Airport Safety Culture and Its Impact on Aviation Safety Management

The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) final rule, effective April 24, 2023, mandates that certain certificated airports implement and maintain a safety management system (SMS) to enhance operational safety. Central to the success of these systems is a positive safety culture. This concept, emphasized in Advisory Circular 150/5200-37A, underscores the importance of developing a safety-conscious environment and understanding the existing safety culture within airports. Equally important is the need to assess the safety climate—employees' perceptions of safety practices and policies at a given time. Given the diverse, multi-employer landscape of airport operations—including airlines, ground handling agents (GHAs), fixed-base operators (FBOs), and public safety partners—there are unique challenges in aligning the safety cultures of various stakeholders, each with its own operational practices and regulatory requirements. Research is needed to bridge the gap between an airport’s intended expectations for a robust safety culture and the actual perceptions reflected in its safety climate. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this research is to develop a playbook with tools that assist airports in assessing, improving, and sustaining a positive safety climate and safety culture. The research should help airports understand the gap between an organization's intended expectations for a robust safety culture and the actual impact of the organization's safety climate. Research should focus on the unique multi-employer and multi-regulatory environment of airports, which includes airlines, various stakeholders, GHAs, FBOs, concessionaires, maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MROs), and public safety partners.

• Record URL:
  • http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=5953
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Contract to a Performing Organization has not yet been awarded.

Language

• English

Project

• Funding: $350,000.00
• Contract Numbers:

  Project 04-37

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP)

  Transportation Research Board, 500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001

  Federal Aviation Administration

  800 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20591
• Project Managers:

  Picciano, Tara

• Start Date: 20260518
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Airports; Safety culture; Safety management
• Identifier Terms: Safety Management Systems
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Planning and Forecasting; Safety and Human Factors; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01963023
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: Project 04-37
• Files: TRB, RIP
• Created Date: Aug 12 2025 10:32AM