Four operators have renewed their biennial status on the Air Charter Safety Foundation's Industry Audit Standard (IAS) registry; Advanced Air, Executive Fliteways, Northern Jet Management and Worldwide Jet. The ACSF audit is a detailed gap analysis of an operator's management practices.

One of the four companies is Advanced Air, a scheduled commuter and private charter airline based in Hawthorne, California. The company's founder and president, Levi Stockton, is pleased that his company has surpassed regulatory standards and maintained the ACSF's rigorous auditing standards for the fifth time since 2014.

“As a business built on the foundation of safety and trust, it's been paramount to find quality partners who constantly challenge us to meet the highest standards and improve,” says Stockton. “After spending nearly a decade working with ACSF and completing its stringent audit five times, we are confident and well-equipped to handle the FAA's upcoming mandatory SMS rule.”

“ACSF's IAS will help aircraft operators move closer to achieving such recognition by the FAA for their SMS programmes,” explains ACSF president Bryan Burns. “And from the customers' perspective, doing so should provide end users more peace of mind. Thereafter, when passengers see the ACSF Audit-registered seal on an operator's website, they can rest assured that they're flying on a safe aircraft with highly qualified crew that follows the latest standards from ICAO Annex 19 and FAA Part 5.”

The Industry Audit Standard requires standards far above the minimum safety requirements. As such, it has led the industry in setting high-performing safety standards and has consistently increased the audit's safety performance evidence since the audit's inception in 2009. Two years ago, the ACSF added new requirements to the Industry Audit Standard that evaluate an operator's compliance with FAR 14 CFR Part 5 SMS standards (the FAA safety management system voluntary programme or FAA SMSVP) and ICAO Annex 19 safety management. Thus, the IAS is now the most comprehensive audit available for business and general aviation operators.

But SMS will no longer be a voluntary option, according to the FAA's 2023 NPRM, which will require all Part 135 operators to develop and implement an SMS.

“All member companies that complete the IAS audit are required to meet the appropriate standards, but they'll also receive a list of 'recommendations' so they can potentially implement them as best practices,” says ACSF director of operations Bob Rufli.