Where Birds Don't Fly

The person managing the safety management system (SMS manager) can easily be silenced by the accountable executive (AE), who is responsible for regulatory compliance on behalf of the certificate holder (CH). Silencing the SMS manager is not intended to withdraw from the safety management system (SMS) itself but is simply a business and contract decision made by an AE. An accountable executive is not an SMS expert and may struggle with accepting work by an SMS manager, since an SMS is intangible, SMS operations runs smooth, but financial results are not visible.  An accountable executive is often the chief executive officer (CEO) of an organization and is trained to analyze tangible results. An AE is result oriented, and when an SMS does not produce any results, or does not have much to show for, an AE could fall in the trap and force the issue. Forcing the issue is to find a tangible root cause that can be changed or replaced. SMS might be a businesslike approach to safety, but it ...

Private air charter businesses are taking off like rockets. Their customers like it and there is less hassle, pressure, and time limits than catching a scheduled flight. Anyone can travel from coast to coast at a cost equal to or less than scheduled airline tickets cost. Ther is no holdover time for the charter since they are picking up new passengers upon arrival. When it is time to go back home, a charter aircraft is ready for you to take you there. Service is great, security is great, and the flying experience is a pleasure nobody could imagine just a few years ago.  Convenience and time savings are benefits that are often considered priceless in our modern, busy world, and flying private offers both in spades. When flying on a private aircraft, the flight leaves when the customer is ready. Easily avoid the hassles of busy airports with a private charter and set your own schedule instead of being required to work around the schedule of a commercial airliner. As the number of bud...