What an SMS should cost a small operator

The final rule published on 26 April 2024 extends 14 CFR Part 5 to all Part 135 certificate holders, commercial air tour operators holding a letter of authorization under section 91.147, and certain Part 21 type and production certificate holders. It applies to every Part 135 operator regardless of size, including single-pilot and single-aircraft operations. Part 145 repair stations were considered but excluded from the final rule, and general Part 91 operations were never in scope.

Part 135 and section 91.147 operators must have a fully implemented SMS and submit a Declaration of Compliance to the FAA no later than 28 May 2027. The earlier milestone, submitting an SMS implementation plan for FAA review, fell on 28 November 2024.

An approved implementation plan describes the SMS you intend to run. The Declaration of Compliance requires evidence that you are actually running it: hazards reported and assessed, risk decisions recorded with initial and residual scores, controls tracked to validation, policies approved and distributed, and records you can produce on request. That day-to-day execution and evidence trail is what this platform is built to carry.

Confidential and anonymous hazard, incident, accident and near-miss reporting with aviation-native fields for tail number, ICAO airport code and aircraft type. Risk assessment on the standard FAA 5x5 matrix from AC 120-92D, tracking initial through residual risk with control validation periods and automated reminders. Versioned safety policy and emergency response plan documents with a recorded approval trail. Safety bulletins with per-user acknowledgment tracking. Audit-ready PDF exports with one-click redaction. A read-only FAA oversight portal and separate portals for reporters, safety managers and administrators.

Yes. Reports can be submitted anonymously, and reports that are not anonymous can still be exported with the reporter name and tail number redacted in a single click. Confidential reporting is a Part 5 expectation and a prerequisite for the kind of just culture that gets hazards reported in the first place.

The standard FAA 5x5 matrix from AC 120-92D, seeded ready to use. Likelihood and severity are each scored one to five and multiplied. A score of 15 to 25 is unacceptable and requires immediate corrective action, 5 to 14 is acceptable with controls and requires a management decision, and 1 to 4 is acceptable as is. Every hazard carries both an initial and a residual risk score, so you can show an inspector what a control actually achieved.

Yes. There is a dedicated read-only oversight portal that exposes safety reports and a compliance snapshot without granting any ability to edit or delete. It is available on the Enterprise tier.

Passwordless authentication through WorkOS using six-digit email codes, so there are no passwords to compromise. TLS in transit and cloud-provider managed encryption at rest. Role-based access control across four separate portals, with every record scoped to your organization. Document downloads are served through short-lived presigned URLs.

Consultant-led SMS implementations for small operators typically run from fifteen to fifty thousand dollars, and generally leave you administering the resulting programme by hand. Plans here start at $99 per month for a sole operator and $299 per month for a small flight department.

Yes. Safety report and assessment data exports to PDF over any date range, with optional redaction of reporter names and tail numbers, for audit preparation, regulatory submission and your own records.