Aviation Personnel International (API) and Waypoint Partners have collaborated to launch a risk-management service for flight departments called the Accelerator. It combines Waypoint’s safety assessment with API’s Annual Health Chex, a top-to-bottom consultation with all members of the aviation department. The product measures change in job satisfaction and cognitive skill levels from year to year, and identifies individual growth and potential, as well as areas of conflict and stress within the flight department.

“Safety does not happen in a vacuum; it is not just a set of procedures,” said Sheryl Barden, president of API. “Safety is about people. Reduction of risk depends solely on the stakeholders involved–the flight department members as well as their clients.

The S3 Accelerator includes three key components: operational assessment, maintenance/technical review and human factors assessment. “The flight department is a point of convergence of three key assets: the capital intensive, technically advanced aircraft; the highly valued personnel who manage the operation; and the executives and other passengers who are the flight department’s customers,” said Waypoint’s Mike Sowa. “This is a critical focal point that has largely been ignored by other assessment programs.”

Sowa added that the service differs from traditional flight department audits not only in scope, but in style. “The S3 Accelerator is designed to be an interactive program that works with the flight department in a positive and proactive manner, rather than being judgmental and polarizing,” said Sowa. “The result is a more comprehensive and constructive review with clearly defined observations and specific recommendations where appropriate.”