The Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) and the Aviation Safety Alliance (ASA) have merged, effective December 31, to become “the world’s leading resource on flight safety.” The new organization will operate under the FSF name and will focus on providing expert knowledge to industry and media on global aviation safety issues and best practices.

“This merger pulls together the best expertise in the world on aviation safety,” said Stuart Matthews, FSF president and CEO. “We are looking forward to the greater visibility and public awareness we will achieve with the education programs that ASA brings to the expanded organization.”

The ASA was founded in 1998 as a resource for journalists reporting on aviation-related issues and will continue that mission, and its various meetings and seminars, as part of the Flight Safety Foundation.

“As someone who is familiar with both the ASA and the FSF, I saw the logic in this natural fit,” said Susan Coughlin, president and CEO of the safety alliance. “In a time of increasingly scarce resources in the aviation industry, it made sense for the groups to merge and work together toward shared safety goals.”

A former vice chairman of the NTSB, Coughlin will step down from her positions at the ASA. She will remain on the board of governors of the FSF, and will serve in an advisory role on aviation safety education initiatives. Ed Stimpson is chairman of the FSF board.