Program Promises To Increase Consumer Safety While Reducing Costs For Operators

The Air Charter Safety Foundation (ACSF) formally announced on June 11 the availability of the ACSF Industry Audit Standard for the air charter industry.

The ACSF Industry Audit Standard was developed with the input and guidance of leading safety auditors, charter operators, shared aircraft ownership companies and charter consumers. The ultimate goal of the Industry Audit Standard is for charter operators and shared aircraft ownership management companies to complete one comprehensive audit on a recurrent basis rather than the multiple audits they currently complete.

The Industry Audit Standard program was built from the ground up by ACSF to set the standard for the independent evaluation of an air charter operator’s and/or shared ownership company’s safety and regulatory compliance.

"Our audit standard was crafted to alleviate the substantial costs and redundancies associated with today’s auditing environment – where operators are subject to multiple audits every year that consume precious resources," said ACSF President James K. Coyne.

With the deployment of the ACSF Industry Audit Standard, the charter consumer can be assured that audited and registered operators are compliant with the highest standards of safety and compliance. Participating independent auditors will be accredited by the ACSF. Operator and customers alike can be assured of the integrity of the program because becoming audit registered requires the review and approval of the on-site auditor(s) recommendations by an independent review board.

The ACSF has planned the first round of auditor training courses for August 2008, with the first air charter operators being audited this fall and industry-wide availability by early 2009.

FMI: www.acsf.aero