Argus International (Booth 1127) has rolled out what will be its highest safety rating of Part 135 operations called Platinum Elite, which instead of the traditional two-year audit is a real-time operational safety performance monitoring program. The audit company said Platinum Elite provides timely visibility to significant changes in an operator's safety management system (SMS) and connects operator SMS conformance to real-time operational safety performance.
The audit program was developed over six years with the assistance of charter operator Jet Linx, which provided input and data to Argus during Platinum Elite’s development cycle. Omaha, Nebraska-based Jet Linx also becomes the first Part 135 operator to achieve a Platinum Elite rating. On Wednesday, Argus announced two additional operators to achieve Platinum Elite: Alerion Aviation and N-Jet.
“Since our initial partnership with Argus in 2007 as one of the first private aviation operators to receive an Argus Platinum rating, we have been steadfast in our commitment to elevate safety in our industry,” said Jet Linx president and CEO Jamie Walker. “Now, as the first operator to receive Platinum Elite status, we are excited to usher in a new standard of safety in private aviation and in transparency to the private aviation consumer.”
Because Platinum Elite operators are monitored on a constant basis, it also benefits charter operators by saving them time from being subject to the traditional lengthy audits, Argus v-p of business aviation Ed Wandall told AIN. “It’s going to make things super-efficient for the operator."