The federal aviation community’s goal is to set the nation’s standard for aircraft safety. To reach this goal, GSA and the members of the Interagency Committee for Aviation Policy (ICAP) have implemented a number of programs to share, influence, and monitor the best aviation safety practices in the federal community. The ICAP has established the Safety Standards and Training Subcommittee to oversee these programs and address emerging issues related to aviation safety.

Some of the subcommittee’s programs are as follows:

The Federal Aviation Safety Officer (ASO) Program encourages Federal Aviation Safety Officers to meet minimum training requirements and fosters continuing education and improved skills and knowledge. In August 2003, GSA and the ICAP sponsored the first Federal Aviation Safety Officer Workshop, an unprecedented meeting which pulled together about 55 federal aviation safety managers and operators for three days of intensive information-sharing and instruction on the best practices for aviation safety programs.

The GSA/ICAP Aviation Resource Management Survey (ARMS) program offers a comprehensive survey of an agency’s flight program (management/administration, operations, maintenance, safety, and training) on request. GSA puts together a team of aviation experts, which generally spends about two weeks on-site with the requesting agency’s aviation program.

The “Safety Standards Guidelines for Federal Flight Programs” are high-level guidelines for the federal agencies to use to create their own agency-specific standards. Fifteen of the ICAP's member-agencies voluntarily adopted these guidelines by signing an “ICAP Safety Standards Agreement” in 2000 and 2001. (See “Aircraft Regulations and Guidance,” a link on this website, for copies of the guidelines and agreement.)

For more information, contact Chris Keyes, Aviation Manager for the FAA, who chairs the ICAP's Safety Standards and Training Subcommittee, at (405) 951-4201. Mike Miles facilitates this subcommittee for GSA.