In late 2010, the FAA proposed to require that each commercial airport develop its own Safety Management System (SMS) and to coordinate their SMS with similar requirements that have been—or will soon be—imposed on other elements of the aviation community. Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell prepared a discussion paper for our clients that discusses the practical effect of the FAA’s proposal and raises administrative, operational, and legal issues that airports should consider when deciding how to prepare their SMS plans.
