California-based Part 135 operator Sky Partners has once more secured its designation of Wyvern Wingman certified operator by maintaining Wingman status through the Flight Leader programme with quarterly coaching by Wyvern. The Wyvern Wingman standard, the first air charter audit standard in the aviation industry, provides a safety benchmark that allows air charter customers to assess performance expectations against recognised industry best operating practices before purchasing air charter services.

“A genuine safety culture cannot be achieved in an insular manner, nor from a top-down controlled approach. Safety will only be achieved through a comprehensive risk management programme in which there exists both deliberate safety policies and protocols and, more importantly, coupled with ongoing participation and continuous contribution by every individual within the organisation," says president and CEO Craig Miller. "Furthermore, a sustainable safety culture requires a partnership outside the organisation. An organisation cannot do it by itself. It requires an expert partner who provides third party, objective oversight and guidance. We have found such a partner with Wyvern within its Flight Leader programme. For a very long time, I have remained frustrated with the industry standard of conducting safety audits every two years. When we first discussed the Flight Leader programme during its conceptual phase with Sonnie Bates, CEO of Wyvern, we immediately knew this was the programme we needed as well as the type of partnership that would allow us to finally start our shared journey toward achieving true safety excellence. I am proud that we can openly share not only our safety successes but our safety incidents and mistakes with Wyvern on a daily basis. The Flight Leader programme forces transparency and, through that, honesty. We become better and safer as a result.”

Wyvern Wingman operators are evaluated by the Wingman standard criteria. The scope of the evaluation includes an evaluation of operational activities, review on the company operational history and safety records, safety management system (SMS), internal evaluation programme, administrative compositions, technical documentation, pilot and aircraft records, training requirements and maintenance operations including technician training and experience.

“Wyvern is very happy to declare that Sky Partners is a Wingman operator. Adhering to the Wingman standard is evidence that the organisation has a culture of excellence that is far above its peers,” says Bates.