SMS | silencing pilot input

What is SMS?

Safety Management System (SMS) is a formal, organization-wide approach to identify,  assess, and  mitigate safety risks. Using a well-established set of policies, procedures and practices, SMS helps aviation organizations proactively identify hazards and develop appropriate mitigations. As the global standard throughout the aviation industry, SMS is recognized by the International Civil Aviation Organization, civil aviation authorities, and product/service providers as the latest step in the evolution of aviation safety.

THE ISSUE

NetJets has launched a systematic effort to silence its pilots: In addition to terminating its industry-standard FOQA Program, the company has altered all SMS components that involve direct communication between the FAA and NJASAP, dramatically diminishing the pilot group’s ability to share safety concerns with the federal agency. NetJets is required to maintain an SMS by federal law. This change comes after more than a decade of cooperation, during which front-line employees had many mechanisms for providing input into core safety functions.

For example, one SMS Manual revision has specifically excluded NJASAP, the pilots’ representative, from the vital Monthly Safety Review meetings. By eliminating key SMS inputs, NetJets has limited the pilot group’s ability to report safety issues, undermining the system’s effectiveness in identifying and addressing safety risks. If left unchecked, these changes will likely, over time, erode the safety infrastructure that has long supported the professional aviators who fly NetJets clientele aboard highly advanced aircraft to and from complex environments across the globe.

In accordance with our responsibility as frontline safety professionals, the Union has put FAA personnel on notice of the company’s efforts to remove the pilot group from meaningful participation in supporting SMS. The Union has also communicated its concerns to Berkshire Hathaway Chair Warren Buffett.