NEWS

What is your impression of Atlantic Aviation's safety attitude when you visit one our FBOs? My hope is that it's one of commitment and attention to keeping you and your aircraft safe.

In my role as Vice President of Risk Management & Safety, my goal is to make Atlantic the safety benchmark for the general aviation industry. Atlantic does not want to just be good in the safety arena, we want to be the best.

While we are by no means perfect, we have devoted significant time and resources to ensure we get better each day. From comprehensive policies and strategic partnerships to training, asset investment  and incentives, our safety program builds momentum each day.

Comprehensive Policies

Atlantic's safety policies and procedures are meticulously detailed to align with the operation realities that our crews face every day. To do this, we asked our employees for input and to help us shape our guidelines. By taking this approach, our teams are less likely to go through the motions because they have invested themselves in the process.

Strategic Operational Partnership

The risk management and operations teams have partnered on our safety initiatives to ensure our goals are aligned. The risk management team and representatives from each operational region formed a risk committee that meets quarterly to discuss existing safety initiatives and what is on the horizon. I cannot emphasize enough how this partnership mentality really drives a positive safety culture and yields high level results.

Asset Investments

We invest in our assets with safety as a key component of our facilities, ramps, fuel farms and equipment. Atlantic has structured safety site visits to include a heavy emphasis on providing our operations team with the best equipment, safe ramps and safety standardization for facilities and fuel farms.

ACE Training

Last year, we launched a new safety training program, which we refer to as ACE (Atlantic Certified Employee). It provides a comprehensive knowledge of general aviation safety that covers areas such as fuel servicing, fuel farm management, security, fire safety and aircraft towing. We were particularly interested in ensuring our aircraft towing section laid the foundation for our existing tow certification program. With the amount of different aircraft we tow and the detail of mechanics involved which each hookup and movement, we devoted a lot of time to this component.

Every level of employee from a line service technician to a general manager is eligible for an incentive based on their safety performance. In 2013, almost 100% of Atlantic’s locations received a safety bonus. This is a huge accomplishment and sets a perfect tone for 2014.

Atlantic takes a lot of pride in our safety attitude and delivery. Next time you visit one of our 63 locations, I hope you find it's unequaled in the FBO business. It's what we love to do.

Todd Smith is Vice President of Atlantic's Risk Management & Safety.