Every engagement answers the same question: can you sign a Declaration of Compliance the FSDO will respect? Some operators need to find out where they stand. Some need the system built. Some built it themselves and need it tested before they sign.
All three paths end in the same place: a functioning SMS, sized to your certificate, producing the evidence an inspector asks for.
Start here if you are unsure
A structured gap analysis of your operation against every requirement in 14 CFR Part 5. We review what you have, interview the people who would run the system, and map the honest distance between today and a defensible declaration.
You get: a written findings report against each Part 5 element, a prioritized roadmap with realistic timelines, and a straight answer on whether you can close the gaps in house or need help. If you can do it yourselves, the report says so and shows you how.
The review fee credits in full toward a Build & Implementation engagement if you continue.
Priced by certificate size and complexity · typical build runs twelve weeks
The full system, built with your people rather than around them. We do not hand you a manual and leave. We build the machine, run the first cycle with you, and stay until it produces evidence on its own.
Accountable executive named. Hazard workshop with your chief pilot and director of maintenance. The register that comes out of that room becomes the spine of the whole system.
Safety policy, risk management process, and assurance procedures written around your actual operation. Sized to the certificate. If the manual promises a monthly meeting, it is because you agreed you will hold one.
Reporting channel live and tested with your line pilots. First risk assessments performed on real hazards. Training delivered and documented. First management review held. The evidence file starts growing.
Your people operate it. We check in through the first quarter, then you decide whether to carry it alone or keep us on administration. Either answer is fine. The system is yours.
Single-aircraft charters and small 91.147 tour operations sit at the lower end of the range. Multi-base, multi-type certificates sit at the upper end. The status call gives you a firm number before you commit to anything.
$6,500 flat · about three weeks
You did the work in house. Before you sign the declaration, an independent set of eyes tests the system the way an inspector would: evidence first, manual second. We pull the register, trace reports through to closure, check the training records against the roster, and sit in on a management review.
You get: a written audit report, a finding-by-finding gap list with fixes, and a clear verdict: sign it, or fix these first. Most operators who built in good faith are closer than they fear and further than they hope. The review tells you which.
Booked against the May 28, 2027 deadline: the later you schedule, the less runway remains to fix what the audit finds. Autumn 2026 is the smart window.
After the declaration
Monthly retainer, scoped to the operation
Filing the declaration does not end the obligation. The system has to keep running, and the FAA has been told to check. On retainer, we facilitate the monthly review, keep the hazard register current, process management-of-change entries when you add aircraft or bases, maintain the evidence file, and prepare you for any FSDO visit.
Your chief pilot flies. The system still runs. That is the point of the retainer.
