In response to the significant worldwide increase in demand for safety management systems (SMS), ARG/US has developed SMS-related products and services under the new brand name Prism–professional resources in safety management.

“Organizations like ARG/US and the International Business Aviation Council have built the most recognized and respected audit standards for business aircraft operators, both centered around a fully implemented and functioning safety management system,” said Joe Moeggenberg, president of ARG/US. “Many countries have responded with complete support of SMS mandates for their operators, and more will follow. Our customers have actively supported the ARG/US safety management system, the online SMS toolkit and our SMS training classes.

Prism is designed to provide flight departments with SMS support starting on the day they decide to implement an SMS. Prism includes consulting, implementation, training, SMS tools, validation and continuous improvement modules. In all, there are 28 different offerings within Prism, and many are combined and are available as basic, professional and enterprise packages.

“We wanted to ensure that our SMS products and services helped operators foster an environment wherein their safety management system becomes the backbone of their corporate culture,” said Steve Witowski, ARG/US SMS product line manager. “With Prism, our subscription-based service is focused on incorporating the operator’s SMS into their day-to-day operations, as opposed to making it an ‘as needed’ reference manual that is all too often consistent with one-time SMS purchases.”

In other ARG/US news, Air Partner has endorsed the ARG/US charter evaluation and qualification (CHEQ) program relative to the program’s expansion into Europe. CHEQ provides third-party due diligence on business aircraft charter operators. CHEQ yields an ARG/US rating on these operators and allows charter buyers to instantaneously compare charter operators, aircraft and flight crew against an industry, or custom, dedicated standard.

The CHEQ program, marketed in Europe under the name CHEQPoint International, is based upon a database referred to as the operator data maintenance program, which allows ARG/US to capture historical safety information, current aircraft and pilot qualification information and on-site safety audits.

To introduce CHEQPoint International to the European charter community, ARG/US is offering free subscriptions for three months to all operators signing up at EBACE. Customers will be registered immediately when they sign up at the ARG/US exhibit (Booth No. 843).