The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is now proposing commuter, air tour operators, charter, and aircraft manufacturers to adopt a Safety Management Systems (SMS), as reported by Reuters.
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WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 24: An airplane flies over the Washington Monument on November 24, 2021 in Washington, DC.
The SMS
The SMS is a set of policies and procedures to identify and address potential operational hazards early on the US airlines. It can be recalled that the US airlines have been required to have SMS in 2015, while some aerospace companies volunteered to have SMS programs.
In 2020, the US Congress directed the FAA to mandate SMS for aircraft manufacturers as part of their wide-ranging certification reform bill following the fatal crashes of the two Boeing 737 MAX. FAA proposed a rule that goes beyond lawmaker requirements.
The SMS requires four key components: safety policy, safety risk management, safety assurance, and safety promotion. In addition, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has made one of its top recommendations urging the FAA to require and verify SMS systems in all passenger-carrying aviation operations.
The NTSB has cited SMS systems in several incidents, such as the helicopter crash that killed the NBA star Kobe Bryant in 2020. According to the board, it was the operator's incomplete implementation of its safety management system. The benefits of a mandatory SMS was also included in the report.
The FAA also proposes that each SMS comes with a code of ethics that applies to all employees.
The proposed rules would apply to passenger and air charter carriers, commuter operators, air tour operators, and aircraft manufacturers that already use SMS or would voluntarily adopt them. The FAA will not require small general aviation operations to have such a management system.
Better Safety for Today's Aircraft
Airlines should already have an SMS, whether voluntarily or not. But in the event that they do not, they now have an opportunity to come up with and adopt a safety management system that would give them an edge over the competition and provide a better safety for today's aircraft.
This SMS will not be difficult and costly to establish, unlike what some of the smaller airlines might have thought. The SMS can be easily established in a matter of weeks. There are several companies that can assist the airlines or companies establish their SMS and provide them with the necessary services.
This system is an assurance that mishaps and disasters will not happen again in their company. This is the best way for the company to assure their clientele that they are competent and capable of providing an exceptional service.
With the safety management system, the company will know how to address each and every concern that the clients might have.
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