Safety management systems in aviation operations in the United States: Is the return on investment worth the cost?

The economic benefits of safety programs in aviation operations in the United States are undeniable. Making a strong business case for these programs is not easy, since safety is not tangible until there are accidents and incidents. Safety Management System (SMS) is an organized approach to a systemic safety improvement and challenges the safety professional to quantify the return on investment from safety programs. The economic impact of safety occurrences on aviation operations is explored. An analysis of case study models and the financial merits of implementing proactive safety initiatives like SMS in a collegiate aviation program are explored. The outcome of the study shows that SMS as an investment portfolio has varying rates of return on investment, but overall highly positive for operations. It is envisaged that these case study models would help aviation safety professionals present a clear and strong financial case to aviation top management

An Evaluation of the Relationships between Collegiate Aviation Safety Management System Initiative, Self-Efficacy, Transformational Safety Leadership and Safety Behavior Mediated by Safety Motivation

The study conceptualized Safety Management System (SMS) initiative, self-efficacy, and transformational safety leadership as constructs that relates to safety behavior (measured by safety compliance and safety participation) when mediated by safety motivation using a quantitative approach. Structural equation modeling techniques was used to derive a final measurement model that fit the empirical data and was used to test the study hypotheses. Utilizing a sample of 282 collegiate flight students and instructors from a large public university in the US, a 46-item survey was used to measure respondent’s perceptions on the study variables. The results indicate that perceptions of SMS policy implementation have direct, positive significant effect on safety compliance and SMS process engagement has direct, positive significant effect on safety participation. Self-efficacy had direct, positive significant effect on both safety compliance and safety participation. Safety motivation fully mediated the effect of transformational safety leadership on safety participation. There were indications that respondents were not familiar with the Emergency Response Plan of the collegiate aviation program\u27s SMS. The theoretical and policy implications of this study to improve proactive safety in collegiate aviation are discussed

An Evaluation of the Relationships between Collegiate Aviation Safety Management System Initiative, Self-Efficacy, Transformational Safety Leadership and Safety Behavior mediated by Safety Motivation

The study conceptualized Safety Management System (SMS) initiative, self-efficacy, and transformational safety leadership as constructs that relates to safety behavior (measured by safety compliance and safety participation) when mediated by safety motivation using a quantitative approach. Structural equation modeling techniques was used to derive a final measurement model that fit the empirical data and was used to test the study hypotheses. Utilizing a sample of 282 collegiate flight students and instructors from a large public university in the US, a 46-item survey was used to measure respondent’s perceptions on the study variables. The results indicate that perceptions of SMS policy implementation have direct, positive significant effect on safety compliance and SMS process engagement has direct, positive significant effect on safety participation. Self-efficacy had direct, positive significant effect on both safety compliance and safety participation. Safety motivation fully mediated the effect of transformational safety leadership on safety participation. There were indications that respondents were not familiar with the Emergency Response Plan of the collegiate aviation program\u27s SMS. The theoretical and policy implications of this study to improve proactive safety in collegiate aviation are discussed

An Evaluation of the Relationships Between Safety Management System Intiatives, Transformational Safety Leadership, Self-Efficacy, Safety Behavior and Safety Related Events Mediated by Safety Motivation in Collegiate Aviation

The study conceptualized Safety Management System (SMS) initiative, self-efficacy, and transformational safety leadership as constructs that relates to safety behavior (measured by safety compliance and safety participation) when mediated by safety motivation using a concurrent-triangulation approach. The study also evaluated the relationship between safety behavior and safety -related events. Structural equation modeling techniques was used to derive a final measurement model that fit the empirical data and was used to test the study hypotheses. Utilizing a sample of 282 collegiate flight students and instructors from a large public university, a 46-item survey was conducted to measure respondent’s perceptions on the study variables. Semi- structured interviews were also conducted with 4 top-level management personnel to sample their opinions on the effectiveness of the SMS initiative. Factual safety performance data on the flight program over a six-year period was analyzed to complete a triangulation approach. The results indicate that perceptions of SMS policy implementation have direct, positive effect on safety compliance and SMS process engagement has direct, positive effect on safety participation. Self-efficacy had direct, positive effect on both safety compliance and safety participation. Safety motivation fully mediated the effect of transformational safety leadership on safety participation. Safety –related events did not fully mediate the effect between safety compliance and safety participation. There were indications that respondents were not familiar with the Emergency Response Plan. An ANOVA suggests that certified flight instructors significantly had better safety participation and safety compliance than pre-private pilots did. Senior significantly had better safety participation than juniors. A T-test of mean did not reveal any significant differences in safety participation and safety compliance between respondents with formal SMS training and those without. A review of factual safety data suggests a positive effect on the safety reporting and safety meeting attendance among respondents due to the SMS initiative. Interviews revealed that top-level management support, resource provision and resilience are key elements in the success of any SMS initiative. The theoretical and policy implications of this study to improve proactive safety in collegiate aviation are discussed

Safety Culture Perceptions in a Collegiate Aviation Program: A Systematic Assessment

An assessment of the perceptions of respondents on the safety culture at an accredited Part 141 four year collegiate aviation program was conducted as part of the implementation of a safety management system (SMS). The Collegiate Aviation Program Safety Culture Assessment Survey (CAPSCAS), which was modified and revalidated from the existing Commercial Aviation Safety Survey (CASS), was used. Participants were drawn from flight students and certified flight instructors in the program. The survey captured the perceptions of participants on the status of the safety culture in the program. There were significant variances in the perception of respondents on the safety culture by year groups, and it was observed that respondents who had spent more years in the program had a better perception on the prevailing safety culture than those who had just entered the program. There were also significant differences in the perceptions of U.S. resident students and international contract students on the program’s safety culture. The international students had a less favorable perception of the safety culture in the program. The results show that differences in national culture can have a significant effect on perceptions of the safety culture in a collegiate aviation program

Safety Culture: An Assessment of a Collegiate Aviation Program

An assessment of the safety culture at an accredited four year collegiate aviation program was conducted. The Collegiate Aviation Program Safety Culture Assessment Survey (CAPSCAS) was used. Participants were drawn from flight students and instructors in the program. The survey captured the perceptions of participants on the status of the safety culture in the program. Generally the participants had a good perception of the safety culture in the program. There were significant variances in the perception of respondents on the safety culture by year groups and it was observed that respondents, who had spent more years in the program, had a better perception, on the safety culture. There were also significant differences in the perceptions of US resident students and international contract students, with the latter having a less favorable perception of the safety culture in the program. The results show that differences in national culture can have an effect on perceptions on safety culture. Risky personal attitudes of respondents that could influences safety behaviors were correlated with their perception on the safety culture and a safety risk prediction model was proposed

Bio-Fuel Alternatives in South African Airways (SAA) Operations - Is it an Effective Response to Vulnerability over Carbon Taxes and Penalty?

The paper did a comparative analysis of the carbon emission and European Union Emission Trading Surcharges (EU ETS) of South African Airways (SAA) current fleet that used aviation jet A1 fuel and the same fleet if it had used a 25% bio-fuel ‘drop in’ for the European routes within the first quarter of the 2014 flying year (FY 14). Operational data in terms of the flight scheduled, aircraft type, total time enroute, route stage length, passenger estimates were obtained through SAA’s flight operations website. An independent t–test was conducted to compare means of the emissions. The mean carbon dioxide emission for the Jet A1 fuel was (M= 211,729.91, SD = 39,306.29) as compared to the 25% ‘blend-in’ bio-fuel (M= 160,913.78, SD= 30,521.59) and there existed statistically significant differences, t (1149.65) = 25.25, p \u3c .001 in the carbon dioxide emissions of the fleet on the route. A t-test of means was significant in terms of EU ETS, t (1133.16) = -26.08, p \u3c .001 and showed a decrease in the EU ETS for flights to EU countries within the study period when using the 25 % bio-fuel blend (M= 1286.90, SD = 244.19) as compared to Jet A1 fuel (M= 1715.90, SD= 325.59). The study suggested that the present high cost of bio fuel for aviation compared to Jet A1 and the concerns about a sustainable supply chain process for the distribution of bio-jet fuel may affect the complete replacement of Jet A1 with Bio fuel in South African Airways operations. The study recommended for further research on the overall benefits of bio-fuel use by other airlines in the developing countries of Africa in the midst of competition from airlines from Europe, Middle- East, and Asia

Evaluating the Effects of Safety Management Systems (SMS) on Safety Culture Factors in Collegiate Aviation Operations: A Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) Approach

Implementing Safety Management Systems (SMS) is currently voluntary for collegiate aviation operations in the U.S. Some extant studies have advocated using Safety Management Systems (SMS) as a proactive tool to continuously improve collegiate aviation safety culture. Using a structural equation modeling/path analysis (SEM/PA) approach, the effect of SMS on factors of safety culture in multiple collegiate aviation programs in the U.S. was evaluated using a hypothesized model that measures the relationships between scales of SMS, safety motivation (mediator), and safety culture factors (safety compliance, safety reporting, and safety participation). Demographic differences in safety culture were also evaluated. Findings suggest significant predictive relationships between SMS and observed safety culture outcomes. There was also a significant mediation role of safety motivation between SMS and some observed safety culture outcomes. Results suggest that senior or upper-level students were found to have significantly lower reported safety reporting behavior as compared to lower-level students. Domestic students were found to have higher scores for safety reporting behavior compared to international students. Results also suggest an apparent SMS knowledge gap among respondents, and implementing initial and recurrent higher-level SMS courses as part of collegiate aviation program academic syllabuses may be helpful. Other implications for policy and practices in collegiate aviation safety culture and recommendations for future research are highlighted

Assessing Cultural Drivers of Safety Resilience in a Collegiate Aviation Program

Organizational safety resilience is a key factor in sustaining an effective safety management system (SMS) in high-reliability organizations (HROs) such as aviation. Extant research advocates for monitoring, assessing and continuously improving safety in an organization that has a fully-functional SMS. Safety resilience provides a buffer against vulnerabilities. Extant research also suggests a paucity in terms of a measurement framework for organizational safety resilience in collegiate aviation operations. A quantitative approach using Reason’s safety resilience concept (Reason, 2011) is used to assess organizational safety resilience in a collegiate aviation program with an active conformance SMS accepted by the FAA. A sample of 516research participants responded to an online survey instrument derived from Reason (2011). Structural Equation Model (SEM)/Path Analysis (PA) techniques are used to assess models that measure the strength of relationships between three cultural drivers (Commitment, Cognizance, Competence)of safety and safety resilience. There were strong significant relationships between these cultural drivers and safety resilience. Path analysis suggests that Commitment significantly mediates the path between Cognizance and Competence and highlights its important role in sustaining safety competencies. There were significant differences in the perceptions of safety resilience among top-level leadership, flight operations and ground operations. Flight operations and ground operations had higher mean scores on safety resilience than top-level leadership. Study provides a validated model of safety resilience that is essential for SMS improvements in collegiate aviation programs. Future studies will utilize this safety resilience model to assess other collegiate aviation programs in various phases of SMS implementation, airlines, and air traffic control operations