US MRO Constant Aviation has received confirmation from the FAA that its fully functional SMS is in active conformance with the FAA's Part 5 Voluntary Safety Management System (SMS) Program, the final step in the SMS process. The certification ranks Constant Aviation among the leaders nationally in business aviation maintenance safety and risk mitigation.

Constant Aviation becomes only the fourth MRO out of the more than 4,500 maintenance organisations nationally and the first independent business jet MRO Part 145 repair station to achieve this designation.

“We are proud that the FAA has certified Constant Aviation as being in active conformance with the Part 5 Voluntary Safety Management System Program,” says David Davies, Constant Aviation CEO. “This certification is a rare honour, earned by the dedicated men and women of our team and reflective of our commitment to the highest standards of safety for our staff and for those who fly on the aircraft we service.”

While FAA acceptance of Constant's SMS programme is complete, the company has been operating under these processes for the last year and has seen significant improvements. Year over year, the company has reduced incident severity and workplace injuries by over 55 per cent. In addition, the company has experienced a reduction in incident costs of over 200 per cent and direct cost savings of over $250,000.

“Implementation of SMS across our entire network has revolutionised how we approach safety,” notes Kent Stauffer, Constant Aviation VP of quality, safety and training. “Involvement in risk mitigation on this level allows us to anticipate where we will see hazards, furthering our ability to prevent those hazards from becoming safety incidents. That reduces incidents and incident severity, prevents injuries and reduces costs. We are especially proud of the fact that we've accomplished this completely in-house with our own personnel, which has resulted in maximum buy-in, customisation and ownership.”

SMS data has been kept by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) since 1997 and shows that these programmes help mitigate risk. As a result, SMS has become the standard for safety programmes in aviation worldwide; while they are optional for MROs such as Constant Aviation, both domestic customers and foreign certificate holders increasingly request them.

The FAA Part 5 SMS Program, established in 2015, provides aviation organisations with systematic procedures, practices and policies to manage safety risk. Constant Aviation has progressed through the programme's three levels; active applicant, active participant and, now active conformant.