beginning of a series of abstracts designed to help you understand important aviation industry documents in a quick and simple way. Read on to understand the Advisory Circular 150/5200-37 and the ACRP Report I, Volume I.

Advisory Circular 150/5200-37:

Advisory Circular (AC) 150/5200-37 was the first introduction of a Safety Management System (SMS) for Airport Operators. Its goal was to outline and define what an SMS is and how to begin the process to putting into effect the guidelines necessary to comply with upcoming rulings and lawmaking.

The plan was to implement the program in a way that complimented existing safety regulations in Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 139, while meeting the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards for safety.

This document outlined future goals and plans while putting the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) in charge of providing and putting out information on SMS for airport operators.

Though aimed specifically at Part 139 airports, other civil airports were encouraged to pick up the applicable material in the AC and future documents.

For more information past this abstract, read the Advisory Circular 150/5200-37. (February 2007)

ACRP Report I, Volume I:

The Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Report I, Volume I details what a Safety Management System (SMS) is and explains the business advantages and safety assurances it can grant. Implementing an SMS not only improves those aspects of an airport, but also encourages an overall change in safety culture.

An airport’s success with implementing a functional and compliant SMS relies on the commitment of top and senior management in order to make things transition smoothly.

This ACRP report is, at its simplest, an overview. It details all the components that make up the system, including the four main segments and the twelve parts which make up the main ideals. It also lists SMS in other industries and parts of the aviation industry, ICAO guidance for airport SMS, SMS implementation in airports outside the United States, and the future visions for airport SMS in the United States.

For more information past this abstract, read the ACRP Report I, Volume 1: Overview. (March 2007)

Posted in Abstracts, Aviation Industry News, News | Tags: abstracts, ACRP Report, Advisory Circular |

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