1 | Page Wednesday, April 06, 2011

April 6, 2011

Seattle, Washington 

Indianapolis, Indiana

Attn: Ms. Keri Spencer

Office of Airports Safety and Standards

Federal Aviation Administration

800 Independence Ave, 

Washington DC, 20591

keri.spencer@faa.gov

RE: Technical Clarifications and Questions

Department of Transportation

Federal Aviation Administration 

14 CFR Part 139

Docket No. FAA–2010–0997; Notice No. 10–14

RIN 2120–AJ38

Safety Management System for Certificated Airports

The following list of technical questions and clarifications has been compiled by Joanne Landry, Landry 

Consultants and Dave Fleet, Dave Fleet Consulting. This collaborative effort is based on Landry and 

Fleet’s individual and collective efforts working on various SMS FAA Airport Pilot Studies, comments from 

SMS Airport Teleconference attendees (an informal working group of airports, consultants, and industry 

partners) and Mr. Fleet’s professional career in airport operations. Contact information for Landry and 

Fleet is presented below if needed. Please contact both Landry and Fleet with questions or requests for 

additional information regarding the list of clarifications and questions. 

Joanne Landry

Principal, Landry Consultants LLC

4433 28th PL W

Seattle, WA 98199

joanne@landryconsultants.com

206 714-7663 

Dave Fleet

Principal, Dave Fleet Consulting LLC

PO Box 2995

Indianapolis, IN 46206

dfleet@davefleetconsulting.com

317-490-0050

Thank you, 

Joanne M. Landry
2 | Page Wednesday, April 06, 2011

Please clarify and or provide responses to the following:

1. Page 62008, Background

a. “As the certificate holder best understands its own operating environment, it is in the best 

position to address many of its own safety issues.”

Question: How will the FAA address compliance and regulatory standards with regard to the 

variety and diversity of airports if each airport has the ability to manage their SMS program in 

their own way? 

b. “While the FAA would still conduct regular inspections, SMS’s proactive emphasis on 

hazard identification and mitigation, and on communication of safety issues, provides 

certificate holders robust tools to improve safety.”

Question: How does the FAA propose to conduct inspections and review SMS programs in 

conjunction with an airports current ACM? 

c. “As the demand for air transportation increases, the impacts of additional air traffic and 

surface operations, changes in air traffic procedures, and airport construction can 

heighten the risks of aircraft operations.”

Question: This statement implies the FAA is only considering changes to the airport and 

airport system. Will the FAA provide direction that only changes should be considered for 

Safety Risk Assessments after a certain date? Much like the FAA ATO division did with 

changes to the NAS. 

2. Page 62009, Safety Management System Components

a. “The FAA supports conformity of U.S. aviation safety regulations with ICAO standards 

and recommended practices.” 

Question: In the past the FAA has used the term “harmonize” with ICAO. Has the FAA’s 

position changed? Will the FAA reconsider allowing a phased approach to implementation of 

the components of SMS as ICAO has? (Also see additional requests for clarification for page 

62017)

b. “...enhances safety and ensures compliance with regulatory standards.”

Clarification: please explain the compliance and standards aspects of SMS with regard to 

FAA’s Part 139 oversight and certification program. 

c. “Assurance processes include information acquisition, analysis, system assessment, and 

development of preventive or corrective actions for nonconformance.”

Clarification: please provide examples of possible nonconformance elements associated 

with an SMS program. 

Question: What is the FAA’s definition of nonconformance? Is this in reference to Part 139 

regulation, data metrics, SRA processes, etc.? 

d. The NTSB stated an effective SMS program formalizes a company’s SOPs and 

establishes methods for ensuring that those SOPs are followed.”

Question: Is the FAA planning on auditing Airport SOPs as part of the SMS program 

review?

e. “Accordingly, certificated airports could realize similar SMS benefits as an aircraft 

operator.”

Clarification: what are the anticipated benefits? Will the FAA provide expected benefits to 

certificate holders? 

f. “AC 150/5200-37...provides an introduction to SMS and general guidelines for an airport 

SMS. While compliance with this AC is voluntary, numerous airports have used it in 

implementing their SMS.”
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Question: FAA has indicated the AC will be updated; please provide clarification on the 

timing, format, and content of the update. Will the FAA take into consideration pilot study 

findings to revise the AC? 

3. Page 62010, Pilot Studies

a. “All participating airports conducted a gap analysis or benchmark study 

examining differences between their FAA-approved Airport Certification

Manual (ACM), part 139 requirements, and a typical airport SMS.”

Question: Some participating airports went beyond the ACM and Part 139, will these 

findings be included in future ACs or other supporting documentation?

4. Page 62010, Benefits

a. “The FAA envisions an airport’s SMS would uncover previously unknown hazards and 

risks, providing an airport the opportunity to proactively mitigate risk.”

Clarification: This statement implies the existing operation should be analyzed, not just 

changes to operations. Can the FAA clarify if SMS applies to the existing operation (including 

current Part 139 regulation) or only changes? 

5. Page 62010, Discussion of the Proposal

a. “(2) a new 139.402 that would prescribe the components of an airport SMS;”

Clarification: what does the FAA intend by the term “prescribe” in the above and also 

139.403? Is the intent to provide airports with general guidelines or as the NPRM mentions 

later (page 62011, Flexibility) adaptable, scalable, general framework of SMS and maximum 

amount of flexibility or does the FAA anticipate structured guidelines? 

Further Clarification: will the Rule provide prescriptive requirements and the AC more detail 

and structure for airport to allow for flexibility? 

6. Page 62011, Regulation of the Non-Movement Area

a. “The FAA does not intend to require airports to extend their SMS to the landside 

environment such as terminal areas. Nevertheless, an airport may voluntarily expand its

SMS to all airside and landside environments.”

Question: If airport operators decide at their location to implement SMS throughout the 

airport environment (including landside and terminal operations) will the FAA provide 

guidance on how FAA certification will address this issue, beyond what is described later in 

the NPRM. Will the FAA provide guidance to the certificate holders as to how documentation 

of these areas should be managed (for ease of inspection and data management)? 

7. Page 62011, Minimum Elements of SMS

Clarification: Airports are seeking consistent terms throughout FAA regulatory 

documentation and guidance; can airports assume the terms “components” is the official 

reference to describe Policy, Risk, Assurance, and Promotion (known as pillars in ICAO)? 

While this may seem trivial, airports and other industry partners would like to establish 

standard that are specific to the FAA and US. This would imply that other lines of 

business at the FAA are using similar terms. 

a. Bullet point #4: “train individuals accessing the airside environment on SMS and 

operational safety.” 

Clarification: Please define what is intended by the term “individual”? Does this 

assume all airport staff or all tenant and airport staff combined? 
4 | Page Wednesday, April 06, 2011

Further Clarification: Please provide clarification on NPRM Safety Enhancements Part 

139, Certification of Airports (Page 5510, Summary) requirements for “establish minimum 

standards for training of personnel who access the airport nonmovement area (ramp and 

apron) to help prevent accidents and incidents in that area” and its relationship to the 

proposed SMS training initiative. 

8. Page 62011, Safety Policy

a. Bullet 7, Establishes and maintains an acceptable level of safety for the organization.”

Question: How does the FAA intend to guide, inspect, or review the concept of 

acceptable level of safety? 

9. Page 62012, Safety Policy

a. “The statement typically would contain the following: 

i. ...”The encouragement for employees to report safety issues without fear of 

reprisal;”

Clarification: Can the FAA define “employees” in this context? Can the FAA define “reprisal” 

in this context? 

ii. “A commitment to provide the necessary safety resources”

Question: how does the FAA foresee airports managing the additional costs associated with 

providing necessary safety resources within the current and future airport funding programs? 

iii. ...”A commitment to make safety the highest priority.” 

Clarification: Does the FAA mean “the highest” or among the highest? 

b. Bottom of middle column: “In these cases, the FAA expects the certificate holder would 

participate in the FAA’s risk analysis instead of performing an independent risk analysis 

under its SMS.”

Clarification: Does the FAA intend to bear all costs, logistical management, facilitation, 

documentation, and coordination required for a risk assessment? Will the FAA provide all 

these services on a timeline that supports the certificate holder’s project schedules? Or does 

the FAA expect the certificate holder to work with the FAA ARP to determine who will 

coordinate the risk assessment for each individual project as presented? Please provide 

examples and details. 

10. Page 62012, Safety Risk Management

a. “While each certificate holder’s SRM processes may be unique to the airport’s operations 

and organizational structure, the FAA would require it to incorporate SRM’s five steps.”

Question: would it not be beneficial for airports to have a standardized template for 

conducting the SRM process through safety risk assessments (SRAs)? Especially as SRAs 

relate to coordination with other FAA lines of business such as the ATO and as part of FAA 

Order 5200.11 for SRAs conducted as part of planning, design, and construction efforts? 

Comment: Standardization could reduce confusion, improve training for both FAA and 

airports, and increase overall efficiencies. 

b. “Operational changes may overlap with SRM requirements under the FAA Air Traffic 

Organization’s SMS. Examples of these changes include runway extensions or the 

construction of new taxiways. In these cases, the FAA expects that the certificate holder 

would participate in the FAA’s risk analysis instead of performing an independent risk 

analysis under its SMS.”

Question: Who will determine the lead on ATO/ARP SRAs? As part of the SMS 

Implementation Pilot Studies (in which SRAs are being conducted as part of the scope of 

work), airports are taking the lead on certain movement area SRAs. Will the FAA provide 
5 | Page Wednesday, April 06, 2011

additional guidance based on the pilot study findings that ill assist airports and ATO in 

making that determination? 

c. There are many ways to accomplish this hazard identification, but all must use the 

following four elements:

(1) Operational expertise;

(2) Training in SMS (and, if possible, hazard analysis techniques);

(3) A simple, but well-defined, hazard analysis tool; and

(4) Adequate documentation of the process.

Question: will the FAA provide examples, templates, or other informational guides to 

assist airports with these requirements? 

Additional Question: How does the FAA plan to review this particular requirement? 

Page 62013, Risk matrix/Risk Management

General question: will the FAA provide guidance to FAA certification inspectors that 

airports may design and employ a different matrix than the example presented in the AC 

150/5200-37? 

General question: will the FAA consider requiring a single risk matrix to provide 

continuity and standards across all airport operators? 

Comment: As part of the SMS Implementation Pilot Study SRA efforts, it has been noted 

that attempting to merge multiple matrices from ATO, Airlines, and Airports is complex. 

Standardization of matrices and terms within the matrix may facilitate the SRA process. 

Note that airports should be able to define thresholds within the matrix to account for the 

variety of airport size and type of operations. 

Question: Does the FAA intend to use the term Safety Risk Assessment (SRA) as a 

standard for the process of assessing or analyzing risk? This question relates to the 

ATO’s use of Safety Risk Management Document (SRMD) and Safety Risk Management 

Decision Memo (SRMDM) which are similar processes yet employ different terms. 

Comment: Similar terminology would be encouraged for Order 5200.11

11. Page 62015, SRM

a. “Each certificate holder would determine its acceptable level of risk and other levels of 

risk when establishing its predictive risk matrix.”...” These levels of risk would be based 

on the certificate holder’s acceptable level of risk and may vary from airport to airport.”

Question: how does the FAA intend to audit, inspect, or review this aspect of the SMS 

program especially if it is anticipated that the acceptable level of risk will vary from airport 

to airport? 

b. “Ultimately, the certificate holder would formally accept the risk or approve the mitigation 

plan as required by its SMS.”

Clarification: Does the FAA intend for this statement to be the case for those SRAs

performed by the FAA ATO? Will the FAA further clarify who accepts the residual risk(s) 

and mitigation plan? Does the FAA intend for all organizations (management) who 

participate in the mitigation plan to accept the residual risk? 

c. “This proposal would require a certificate holder to retain these documents and records 

for the longer of either 36 consecutive calendar months after the risk analysis of identified 

hazards or 12 consecutive calendar months after implementing mitigation measures.”

d. Question: Would a longer retention period for mitigations provide better trending and 

analysis data? This may be especially useful for mitigations that include changes in 

process or practices to determine if institutionalization of the change results in improved

safety. 
6 | Page Wednesday, April 06, 2011

12. Page 62016, Safety Assurance 

a. Referring to audits, “The certificate holder would determine whether this review is 

completed by airport personnel or by a third party.”

Question: Does the FAA intend to provide qualified staff or guidelines for staff 

qualifications to conduct audits relating to quality assurance programs? 

Question: How is the airport expected to fund the costs of third party audits? 

Question: Could airports conduct audits of each other? 

b. General Questions relating to quality assurance, audits, and the FAA inspection/review of 

the program. 

Question: How does the FAA plan on inspecting or reviewing this audit portion of the 

SMS program? Will the FAA assume it has access to third party or internal audit reports? 

Question: Relating to audit reports, if an unmitigated high risk (or possible discrepancy) 

is discovered and documented as part of an internal or third party report, will the FAA 

take a non-punitive approach to the finding if it is discovered in an FAA review? (Also 

see the question relating to this item for page 62017)

c. “Therefore, the FAA has concluded that requiring a confidential hazard reporting system 

will protect the reporter’s identity and achieve the goal of protection from reprisal.”

Question: Is it the FAA’s intent to restrict a certificate holder’s ability to investigate and 

punish for gross negligence? Example: alcohol and or drug abuse. 

13. Page 62016, Safety Promotion

a. General Question relating to promotion activities:

Question: Funding for promotion was not included in the SMS Implementation Study 

due to FAA limitations; is it expected that no FAA funding will be available to airports for 

this aspect of the SMS program? 

Question: Relative to the above question, how are airports expected to “demonstrate its 

commitment to safety promotion in several ways. An airport could allocate sufficient 

resources for the initial and recurrent training of its staff.” If funding sources are limited or 

nonexistent? 

Question: It appears that record retention and reporting are considered important 

aspects of promotion; therefore how does the FAA anticipate the use of technology to 

support promotion without allocated funding? 

b. “The FAA proposes the SMS training requirement would apply to airport employees 

based on information obtained during the pilot studies. However, the FAA believes 

greater benefits may be achieved if that training requirement was applied to all individuals 

with access to the movement and non-movement areas, and it is considering that 

broader SMS training requirement.”

Question: How does this above statement relating to SMS and staff training correspond 

to the following extract from Docket FAA–2010–0247; Safety Enhancements Part 139

(Page 5512) “A person would complete this training prior to accessing the nonmovement 

area and at least yearly thereafter. The FAA intends to make this requirement effective 

one year after publication of the final rule to allow certificate holders time to develop a 

Training program and complete training for all personnel accessing the nonmovement 

area. After the effective date of this proposal, if adopted, all persons would complete the 

training prior to accessing the non-movement area, unless escorted by a trained 

individual.”
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14. Page 62017, Proposed Implementation Plan Requirements General Questions

Question: If lessons learned from the currently active SMS Implementation Study reflect 

that a longer implementation period is revealed or recommended, will the FAA consider 

changing the timelines proposed under implementation? 

Clarification: We agree that all phases of the SMS program are interconnected, but 

please clarify what the FAA means by phased-in approach relating to the timelines and 

the 4 SMS components. 

a. “Further, the FAA intends to publish any accompanying Advisory Circulars prior to the 

final rule and widely communicate the requirements to airports through the various 

industry organizations and FAA airport conferences.”

Question: How many and what topic areas are planned for Advisory Circulars? 

15. Page 62017, The FAA’s Role and Oversight

a. “However, if during the course of an inspection, these processes are determined to have 

failed in discovering discrepancies with part 139 or have created new discrepancies...”

Clarification: Will the FAA define “failed”? Does failed constitute one, two, or three 

identified discrepancies? Will the “failed” discrepancies be ranked, such that physical 

(lights, pavement, signage) reflect a higher indication of system failure than an 

administrative errors in record keeping? 

b. ...the FAA would take appropriate action to ensure the airport corrects these noncompliant conditions.” (Also see question relating to audits for page 62016)

Question: Is the FAA intending to review and correct findings in a non-punitive manner? 

16. Page 62018, Rulemaking Analyses and Notices

a. We are deferring to other experts for this section of the NPRM

17. Page 62019, Benefits of this Rule

a. “Over the 10-year period of analysis, the potential benefits of potentially averted 

accidents range from $170 to $256 million.”

b. Clarification: are these costs relevant to airport operators or airline operators?

18. Page 62019, Regulatory Flexibility Determination

a. “Agencies must perform a review to determine whether a rule will have a significant 

economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. If the agency determines that 

it will, the agency must prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis as described in the

RFA.”... Therefore, the FAA certifies this proposed rule, if promulgated, would not have a 

significant impact on a substantial number of small entities.

Question: Were the Second Pilot Study results (from small airports) reviewed specifically 

with regard to this determination?

19. Page 62020, Comments Invited

a. “7. Should the FAA consider expanding the SMS training requirements to all individuals 

(rather than just airport employees) accessing the movement and non-movement areas? 

What are the specific practical and economic implications of such a requirement?”

b. Question: does the recent Docket No. FAA–2010–0247; Safety Enhancements Part 139

NPRM foreshadow an FAA decision regarding this topic? 

20. Pages 62021, 62022,and 62023, No additional questions or clarifications