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IS-BAH was developed over a two-year period of time, its genesis being floated at the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA). For its development of the standard, the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) entered into a working agreement with the National Air Transportation Association (NATA) to incorporate NATA's Safety 1st Ground Audit Program into a single, global standard for business aviation ground handling. Infused throughout this standard is the require- ment for an FBO or BAHA — which stands for Business Aviation Handling Agency — to adopt and maintain an SMS program. The IS-BAH standard mimics the structure of IBAC's pop- ular IS-BAO program for business aircraft operators, and similarly, the IS-BAH standard is entirely voluntary for an FBO. One may ask when the last time a voluntary standard found worldwide adoption? The Golden Rule comes to mind: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Early adopters of IS-BAH aside, an FBO or BAHA can be forgiven for not fully understand- ing its nuances. IS-BAH is after all still quite young a standard, yet already myths circulate within the industry about it. "We're already a safe operation, and have been for years — we don't need it" may be heard from some FBOs. One of the common misconceptions by FBOs of IS-BAH is that safe operations don't need the standard. But, an FBO that goes years with- out an accident isn't necessarily safe — it may just be lucky. To use an aviation metaphor, is a pilot safe just because he or she hasn't had an accident yet? Another common refrain at the FBO level: "We already have a procedures manual, we don't need someone else telling us what to do." The painful irony of this myth is that FBOs with their own set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) are practically halfway to achieving the IS-BAH standard already, and they don't even realize it. Even FBOs that have no published SOP manual and operate on tribal knowledge are closer than they think, because IS-BAH recognizes the value of years of learning and best practices. It simply requires the FBO to codify its existing tribal knowledge in the form of written procedures, train its employ- ees and conduct internal auditing to ensure compliance with the FBO's procedure. If that process sounds familiar, it should. It follows the most basic tenets of academic education any reader will recognize: A school provides a textbook (documented procedures), teachers provide classroom instruction (training), and throughout the education process, teachers or administrators periodically test children on their knowledge (audit the learning process). Perhaps the most misunderstood nuance is that IS-BAH actually incorporates very few procedures an FBO or BAHA must adopt. For example, to quote the most current version of the IS-BAH Manual, Section 6.3.4, "The FBO/ BAHA shall have policies and procedures regarding the parking of aircraft to include proper placement of safety cones and appro- priate sized wheel chocks for aircraft parked on the ramp or in the hangars." Careful exam- ination of the sentence reveals the standard does not instruct an FBO on which chocks to use, such as rubber or wood, or which landing gear to place the chocks, such as nose gear and left main, or where cones shall be placed, such as nose and tail, and each wingtip, or even how many. IS-BAH seeks conformance, not compliance. Another selection from the IS-BAH Manual, albeit abbreviated here is 6.8.1, "The FBO/ BAHA shall have established and implement a Fatigue Management Programme[sic]… [that] shall contain…duty time limitations." FBO MANAGEMENT 36 airportbusiness April 2016 A s if the aviation industry doesn't have enough acronyms, a new one joined the lexicon two years ago: IS-BAH. Short for the International Standard for Business Aircraft Handling, the somewhat odd-sounding acronym is to its credit, much less of a mouthful than its unabridged version. Coupling a voluntary best practices for business aircraft ground handlers with a robust safety management system (SMS), IS-BAH is one of the best things to happen to the FBO industry since it started selling jet fuel. Let me be clear: IS-BAH is here to stay, it is the future, and unlike pundits unfamiliar with the standard, I am not afraid of being on the wrong side of history years from now. Alec Maguire