In the first quarter of this year, SEBA Council, a Dallas, Texas based non-profit corporation, advocating best practices in business aviation, has opened offices in Rome, Italy; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and in Dubai, UAE.

“This is in response to a global demand for our services,” comments Michael Petridis, managing director of SEBA Council. “Flight departments, FBOs and ground handling agents generally prefer the way we conduct an audit. They are also appreciative of the fact that our auditors have hands-on field experience by virtue of having held chief pilot, maintenance supervisor or higher positions within their company. Our clients also like the fact that our board of advisors has strong credentials with its military background, with its members commanding thousands of people and ultimately being responsible for the safety of flight operations, maintenance activities and the handling of transient aircrews. SEBA Council clients also appreciate that we only audit to the standard promulgated by ICAO in its mandate in Annex 19. We use the methodology promulgated by ICAO Safety Management manual 9859, awarding level 1, level 2 or level 3 credentials, in keeping with standard ICAO phraseology.

“Clients do not want to be burdened with unnecessary ancillary requirements that are not contained in ICAO directives or policies,” Petridis continues. “This would be akin to US financial regulations such as Dodd-Frank being overly burdensome for small businesses. Clients also like that we share best practices from observing over 100 flight departments around the world.”

Going forward this year, once the pandemic is over, SEBA Council plans to add other offices to meet global demand for its auditing services. It also plans close collaboration with regional aviation associations, as well as governmental authorities, to enhance flight and ground safety operations. SEBA Council has already conducted audits on three continents, and plans to expand in areas underserved by its competition.