SAFO 05001: Introducing SAFOs.

Approved by: AFS-200

SAFOSafety Alert for Operators

U.S. Department SAFO 05001

of Transportation DATE: 10/25/05

Federal Aviation

Administration Flight Standards Service

Washington, DC http://www.faa.gov/other_visit/aviation_industry/airline_operators/airline_safety/safo A SAFO contains important safety information and may include recommended action. SAFO content should be especially valuable to air carriers in meeting their statutory duty to provide service with the highest possible degree of safety in the public interest.

Subject: Introducing SAFOs.

Background: FAA Order 8000.87, Safety Alerts for Operators (SAFOs), dated

August 29, 2005, established the authority for the SAFO process and described some of the features of the process. The purpose of Order 8000.87 compares to that of the ACOB order (Air Carrier Operations Bulletins), extinct since about 1994. The SAFO process re-establishes a communication channel between Flight Standards and operators. This channel permits a policymaking division such as AFS-200 to convey important safety information concurrently to FAA field offices and to operators in a timely manner, without undue delays caused by coordination among government offices. SAFOs frequently contain recommended action to be accomplished by operators.

Discussion: A SAFO does not burden FAA inspectors or operators with requirements. Instead, a SAFO exploits the power of electronic mail and the Internet to share important safety information broadly and quickly. Besides helping air carriers in meeting their statutory safety obligation, SAFOs should be valuable to many visitors to the FAA’s public Web site in promoting their own aviation safety performance and, hence, their business interests.

Recommended Action: Besides FAA inspectors, air carrier certificate holders - particularly directors of safety (DOS) and directors of operations (DO) - fractional ownership program managers, and training center managers should know of the SAFO process and should pay particular attention to any SAFO bearing directly on their operations. Operators should consider immediate implementation of any applicable action recommended in a SAFO.

The FAA strives to notify the appropriate contact person for each operator affected by a new SAFO. However, DOS, DO, fractional ownership program managers, training center managers, and any other person involved in operations of transport category airplanes should make a habit of regular visits to the SAFO Web site.