The Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF.aero), a non-profit organization which supports the highest safety standards for 240 business, charter and fractional operators, announced several organizational changes. Russ Lawton was promoted to Vice President of Operations and Alyssa Sleight to Programs Manager, and Frank Raymond has joined the ACSF as its new Director of Safety.
ACSF President Bryan Burns explained that the staff changes are a result of the ACSF adding new member benefit programs as well as expanding existing ones. “With the ACSF growing as it has been, we need the additional in-house aviation safety expertise to assist our member companies,” he said. “In that regard, we’re thrilled to welcome Frank Raymond to the team, and we’re delighted to promote Russ and Alyssa, who’ve both contributed significantly to our growth.”
Raymond, Lawton and Sleight’s backgrounds and experience reflect careers that have been tightly focused on aviation safety and its administration.
Frank Raymond
As the ACSF’s new Director of Safety, Frank Raymond is tasked with helping expand the ACSF Industry Audit Standard and Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP), which the ACSF offers in conjunction with the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA). In the coming year, Raymond will also assist ACSF members to improve their safety standards with the rollout of flight data monitoring (FDM) and the newly required safety management system (SMS) standards, per the FAA.
Raymond joins the ACSF after having worked for Seattle, Washington-based Vulcan, Inc. for 14 years. While at Vulcan, he launched its flight operational quality assurance (FOQA) program and, in addition, redeveloped the team’s emergency response plan (ERP).
Prior to Vulcan, Raymond served in various safety-related roles at Alaska Airlines, including as its ASAP Manager. He attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona, where he earned a BS in Aerospace Studies, and a master’s in Aeronautical Science at Embry-Riddle’s worldwide campus in Seattle. Raymond also earned his Aviation Safety and Security Certificate from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California.
In 2016, Raymond was a recipient of the coveted Tony Kern Professionalism in Aviation Award. He has served on the National Business Aviation Association’s Safety Committee leadership team, and chaired the data subgroup to address the National Transportation Safety Bureaus’s recommended A-34-01. Additionally, as a member of the Aviation Safety Information Analysis and Sharing (ASIAS) General Issues and Analysis team, he represented more than 50 business aircraft operators’ interests in improving data analysis efforts.
Russ Lawton
For more than 40 years, Russ Lawton has held key roles within aviation and system safety. Formerly the ACSF’s Director of Safety and ASAP Program Manager, he has been promoted to serve as its Vice President of Operations. In his new role, he will continue to be responsible for the ACSF’s ASAP program and its 135 participating companies. As well, he will head up revisions to the ACSF Industry Audit Standard for charter operators and fractional aircraft ownership companies. Lawton is a current member of the ASIAS General Issues and Analysis team. He has also served on the FAA SMS aviation rulemaking committee, and previously was responsible for developing and implementing SMS programs for member companies of the National Air Transportation Association (NATA).
Prior to joining the ACSF, he served as Director of Operations for Wyvern Consulting, in Nashua, New Hampshire, where he was the company’s lead safety auditor. He was in the first group of accredited auditors for the International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO). He has assisted the NTSB and the FAA on various safety initiatives, and, for more than 15 years, he has served as an active member of the NBAA Safety Committee. Additionally, he has contributed as an editorial consultant to the Flight Safety Foundation and served as Editor in Chief of the IFR Refresher magazine.
He holds a master’s degree in safety from the University of Southern California and a bachelor’s in air commerce from the Florida Institute of Technology. He spends his off-hours as an active Air Transport Pilot (ATP) and flight instructor.
Alyssa Sleight
Alyssa Sleight formerly was the ACSF’s Assistant Director of Safety, and will now serve as Programs Manager for the organization’s various safety initiatives, including the ASAP Program. In particular, she will continue to organize the back-office logistics of the ASAP training and operations, such as ASAP data collection and coordinating all Event Review Committee meetings. In her new role, she will also provide operational support for the FDM and SMS programs.
Sleight is a licensed private pilot and holds a BS in Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. She is proficient with SMS platforms that house ASAP data, including ACSF QuickBase, Argus PRISM Armor, Aviation Manuals, BaldwinSMS, FltSap, VOCUS SMS and Web-Based Analytical Technology (WBAT).
The Chairman of the Air Charter Safety Foundation, Robert Rufli, had this praise for the ACSF’s organizational changes: “For years, Bryan, Russ and Alyssa have done an exceptional job in launching and facilitating the Aviation Safety Action Program for general aviation. Now as the Foundation’s membership grows and its programs expand, it’s vital to keep the momentum going. Frank Raymond is a strategic addition to the team who can help the team meet their objectives. His in-depth aviation safety experience is the perfect complement to help the Foundation promote continuous improvement through safety-related programs.”
To learn more about the ACSF and its member benefits, visit www.acsf.aero.
