SMS Training Overview
AACS delivers SMS training across all aviation sectors — classroom and online delivery for all personnel levels.
Aviation Safety Management System Training Across All Sectors, Delivered by the People Who Wrote the Rules
Aerospace and Aviation Consulting Services (AACS) delivers specialist Safety Management System training across every sector of civil aviation — airlines, airports, charter operators, flight training organisations, approved maintenance organisations, and aviation regulatory authorities.
Our SMS training programmes are not generic safety awareness courses. They are developed and delivered by practitioners with direct, senior-level experience of designing, implementing, auditing, and — uniquely — writing the SMS regulatory frameworks that aviation organisations are required to comply with. One of AACS’s senior consultants was personally responsible for authoring the SMS regulations for airlines and airports. The result is training that goes beyond surface-level regulatory compliance and into the intent, architecture, and operational application of the SMS framework.
All AACS SMS training is aligned with ICAO Annex 19, ICAO Doc 9859 (Safety Management Manual), EASA implementing rules, and the national SMS regulatory requirements applicable to each client’s jurisdiction. Courses are available as classroom delivery, in-house workshops, and online e-learning programmes, and are tailored to the audience level — from accountable managers to frontline operational staff.
Training Developed by Those Who Wrote the Regulations
A senior AACS consultant authored the SMS regulations for airlines and airports. Our training does not simply teach what the regulations say — it explains why they were designed that way, what problems they were intended to solve, and how to implement them in a way that generates genuine safety value.
No other SMS training provider can offer that level of regulatory authority.
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Standards We Work To
- ICAO Annex 19
- EASA Regulations
- UK CAA Standards
- ISO 9001:2015
Training Delivery Formats
AACS SMS training is available in three delivery formats, which can be combined to suit the needs and scale of the organisation:
Classroom
instructor-led training delivered at the client’s premises or a nominated venue. Suitable for groups of any size. Allows real-time discussion, scenario work, and direct interaction with the instructor. Recommended for accountable managers, safety managers, and nominated persons.
In-House Workshop
a structured working session that combines training delivery with applied work on the client’s own SMS documentation, processes, or safety data. Delegates leave with tangible outputs rather than simply a course certificate. Particularly effective for SMS implementation, gap analysis, and SPI development.
Online & E-Learning
self-paced, accessible training available to distributed workforces and large staff populations. Suitable for awareness-level training, continuation training, and initial familiarisation for new staff. Integrated with assessment and completion tracking.
All courses can be customised to incorporate the client’s own SMS documentation, safety data, occurrence examples, and organisational context, making the training directly relevant to the environment in which delegates work.
SMS Training Courses by Sector Airline SMS Training
Airline SMS training from AACS is designed for commercial airline and scheduled air transport operators operating under EASA EU 965/2012 or equivalent national frameworks. Courses address the full ORO.GEN.200 SMS requirement and are structured for the different roles and responsibilities within an airline safety management system.
Who should attend:
- Accountable Managers and post-holders — governance, legal obligations, safety leadership
- Safety Managers and Safety Officers — SMS design, operation, SPI management, investigation
- Nominated Persons (HOFO, HOTC, HOM) — departmental safety responsibilities
- Flight crew, cabin crew and ground operations staff — awareness and reporting obligations
Course content includes:
- ICAO Annex 19 and EU 965/2012 ORO.GEN.200 regulatory framework
- SMS four-pillar structure — policy, risk management, assurance, promotion
- Hazard identification techniques for airline operations
- Safety risk assessment methodology and risk matrix application
- Safety Performance Indicators — selection, baselining, monitoring and intervention
- Occurrence reporting system operation and just culture principles
- Safety investigation and root cause analysis methodology
- Safety data analysis and trend identification
- SMS maturity models and organisational improvement pathways
Airline SMS training delivered by AACS incorporates the regulatory intent behind each requirement, giving delegates a depth of understanding that enables them to make sound safety management decisions rather than simply follow prescribed procedures.
Airport SMS Training
Airport SMS training addresses the specific safety management challenges of the aerodrome environment — a complex, multi-stakeholder operational setting in which airlines, ground handlers, maintenance organisations, air traffic services, fuel suppliers, and a wide range of other organisations all operate simultaneously. AACS airport SMS training equips aerodrome operators to manage this complexity effectively.
Who should attend:
- Aerodrome Accountable Managers and Directors — governance and leadership obligations
- Aerodrome Safety Managers — SMS design, operation and performance monitoring
- Airside Operations Managers and Supervisors — operational risk management
- Ground handling, fuelling and apron staff — awareness, hazard reporting, just culture
- Authority oversight inspectors — SMS audit and regulatory assessment skills
Course content includes:
- ICAO Annex 14 and national aerodrome SMS regulatory requirements
- Aerodrome hazard identification — runway incursion, FOD, wildlife, ground movement
- Multi-stakeholder SMS interface and contractor safety management
- Aerodrome risk assessment methodology and safety case principles
- Airport Safety Performance Indicators and safety performance monitoring
- Occurrence reporting in the aerodrome environment — systems, culture, and analysis
- Emergency response integration with the SMS framework
- Aerodrome safety promotion and safety culture assessment
AACS airport SMS training is delivered with the authority of a team that authored the aerodrome SMS regulatory requirements, providing insight into regulatory intent that transforms compliance training into genuine safety management capability.
Charter Operator SMS Training
Charter and non-scheduled operators face the same SMS regulatory obligations as their scheduled counterparts, often with smaller teams and a more diverse operational profile. AACS charter SMS training is designed to be directly applicable to the charter environment — proportionate in approach, practical in content, and immediately usable by smaller safety teams.
Who should attend:
- Accountable Managers and Post-Holders in charter operations
- Safety Managers operating without large dedicated safety departments
- Flight crew with safety reporting and SPI monitoring responsibilities
- Operations and ground handling personnel
Course content includes:
- SMS regulatory requirements for non-scheduled and charter operators
- Proportionate SMS design for smaller operations
- Hazard identification in charter and ad hoc operational environments
- Practical risk assessment tools for safety managers without specialist support
- Occurrence reporting system design and management for small teams
- SPI selection appropriate to charter operation scale and diversity
- Combined SMS and compliance monitoring framework management
- Practical safety promotion for dispersed or part-time workforces
Charter operator SMS training from AACS recognises that a leaner operation requires leaner tools — not watered-down safety management. Courses are designed to equip small safety teams with the skills to manage real risk, not simply maintain paperwork.
Flight Training Organisation SMS Training
Flight Training Organisations and Approved Training Organisations operate in one of aviation’s most demanding safety environments — aircraft flown by students at the limits of their competency, instructors managing training risk, and a reporting culture that must operate effectively within the instructor-student relationship. AACS FTO/ATO SMS training addresses these specific challenges directly.
Who should attend:
- Head of Training and Chief Flight Instructors
- FTO/ATO Safety Officers and Quality Managers
- Flight instructors and ground instructors
- Student pilots and trainee personnel at awareness level
Course content includes:
- EASA Part ORA.GEN.200 SMS regulatory requirements for ATOs
- Hazard identification in the flight training environment
- Instructional risk — managing the tension between training realism and safety
- Student error and human performance in training operations
- Occurrence reporting in a training environment — creating a culture of open reporting
- Just culture in the instructor-student relationship
- Training safety performance monitoring and trend analysis
- SMS integration with course approval and training quality management systems
Effective SMS training for flight training organisations must respect the learning environment while building genuine safety capability. AACS FTO/ATO training achieves both.
Part 145 Approved Maintenance Organisation SMS Training
Part 145.A.200 requires approved maintenance organisations to implement a Safety Management System — a requirement that recognises the critical role of maintenance in the aviation safety chain. AACS Part 145 SMS training equips AMO personnel to understand, implement, and operate an effective maintenance SMS, with particular emphasis on human performance and maintenance error management.
Who should attend:
- Accountable Managers and Post-Holders in Part 145 AMOs
- Quality and Safety Managers in approved maintenance organisations
- Certifying staff and support staff with safety reporting responsibilities
- Maintenance technicians and engineers — awareness and reporting obligations
Course content includes:
- Part 145.A.200 SMS regulatory requirements and implementation obligations
- ICAO Annex 19 application in the maintenance environment
- Maintenance hazard identification and operational risk assessment
- Human Factors in maintenance — error types, performance-shaping factors, error-likely conditions
- Maintenance Error Decision Aid (MEDA) investigation methodology
- Occurrence reporting in the AMO environment — system design and just culture
- Safety Performance Indicators for maintenance operations
- SMS integration with the Part 145 compliance monitoring system
- Safety culture in the maintenance environment — assessment and improvement
AACS Part 145 SMS training goes beyond the regulatory requirement to build a genuine understanding of how human performance shapes maintenance safety outcomes — the knowledge that makes the difference between a reactive error-recording system and a proactive risk management capability.
Aviation Regulators SMS Training
National aviation authority inspectors and regulatory staff occupy a critical position in the aviation SMS ecosystem — they assess and approve operator SMS frameworks, conduct oversight audits, and make regulatory findings that shape how organisations manage safety. AACS delivers specialist SMS training designed specifically for regulatory professionals, drawing on the unique experience of having written the SMS regulations themselves.
Who should attend:
- NAA Operations and Airworthiness Inspectors conducting SMS oversight
- Aerodrome and Air Navigation Services regulatory staff
- ICAO technical assistance and advisory personnel
- Defence aviation safety regulatory staff
- Senior regulatory managers responsible for SMS policy and oversight strategy
Course content includes:
- ICAO Annex 19 and ICAO Doc 9859 — regulatory architecture and intent
- SMS regulatory framework design — how the rules were built and why
- SMS oversight methodology — how to audit an SMS effectively, not just document compliance
- Evaluating SMS effectiveness — beyond the paper system to operational reality
- Safety Performance Indicator assessment — evaluating SPI quality and relevance
- Occurrence reporting system quality assessment
- Safety culture assessment methodology for regulatory oversight purposes
- SMS maturity evaluation and regulatory proportionality
- State Safety Programme interface with operator SMS obligations
- Finding classification and corrective action assessment for SMS deficiencies
AACS aviation regulators SMS training is unique in the industry. No other training provider can offer regulatory professionals the perspective of an instructor who personally authored the SMS regulations they are being trained to oversee. This course transforms inspectors from checklist-users into genuine SMS oversight professionals.
Why Choose AACS for SMS Training
Who should attend:
- Our trainers wrote the SMS regulations — not interpreted them, wrote them
- All training is developed from direct, senior-level SMS implementation experience
- Courses are tailored to the client’s sector, organisational size, and regulatory jurisdiction
- Training content reflects current ICAO, EASA and national authority requirements
- Classroom, in-house workshop, and online delivery available across all programmes
- Training can be integrated with live SMS implementation, gap analysis, or audit work
- Delegates receive practical tools they can apply immediately, not just theoretical knowledge
The AACS Training Difference
Most aviation SMS training teaches what the regulations require. AACS training explains why every requirement exists, what it was designed to achieve, and how to implement it in a way that produces real safety outcomes.
That is the difference between training that satisfies a regulatory obligation and training that builds genuine safety management capability.