IS-BAO Workshops Well Received Around the World

July 18, 2013

This year’s workshops on implementing the International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO), hosted by the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC), have been well attended, with nearly 330 aviation professionals participating in the 36 sessions held around the world.

Nearly a dozen more summer IS-BAO workshops are scheduled at locations worldwide, including the BMW flight department, July 22 and 23 in Munich, Germany; Duage Aerospace, July 30 and 31 in Chicago, IL; Baltic Business Aviation, Aug. 2 in Jurmala, Latvia; and the Latin American Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (LABACE), Aug. 15 and 16 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. IS-BAO workshops continue throughout the world through the end of the year.

Review the schedule of IS-BAO workshops.

IBAC’s IS-BAO workshops are designed to assist operators who are implementing or considering implementing IS-BAO, as well as to accredit potential IS-BAO auditors and provide information to others interested in qualifying for the standard.

“All types of operators are participating – small private operators, large commercial operators, helicopter, fixed wing, state government, federal government and contractors,” said Sonnie Bates, CAM, manager of IS-BAO Operations. “Our workshops in Daytona Beach, FL; Melbourne, Australia; Geneva, Switzerland; and San Antonio, TX, were among the best attended.”

Established in 2002, IS-BAO is a code of best practices designed to assist flight departments worldwide achieve a high level of safety and professionalism. To date, more than 700 operators have registered for IS-BAO, of which 200 have achieved Stage 2 accreditation and 90 have achieved Stage 3, said Paul Lessard, of IBAC administration. More than 40 companies have registered for IS-BAO this year alone, he said.

A non-profit trade association advocating for business aviation globally, IBAC offers the IS-BAO workshops on a cost-recovery basis. Workshop registration fees are $500 for the Fundamentals of IS-BAO Workshop and $750 for the IS-BAO Auditor (Non-Accreditation) Workshop. While workshop topics vary, the most common questions operators ask run to the core of what IS-BAO is all about: “Many questions are related to the concept of managing safety risks via quality management principles,” said Bates.

Overall, Bates said IBAC has been pleased with the response to the IS-BAO workshop program, pointing to the positive feedback IBAC has received.

“A lot of great information and real-life scenarios were presented and discussed in a way that kept everyone extremely engaged,” said Kyle Kerekffy, founder and IS-BAO auditor of High Altitude Enterprises in Carlsbad, CA, who attended the IS-BAO workshop in Montreal this spring. “As an accredited auditor, I walked away with a much better understanding of how to practically apply the IS-BAO standard internally, within my Stage 3-certified flight department, and externally, performing Stage 1, 2 or 3 audits for clients.”