The International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) recently conducted its annual International Standard for Business Aircraft Handling (IS-BAH) standards board meeting prior to EBACE last month. It welcomes Lou Sorrentino, CEO, AVMASSI as the new IS-BAH standards board chair and two new members for 2023-2024, and thanks returning board members for their continued service. New members include Phil Bartle of Signature Flight Support, EMEA and Jennifer Van Winkle of Sundt Air in Norway.

IS-BAH programme director Terry Yeomans says: “As you can see, the standards board consists of active professionals from around the world in the ground handling service provider sector, demonstrating these are truly industry-driven standards. I am grateful for the entire team as they continue to offer their valuable time and expertise to voluntarily participate in the future of IS-BAH. I look forward to working with this impressive team throughout the next year and beyond.”

The IS-BAH standards board is delegated responsibility for the content of the IS-BAH standard itself by the IBAC governing board. Suggested improvements are received throughout the year from industry users and from upcoming changes identified by IBAC within the ICAO SARPs. The updates to the IS-BAH 2023 will be released in July.

The IS-BAH programme has registered more than 293 different locations globally since its inception in 2014 and is designed to enhance the safety and efficiency of business and general aviation ground handling service providers. As a voluntary programme, IS-BAH is the first industry standard to bring the SMS concept to ground handling and will enable handlers to conform to the ICAO SMS framework.

The 2023-2024 IS-BAH standards board members include:

Chair, Lou Sorrentino, AVMASSI

Vice chair, Marc Pieters, Rậ Consulting

Joseph Azzaz, Sky Valet Golf de St-Tropez airport

Chris Barrow, Hong Kong Business Aviation Centre

Phil Bartle, Signature Flight Support EMEA

Alain Champannois, RoyalJet

Gary Dietz, flight operations, AT&T

Paula Kraft, Da Vinci/Tastefully Yours

Kevin Donnelly, Jet Aviation US

Dawit Lemma, Krimson Aviation, AfBAA

Benjamin Hammond, Duncan Aviation

Jennifer Van Winkle, Sundt Air