Story ID: 416MillionAirDal
Million Air Dallas Earns FAA SMS Nod
By: Curt Epstein
Caption: Million Air Dallas has received formal FAA approval for its safety management system, under the agency's Safety System Voluntary Program Standard.
Word Count: 226
Million Air Dallas, one of the largest aircraft charter and management providers in Texas, has received formal FAA approval for its safety management system (SMS). This places the Million Air chain franchisee among the approximately 1 percent of all U.S. Part 135 operators that have achieved the agency’s acceptance and recognition of full compliance or "active conformance" with its Safety Management System Voluntary Program Standard (SMSVP).

The company (Booth 2945) began its involvement with the program in 2018. It follows the same guidelines that are required of Part 121 commercial airline operators regarding implementation, validation, and standards.

“Million Air Dallas’s commitment to safety ensures the welfare of our passengers, crew, and ground support employees in every aspect of our operation,” said Don Rickerhauser, the company’s v-p of operations. “We always look beyond the standard procedures and protocol, always perform to the highest level of safety, and utilize the most sophisticated safety tools available to our industry. Completing the pathway to recognized Active Conformance status with the FAA SMSVP Standard is our way of ensuring that commitment.”

Company president and CEO Bob Schmidt added, “This may be the end of demonstrating and testing our [SMS], but it is just the beginning of an evolution to the next level of safety for Million Air Dallas and the private jet transportation industry.”