At Vistair, we believe that a safety management system (SMS) must be able to effectively help airlines become safer. However, a SMS approach on its own simply isn’t enough for such complex environments such as airlines - therefore it’s important to consider the use of safety management software to further enhance and improve their SMS approach and support the management of all safety-related information. Vistair’s SMS software suite supports this objective and delivers a number of key features that incorporate the four key principles of a safety management system:
Based on these four key principles, we have designed and developed our SMS software suite specifically for airlines. Our SMS software suite promises to deliver the following to our clients:
Our SMS software has been implemented by some of the leading airlines in the world, including easyJet - dubbed one of the safest airlines to date, having had no fatal accidents, and Delta Air Lines, another leading exponent in North American safety management.
After implementing our safety management solution, SafetyNet - we managed to provide easyJet with outstanding safety reporting and auditing capability. As a result, the airline saw a huge 60% increase in incident reporting, shortly after implementation.
The software provides employees with the ability to swiftly report incidents confidentially as and when they need to on their device, even offline. This provides employees with an immediate solution, rather than having to wait to log a report later when vital details may be forgotten or remembered differently. Once reports are completed they are sent to a database to be logged, reviewed and analysed by the Safety Office.
The effectiveness of Vistair’s SMS software suite also helps you increase manpower efficiency, ultimately saving you costs in the long-run.
As such, your organisation will be looking after safety with an approach that will be able to reduce a number of direct and indirect costs. Direct incident costs may include damaged aircraft/property, or injury compensation and may be easier to quantify. Indirect costs may be more difficult and could include loss of reputation, legal fees, cost of lost equipment, cost of replacing employees, aircraft recovery, regulatory fines and more.
By working in line with an airline’s safety management system, not only will you be able to decrease direct and indirect costs, you may also be able to reduce insurance premiums through an actual decrease in incidents alongside demonstrative control of safety risks as a result.
Vistair’s best-in-class SMS software suite was designed in collaboration with our clients, with the priority to support safety initiatives and ensure compliance by meeting current regulations including:
The SMS suite helps provide airlines with regulatory and compliance support with the likes of ICAO safety management guidelines as a well as with national and supra-national bodies including the FAA, CAA, EASA and more.
One of the most vital aspects of the SMS software suite is to provide a means for effective and detailed reporting and analysis of safety information. The following functionality gives users:
In addition to the above, through the implementation of SafetyNet, airlines also found they reduced their CASM by between 0.25% to 0.05% by using their safety data effectively.
The foundation of a 'just culture' within aviation ensures both accountability for individuals and a process for fair none judgmental assessment of incidents based upon an individual's level of expertise and experience. A well designed SMS software application takes into account this core principle. To ensure a 'just culture', Vistair’s SMS software suite includes these three core foundations as part of improving overall safety management:
Naturally, individuals may be reluctant to make their errors known, or even report colleagues for safety-related incidents for fear of retaliation or be seen as whistleblowers. However, within a just culture, according to a working paper from ICAO on improving just culture, there should be an “established means for staff to voluntarily and confidentially report safety issues without fear of reprisal.”
A greater focus on transparency in turn generates more focus on safety as a whole, increased awareness on safety issues and encourages a better safety culture within the organisation that is more proactive. Additionally, the more transparent the environment, the more this will support and encourage higher levels of employee engagement.
Once organisations pick up and begin analysing reports, they need to then provide employees with follow-up information concerning that analysis and any occurrences. Providing feedback in this way gives everyone in the organisation’s community valuable opportunity for learning and preventing unsafe acts in the future.
One of the most beneficial aspects of the SafetyNet suite includes the ability to submit reports at any time, anywhere with an internet connection through a secure and robust platform.
The importance of a secure system means that all safety and risk reports are fully protected and only accessible by individuals who have the right permissions and are guarded against any cybersecurity risks.
Our investment in our infrastructure and security is to a military-grade standard - allowing us to operate to “Official Sensitive” level. We also have Cyber Essentials Certification with IASME.
Vistair’s SMS software is a complete safety and risk management system that provides airlines with the tools needed to implement and promote effectively safety management across an organisation as well as improve safety performance and monitoring of KPIs and SPIs - effectively building a high-quality safety culture within an organisation.
With our SMS suite, your airline can benefit from:
SafetyNet is currently implemented across multiple aviation providers including organisations like easyJet - dubbed the world’s safest airline as well as Delta Air Lines, one of the world's largest airlines. SafetyNet also counts Norwegian, the British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force amongst its global client base.
Find out how how Europe's leading airline easyJet improved and increased their incident reporting by 60+ shortly after implementing SafetyNet. Read our case study to learn more.
Image by MNBB Studio (Shutterstock)