Story ID: 
ACSF Adds Members, Audit Standard Renewals
By: Kerry Lynch
Caption: The association membership has approached 190 with the latest round of new members.
Word Count: 454
The Air Charter Safety Foundation has continued to expand its membership and reinforced its safety programs, including the Industry Audit Standard (IAS) and Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP), with new charters and other organizations coming on board or renewing their programs.

In January alone, the ACSF announced three new members and as many renewing their IAS. The new members joining in January were Tacoma, Washington-based crewmember emergency procedures and safety training specialist Aircare International; Denver-based charter company Precision Aircraft Management; and PrivateFlite Aviation, a charter operator with bases in Fort Worth, Texas, and Sellersburg, Indiana.

The new members boost total membership to nearly 190 operators and follow announcements of the nearly two-dozen operators that had joined Washington, D.C. organization last year.

“The ACSF represents a collection of the proudest and safest charter operators in the world,” said Aircare International CEO Jeffrey Roberts of the company’s decision to join the foundation. “In a nutshell, the ACSF enables Aircare International to be an active participant in a community that makes operational safety a priority, and is dedicated to the advancement of safety standards.”

In addition to joining the association, PrivateFlite and Precision Aircraft Management enrolled in the ACSF-administered ASAP. The ASAP, which entails MoUs with the FAA, provides a mechanism for voluntarily reporting and mitigating safety issues in a “non-threatening” environment. Participants in the ACSF ASAP had reached 115 by last fall, and while originally designed for Part 135, more than half of the participants have been Part 91 operators.

Along with administering a tailored ASAP for the 135 and 91 operators, the ACSF has further developed and maintained the registry for the IAS, one of the most stringent audit standards developed specifically for Part 135. Seventeen operators are now registered. The latest renewals include Hawthorne, California-based Advanced Air, which re-upped for the third time. Also renewing in January were Worldwide Jet Charter in Phoenix and Priester Aviation of Wheeling, Illinois.

“Priester Aviation recognizes the incredible importance of providing the highest level of aviation safety, and commends our team for a successful ACSF renewal,” said company president and CEO Andy Priester. “We have built our corporate culture around continuous improvement of our safety systems and utilize the ACSF audit as a benchmark that we strive to elevate each time our company is evaluated.”

Along with its safety programs, the ACSF gathers industry leaders annually for its safety symposium. This year’s event, March 12 to 13 at the NTSB Training Center in Ashburn, Virginia, will focus on “Promoting the Highest Levels of Safety” and feature sessions on safety culture, the new charter broker rule, NTSB case studies, Part 135 standardized curriculum, data analytics, and the ASAP, among others.