Airport SMS: The Future of Airport Safety Begins Now

During a recent trip back from visiting clients in Florida, I experienced more than one travel delay. As our pilot explained the nuances of how planes and people react differently to lightning strikes, ground crews cleared the tarmac, and I found myself thinking about the entire hubbub surrounding airport safety management systems (SMS).

It might not be the hottest topic in the world, but trust me; the aviation industry is buzzing about the Federal Aviation Authority’s (FAA) intention to require safety management systems at airports. As of November 2005, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) requires that member state airports each implement an airport SMS.

ICAO defines an airport SMS as “A systematic approach to managing safety, including the necessary organizational structures, accountabilities, policies and procedures.” Since the FAA is a member of ICAO, and because the FAA promotes consistency and harmony in establishing standards, it’s requiring certificated airports to develop their own SMS.

At the end of the day, this translates into safer airports for everyone. To accomplish this goal, the FAA calls for airports to implement a safety management system supported by four primary pillars:

The four pillars make sense, and they’re not necessarily new. Airports have long maintained safety programs and operating procedures. The upcoming FAA requirement adds more clarity to existing practices and hopes to establish standards and best practices.

In fact, several organizations included in the pilot studies indicated that many pieces of airport SMS were already in place. Things like management commitment, support, and buy-in exist almost everywhere. The upcoming challenges for airports will primarily center on formalizing processes and systems to effectively implement an airport SMS.

Interestingly enough, we at Cartegraph hear the same types of concerns during our business assessments and implementations with government organizations. In most cases, some guidance and support is all that’s needed to accomplish our goals.

To make it easier for airports to get the guidance they need, the FAA has developed a site where anyone interested in airport SMS can view regulatory information, comments, and pilot studies, each one complete with great documentation, insights, recommendations, and best practices from others in the industry.

Air travel is already recognized as the safest way to travel, so most of us may not take notice of the changes coming to our airports. And with projections of an additional 1.4 million take-offs and landings each year from 2007 to 2020, the FAA is already implementing internal changes that incorporate safety risk management into processes.

This, coupled with airport SMS, will help maintain air travel as the safest, most reliable form of travel for years to come – a few delays aside.

Omar Chaudhry

Business Analyst

Category: Transportation Unique Assets

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