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FBO PROFILE May 2015 airportbusiness 29 from two to six acres. Additional hangars slat- ed for completion this year will accommodate aircraft as large as a G-650. With all that on the table, obtaining the new certification made sense. "When we heard about IS-BAH, we bought into that right away," says Bob Agostino, vice president of American Aero and a G-650 pilot. "General Manager Riggs Brown and his team went through the IS-BAH process for a couple of reasons … to differentiate us from other FBOs, but also to validate and improve the FBO's processes where they were needed. We knew, though, that we'd need to build a culture within the FBO that understood what the safety envelope is all about." IS WHAT? The IS-BAH label is still relatively new to most people in business aviation having been launched just shy of a year ago. The certifica- tion evaluates FBOs to a common, voluntary, yet measureable standard of quality and safety similar to that in place for flight departments under the International Standard for Business A i rcra f t Operations (IS-BAO). T he new IS-BAH standard evolved from a partnership between the International Business Aviation Council and the National Air Transportation Association. The IS-BAH certification is really an exten- sion of the IS-BAO version with a goal of elimi- nating as much risk as possible for FBO clients. Agostino says his flight department has been IS-BAO Level III certified for nearly eight years because early on they saw value in formaliz- ing operational practices and expanding the safety envelope. The new certification demands a robust safety management system (SMS) is already up and running. American Aero General Manager Riggs Brown explains the pragmatic reason for IS-BAH. "We understand aircraft safety does not end when the engines are shut down and the aircraft is chocked." Considering the long list of hangar mishaps costing tens of millions of dollars in claims at FBOs worldwide, it's actually surprising some- thing like an IS-BAH standard took this long to emerge. "IS-BAH is the logical extension of the safety envelope that sets an international stan- dard for operations in business and general avi- ation aircraft ground handling," Brown stresses. Mike France, NATA's Director of Safety & Training, says the association's move toward what would eventually become a partnership with IBAC, "began four or five years ago when our FBO members began telling us they were getting audits from customers and from air- ports. They said a single standard to adhere to would make their lives much easier." Another FBO driver, according to Bob Bauer, came directly from the clients them- selves, the people who sue FBOs when aircraft are damaged being tugged around the ramp. Bauer is president of Conway New Hampshire- based Comprehensive Aviation Technical Services LLC, the company that supplied the auditors for American Aero's certification. "Usually it's the larger operators who have experienced damage while parked at an FBO too," he says. "Some FBO managers might think using a tow driver and two wing walk- ers consumes a lot of manpower when moving an airplane, but consider the cost of a mishap whether it's measured in personnel or damage to an aircraft or other equipment." IS-BAH certification fits the overall plan of this Signature Select FBO, which strives to safely provide customers with top-of-the- line aviation services. "It … is a tool for the employees and the company, but also for our customers to know that we take care of their aircraft when it's in our care." RIGGS BROWN, GENERAL MANAGER, AMERICAN AERO