All four of Duncan Aviation’s FBO facilities have earned the International Safety for Business Aircraft Handling (IS-BAH) Stage II accreditation.
The Duncan Aviation FBOs in Battle Creek (BTL) and Kalamazoo (AZO), Michigan, are the most recent to have earned certification; in May 2020, the company’s facilities in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Provo, Utah, earned Stage II certification.
IS-BAH, developed by the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC), is a set of global industry best practices for business aviation ground handlers that truly feature robust Safety Management System (SMS) practices. Duncan Aviation’s FBOs in BTL and AZO earned Stage II IS-BAH accreditation by having a physical audit from Mentair Group, an accredited International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO) Auditor.
“The positive safety culture I observed for the BTL/AZO audit was easily validated by the number of reports provided to the Duncan Aviation Safety Management System by the majority of the Duncan Aviation Line and Customer Service persons and the positive attitude shown by the interviews from all levels of the staff there,” said Mentair Group auditor Nate Predoehl.
“The audit went very well due to the meticulous preparation for the audit highlighting the widespread documentation of Duncan Aviation’s policies and procedures. Duncan Aviation’s commitment to safety is supported by excellent training for all levels of their well-qualified staff.”
The four-day audit process required the auditor to inspect the facilities at BTL and AZO and pose specific questions to team members regarding the safety culture at Duncan Aviation. Among many things team members were expected to know were where to find emergency response plans and safety documents, and how to handle a bomb threat or an active shooter.
“This is a big accomplishment for FBO Services and Duncan Aviation,” said manager of FBO services in Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Benjamin Hammond. “Our teams embody our safety culture every single day, and they’re committed to the safety of their teammates, the facility, and our customers. Their safety mindset has not only lowered incidents, but it’s also bolstered our safety record over the last five years.”
Throughout this year and into 2022, Duncan Aviation will be preparing enterprise-wide for the rigorous Stage III accreditation process. There are only 27 FBOs in the world that have earned Stage III, and Duncan Aviation is currently the only FBO/MRO in the world that has any kind of IS-BAH certification.
“We are extremely proud of our FBO Services teams in all of our Duncan Aviation locations for improving safety for our customers and team members as we continue through our IS-BAH stages,” said vice president of customer service Doug Alleman.
“Achieving Stage II accreditation means we’re managing our SMS, and we implement appropriate Safety Performance Indicators (SPI) and Safety Performance Targets (SPT). Our safety culture has improved over the last few years because we’ve empowered team members to actively mitigate risk on a daily basis and record what they see, which helps our management teams make immediate changes when necessary to improve ramp safety.”
