Industry Insights

IS-BAO Certification, A New Standard for Aviation Companies

In 2000, the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) initiated a project to create an industry code of practice for business aircraft operators. After two years of feedback and testing by numerous flight departments in the United States and Europe, The International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations, or IS-BAO, was approved.

IS-BAO is a code of best practices designed to provide a comprehensive framework for managing safety, security, efficiency and effectiveness of a business aircraft operator. This translates into improved performance for your company and recognition of excellence for your customers.

While many of you are familiar with the ISO 9000 requirement for a Quality Management System overseeing the production of a service or product, IS-BAO is the aviation industry specific equivalent. It provides a minimum baseline for companies operating and maintaining multi-engine, turbine powered aircraft. The basis of the IS-BAO standard is the safety management system, and it addresses all aspects of aircraft operation including maintenance. Presently, there are over 50 companies operating business aircraft worldwide that have received IS-BAO certification and over 400 which have obtained the standards but not yet been certified.

Standardization of practices is vital to the safety and economic interests of business aircraft operators. It allows the most efficient utilization of resources, minimizes confusion over regulatory requirements, and promotes safety through the use of best practices. IS-BAO is a voluntary standard designed to promote standardized, safe and highly professional aircraft operations throughout the world. It is a performance-based standard that provides for different implementation options depending on specific operations. It specifies WHAT not HOW.

Aircraft maintenance technicians and maintenance departments will benefit greatly from IS-BAO certification. First and perhaps foremost, IS-BAO requires the operator to have a maintenance control system. It can be personalized to fit the type and number of aircraft that you operate and the manner in which you do maintenance. This system will be included in the company operations manual (or a separate maintenance manual) and shall contain information essential to the efficient operation of aircraft maintenance. Your maintenance requirements are analyzed, risks assessed and managed, and documented in your manual by your own company personnel. For a corporate operator, examples of risks might include outsourcing maintenance, operation in remote areas, and growth resulting in the acquisition of new aircraft types.

Specific requirements of the maintenance control system include basic things such as identifying the person responsible for the control system and providing copies of applicable sections to appropriate personnel. More complex requirements include having written maintenance agreements, defect reporting and control procedures, and procedures to protect against bogus parts. Also necessary are requirements for initial and recurrent training for maintenance personnel, maintenance dispatch procedures, a company fatigue policy to include all maintenance personnel and a tool control program. Other areas to be addressed and appropriately documented include elementary/preventative maintenance to be performed by pilots (if any) as well as the required training necessary to perform such functions and training necessary for basic ground handling and servicing of the airplane by pilots. Last but certainly not least is the requirement for an evaluation program to ensure that the maintenance control system that you have is doing what it is supposed to do. And that is to keep you and your aircraft accident free.

IS-BAO is a performance-based standard that provides for different implementation options. It sets the bar high but allows each company to meet the standards in a manner that will ensure efficiency, effectiveness, regulatory compliance and customer satisfaction. Certification under IS-BAO will give you the confidence that you have the skills and knowledge to perform as a professional and that your maintenance organization has a safety management system in place. Documented procedures will help you manage growth and continue to improve your maintenance function. IS-BAO certification demands continual evaluation of the maintenance department's needs, provides a framework for continued growth, and guarantees external validation. IS-BAO certification has become the gold standard in business aviation.

Dr. Margaret Klemm and Barbara Snoden are co-founders of Western Sky Consulting, a Seattle-based aviation safety consulting firm specializing in IS-BAO certification.