Enhancing Aviation Safety: Expert Insights, Tips, and Updates from SMS-Pro

Introduction: A Vision for Safer Skies

Safety Management Systems (SMS) are the cornerstone of modern aviation safety, transforming how airlines, airports, and other operators manage risks. Born from the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) November 2006 mandate, SMS required a structured approach to hazard identification and risk management. But for many operators, early solutions were clunky, generic, or unscalable. This is the story of how SMS Pro, a leading aviation SMS software, emerged from a vision to create a user-friendly, scalable tool tailored for the aviation industry. From its challenging beginnings to its global adoption by airlines, airports, biz jet operators, maintenance organizations, flight schools, and fixed-base operators (FBOs), SMS Pro’s journey is one of perseverance, innovation, and loss. Written from the perspective of the SMS Pro development team, led by Chris Howell, this account offers full disclosure while honoring the contributions—and tragedies—that shaped its path.

In the changing world of aviation regulations, safety remains non-negotiable. A robust Safety Management System (SMS) has become the backbone of any organization striving to mitigate risks and ensure compliance with regulatory standards, such as those set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and national civil aviation authorities like the FAA or EASA.

For new safety managers, training staff on SMS concepts can feel overwhelming, especially when tasked with guiding accountable executives—senior leaders responsible for SMS oversight. These executives, often juggling multiple responsibilities, need clear, actionable steps to demonstrate SMS compliance effectively.

Why Is Safety Culture So Important?

In many of today's articles about aviation safety management systems, there is something about safety culture. Why? Safety culture ties into every part of your SMS, feeding it as your SMS nurtures your safety culture in return.

It’s a symbiotic relationship, like honeybees and flowers. Each one needs the other to grow and thrive. When your safety culture thrives, your SMS is easier to build and maintain.

What Are Mandatory and Voluntary Safety Reporting Policies

Mandatory and voluntary safety reporting policies are an extremely important part of providing guidance for safety reporting in aviation safety management systems (SMS). Yet, we rarely see these policies published and communicated in aviation SMS implementations.

Definition of Safety Culture in Aviation Risk Management

Safety culture in aviation safety management systems (SMS) is usually defined as being the safety attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and values of employees in an organization. Unfortunately, such a high-level, conceptual definition of safety culture does not help

Benefits of Safety Surveys

Safety surveys give you insight into the relationship between your employees and your aviation safety program, which includes:

• The SMS;
• Safety management; and

Defining Good Safety Culture in Aviation SMS

Safety culture will be the last thing to develop in your SMS.

Once you fully implement your SMS design (Phase 3 of SMS implementation), you will need to monitor your SMS to ensure it is functioning as designed.

Financial Opportunities Abound From Aviation SMS Processes

Aviation safety management systems (SMS) are designed to be implemented in a top-down managerial style for some "not-so-obvious reasons." For one reason, the "accountable executive" cannot accurately be considered "accountable" when safety initiatives and budgets exist beyond their direct control.

Aviation Safety Management Is Business!

For most operators implementing regulatory compliant aviation safety management systems (SMS), their primary business goal was obviously regulatory compliance. Otherwise, thousands of aviation service providers would have initiated aviation SMS before ICAO's November 2006 mandate.

Aviation SMS Success Dependent on Safety Culture

Whether safety professionals or upper management like it or not, a successful aviation safety management system (SMS) is dependent on safety culture. This fact holds true for every aviation industry segment, including:

• airlines;
• airports;
• maintenance organizations, etc.