Pilot, safety expert, consultant, and aviation journalist Stuart “Kipp” Lau writes about flight safety and airmanship for AIN.

Contributor - Safety

Stuart “Kipp” Lau

Safety management systems (SMS) are already required for domestic and international air carriers. And by May 28, 2027, Part 135 on-demand charter and commuter operators, some aircraft manufacturers, and air-tour operators will be required to comply with FAR Part 5 SMS regulations.
SMS implementation for charter operators has strong industry support; however, it’s not a silver bullet. Often overlooked is the importance of a positive safety culture.&nbsp;SMS for charter and air tour operators was on the NTSB’s Most Wanted List for many years and is defined as a formal, top-down, organization-wide approach to managing risk and assuring the effectiveness of risk controls.
“This is a significant step forward for aviation safety. I’m pleased the FAA issued the final rule requiring all Part 135 operators and FAR 91.147 air tour operators to implement a safety management system,” NTSB member Michael Graham said. “Operators are safer when they proactively and systematically identify hazards and mitigate their changing risks through an SMS.”<o:p></o:p>
Safety culture is how safety is perceived, valued, and prioritized in an organization; it reflects a commitment to safety at all levels. SMS and positive safety culture are inseparable and go together like peanut butter and jelly.<o:p></o:p>
Safety culture, or “the way we do things around here,” can be positive, negative, or neutral. It’s what people think about safety, its importance, their peers’ beliefs, and the actions of their leadership and managers. Positive safety culture cannot be bought, and is more than a slogan on a poster. Developing positive safety culture takes time. Leaders must be committed to making safety a priority. It must outweigh other organizational demands like productivity and profitability. Frontline workers can easily differentiate safety as a priority versus lip service—actions from an organization’s leadership speak louder than words.
However, safety climate is different but often used interchangeably with safety culture. Both terms refer to the value of safety in an organization, but culture is something an organization is, while safety climate is something an organization has at a particular time and is transitory.&nbsp;Safety climate is influenced by operational (staffing, scheduling tempo, etc.) and economic (furlough, schedule reductions, bankruptcy, etc.) circumstances and could be seen as the “mood” of the organization, while culture is more enduring.
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The FAA found that safety culture is foundational for effective safety management and risk-based decision-making. It also found that safety culture is an index of how much employees perceive their organization’s values and emphasis on safety at all organizational levels—from frontline employees to senior leadership. <o:p></o:p>
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In May 2023, the FAA published "<a href="https://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/maintenance_hf/Safety_Culture_Assessment_Continuous_Improvement_in_Aviation.pdf">Safety Culture Assessment and Continuous Improvement in Aviation: A Literature Review</a>." In this report, the FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute reviewed industry literature to support the agency’s efforts to promote positive safety culture. “The effectiveness of safety management depends on the organization having a positive safety culture, or the shared values, actions, and behaviors that demonstrate a commitment to safety over competing goals and demands,” the report found.<o:p></o:p>
Sonnie Bates, CEO of the safety specialist Wyvern, expressed concerns during <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2024-09-03/faa-mandates-sms-charter-operators-now-what">a recent AIN interview on SMS implementation in Part 135 operators</a>. “Most air charter operators are scrambling to meet the requirements of this rule. Most of them do not have a viable SMS…or they have a documented SMS but they lack the tools, training, and culture to make it work,” Bates said. “Those who have waited this long to implement an SMS because the FAA has finally mandated it are way behind the power curve as it's likely their leadership has not committed to ensuring a positive safety culture.”<o:p></o:p>
Throughout the journey of SMS implementation, top-tier flight ops organizations undoubtedly will devote the personnel and fiscal resources necessary to develop positive safety culture that will promote flight safety and encourage employees to behave safely. Second- and third-tier organizations will struggle with implementing SMS and establishing positive safety culture; those organizations must understand that developing a positive safety culture takes time and resources, and getting employees to buy in requires a sincere effort in placing safety above other considerations.
The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily endorsed by AIN Media Group.

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