Business View Magazine | February 2020

87 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2020 THE INTERNAT IONAL BUS INESS AV I AT ION COUNC I L an outdated section of an annex to the Chicago Convention document that was important to the business aviation community. “When we handed it over to the ICAO’s Air Navigation Commission, it was welcomed as the first significant chunk of the Chicago Convention that was revised by industry and accepted without any significant change by the organization. This is the type of work that we do. We want to make sure that the standards that apply to us, globally, are relevant and appropriate.” Safety is at the center of IBAC’s second and third core areas of concern. Its two best safety practices programs for its members are: IS- BAO (the International Standard for Business Aircraft Operators) and IS-BAH (the International Standard for Business Aircraft Handlers). “Safety is always a key issue,” Edwards maintains. “Business aviation, from its start, has always emphasized safety.” IS-BAO was developed by the business aviation community and is maintained by the community via the IS-BAO Standards Board, a group of business aviation subject matter experts nominated by IBAC Member Associations. IS-BAO builds on the excellent safety record already established in business aviation. The program centers on the Safety Management System (SMS) concept and leads the operator from establishing principles, to achieving an effective SMS, to eventually attaining a risk-averse, generative safety culture. Audits are conducted every two years and ensure conformance with the standards and recommended practices. The audits also provide valuable feedback to the operator. The registration certificate issued upon successful completion of an audit serves as proof of conformance to the IS-BAO, which is aligned to the relevant ICAO standards and recommended practices. IS-BAH offers Fixed Based Operators (FBO) and Business Aircraft Handling Agents (BAHA) a scalable, industry-developed code of best practice centered around SMS principles adopted by ICAO and other operations-critical industries. Director General, Kurt Edwards