IS-BAH: Raising The Bar For International Safety Standards

Dec. 29, 2014
Collaboration between the National Association Transportation Association and the International Business Aviation Council creates a new international standard for business and general aviation ground-handling operations.

The National Air Transportation Association’s successful Safety 1st Ground Audit program has been incorporated into the new International Standard for Business Aircraft Handling (IS-BAH), implemented on July 1st in partnership with the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC). The IS-BAH launch was announced in May 2014 at the European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition in Geneva, Switzerland, setting a new and higher standard for Safety Management Systems and best practices throughout the industry.

“I am extremely excited about the new IS-BAH standard because it is the first time NATA and IBAC have come together to provide a uniform, internationally recognized standard from which businesses can drive their internal processes while improving safety performance,” said NATA President Tom Hendricks. “This is a significant step for the international aviation community.”

The new standard was developed at the urging of the European Business Aviation Association. Day-to-day operation of the standard and audit processes will be managed by IBAC. Terry Yeomans, formerly of Rockwell Collins Flight Services in Luton, UK, has been appointed to serve as director of the IS-BAH program.

“We are pleased to have created a truly worldwide ground-handling standard with NATA,” said Kurt Edwards, Director General of IBAC, in a statement prior to the announcement in Geneva. “From conversations with handlers and operators and based on our experience with IS-BAO, we see great benefits for the business aviation community from an enhanced safety culture and a more standardized, predictable set of practices at airports around the world.”

IS-BAH is modeled on the International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO) and combines the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards – including forthcoming Safety Management System (SMS) requirements – and NATA’s Safety 1st Ground Audit program. It improves upon the guidelines from all of that disparate source material, and creates a global code in place of the morass of regional and country-specific standards previously in place.

“The purpose of IS-BAH is to be performance-based so it doesn’t tie into any country’s regulations – or lack thereof – and to create conformity between the aircraft operators, FBOs, and ground handlers both here in the U.S. and overseas,” explained Michael France, NATA’s Director of Safety & Training. “For the first time, we have a single worldwide standard, and that’s big news. Historically we’ve had a number of different organizations taking their own approach, but we’ve all come together and realized it’s in everyone’s best interest to have a single standard.”

Among the more obvious benefits, France said the IS-BAH audit process will reduce the number of different safety audits required of many NATA members.

“The transition to IS-BAH should be a smooth one for NATA members because this grew out of the NATA Safety 1st Ground Audit standard, which was developed by our Safety 1st Committee and our Environmental Committee over the last several years and launched in June 2012,” France says. “A lot of NATA members participated through those committees in creating that standard, and will see that work reflected in IS-BAH. We’re all aligning to bring the benefit of a single standard to the industry, and it’s very much a win-win all around.”

Implementation of IS-BAH comes amidst a series of industry-wide safety reforms and increasing levels of international collaboration: according to preliminary data released by ICAO in January, 2013 was the safest year on record for scheduled international aviation, with air transport fatalities down 53.5 percent from the previous year and down 76 percent from the baseline measure in 2010.

“These results are no surprise given the level of commitment our sector demonstrates, year-in and year-out, to improving the safety of the global air transport network,” ICAO Secretary General, Raymond Benjamin said in a statement at the time. “Recent years have seen a tremendous increase in the level of cooperation and partnership on aviation safety priorities and we are now seeing the fruits of these efforts born out by these remarkable 2013 outcomes.”

The push behind the development of the IS-BAH standard and efforts to encourage its wide-spread adoption are partly in preparation for a series of new and forthcoming ICAO requirements mandating Safety Management Systems for international operators. ICAO Council president Dr. Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu has called safety “ICAO’s guiding and most fundamental Strategic Objective” and has made cooperative international safety programs a top priority to “continue to coordinate the investment and collaboration needed to ensure that air transport remains the safest means of rapidly moving people and goods worldwide.”

Hendricks similarly made IS-BAH one of his immediate priorities upon joining NATA as president.

“We began discussions with IBAC very soon after my arrival at NATA in 2012,” Hendricks said. “In my former career, I worked closely with the International Air Transport Association on the IATA Operational Safety Audit standards (IOSA) and was very aware of the benefits to industry of international standardization.  When NATA was approached by IBAC on this effort in 2012, the benefits were obvious for aviation businesses.  We worked very closely with our partners at IBAC to help drive this benefit for the industry.”

“IS-BAH is another step down the path towards wide implementation of Safety Management Systems,” Hendricks explained. “This ongoing evolution will, in the long term, change the relationship between regulators and industry as fully mature SMS programs enable both regulators and industry to focus resources on those areas in an operation where risks are most relevant. The International Civil Aviation Organization has already created the framework for the adoption of SMS principles in aviation operations.  This construct will inevitably build rapidly in the coming years and the NATA/IS-BAH standard will serve as a key enabler of SMS for our industry.”

Fixed Base Operators and Business Aircraft Handling Agencies in the U.S. can purchase the IS-BAH manual and implementation guide online at www.nata.aero, the first step in becoming registered operators through the IS-BAH audit process. NATA member companies can purchase IS-BAH for a discounted rate of $1,200, which includes a print copy of the IS-BAH standard, a copy of the SMS Toolkit booklet, and a USB drive with the complete IS-BAH files. The IS-BAH implementation guide details how to conduct a gap analysis between an operator’s existing standards and those of the IS-BAH program, and IBAC will also be conducting a series of “Fundamentals of IS-BAH” workshops.

“The price for companies that are members of IBAC member associations, partnering helicopter associations or NATA has been discounted to account for the substantial investment of the associations in developing the standards,” according to IBAC’s IS-BAH resource library. The cost to non-members is $1,650.

NATA is encouraging its members to pursue full IS-BAH registration for their Safety Management Systems, through a series of audits which will be conducted every two years. The audit process will confirm that Safety Management System infrastructure is established, targeted to manage safety risks, and fully integrated into the operator’s business. Successful completion of an audit will serve as proof of compliance with several key ICAO Safety Management System standards, which are now required for operations in some countries and may also lead to reduced insurance rates and other benefits. NATA members with a minimum of five years’ experience in aviation-handling management can also apply for IS-BAH Auditor Accreditation through IBAC.

“This is a significant step for the international aviation community,” according to Hendricks.  “We look forward to working with our international colleagues to provide other products to help improve safety and business operations. NATA’s groundbreaking work on NATA Safety 1st and our creation of the Air Charter Safety Foundation are two examples of our commitment to improving safety and serving aviation businesses worldwide.“

This article first appeared in the 2014 3rd quarter issue of Aviation Business Journal.

About the Author: Colin Bane is a Denver-based staff writer for ESPN and frequently contributes to Aviation Business Journal and other publications including Smithsonian Air & Space Magazine and Outside Magazine.