Alexandria, VA, January 29, 2009 — The Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF) is pleased to announce the availability of the foundation’s highly-anticipated Industry Audit Standard. Beginning February 2, 2009, air charter operators and shared aircraft program managers may commence the process to achieve status as an ACSF Industry Audit Standard registered operator.
The ACSF Industry Audit Standard (IAS), announced last year, is a revolutionary program built from the ground up to set the standard for the independent evaluation of an air charter operator’s and/or shared ownership company’s safety and regulatory compliance, and incorporates Safety Management System (SMS) evaluation.
“The IAS has received industry support beyond our expectations,” explained ACSF Executive Director Jacqueline Rosser. “We already have a list of operators who have contacted us to be placed in the audit queue.”
“From the beginning, our goal has been to bring the various interests – operators, consumers, auditors and even regulators – together to create a measurement tool that applies a consistent, high-quality standard to the industry,” stated ACSF President James K. Coyne. “I am proud to say that we have created a transparent program that we believe accomplishes this goal.”
“Industry leading firms have already agreed to accept the ACSF IAS, which positions us to achieve that goal,” Rosser noted.
The largest purchaser of charter in the United States, NetJets Aviation, Inc., has announced it will accept an IAS registration for its supplemental lift purchases and that it will also schedule an IAS review for its fractional program. “NetJets Aviation, Inc. looks forward to completing the ACSF’s Industry Audit Standard,” commented James C. Christiansen, president, NetJets Aviation, Inc. “Our industry needed to coalesce around one comprehensive audit standard and the Air Charter Safety Foundation has provided the community with the model standard.”
Jim Betlyon, CEO, CharterX Wyvern, stated, “Wyvern shares the vision of the Air Charter Safety Foundation. Safety is more than words, and the ACSF has stepped up to fill an industry requirement. Wyvern is excited to support the ACSF both in providing audit services and the online data systems for the ongoing monitoring of the audited operators.”
“I am pleased to see that ACSF has taken the initiative to develop a universal audit standard for charter operators and shared aircraft management companies, similar to what has been in place for years with the scheduled airlines,” stated William R. Voss, president & CEO of Flight Safety Foundation. “ICAO and international regulators will be counting on industry codes of practice to help them regulate general aviation around the world. This new standard fills that void for the charter community.”
“Jet Solutions is proud to be one of the first operators to demonstrate our commitment to the Air Charter Safety Foundation and the Industry Audit Standard,” stated Dennis Keith, president, Jet Solutions, LLC. “Jet Solutions recently had an ACSF IAS team conduct a thorough audit of our operations. I can personally attest to the integrity of the audit and appreciate the thoughtful feedback provided by the audit team.”
Customers should look for the ACSF IAS registered logo and encourage their preferred charter provider to participate in the program. Any consumer can quickly and easily validate the status of an operator through the ACSF audit Web site.
Supporting materials are available at acsfdev.com/audit. Operators wishing to initiate the audit process should contact Russ Lawton at 1-888-SAFE-135 (888-723-3135).