IBAC to Launch CORE Risk Management Program for Small Operators at 2026 NBAA-BACE Ahead of FAA SMS Deadline
Why It MattersCORE reflects how compliance pressure from a fixed SMS deadline pushes resource-limited small operators toward shared, association-built tools, with lighter entry requirements shaping how that segment organizes its safety work.
What happened
The International Business Aviation Council (IBAC), in consultation with NBAA and other member associations, has developed the CORE Risk Management program. It will be rolled out at the 2026 NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE).
The resource is aimed at helping smaller business aviation operations strengthen their risk management as many prepare to meet the FAA's May 2027 deadline for implementing a safety management system (SMS). It provides practical tools, training and guidance for organizations with limited time and personnel.
Heidi Williams, NBAA senior vice president, operations, said the program specifically addresses the needs of the small operator community and is a key tool for operators preparing for compliance with the FAA's Part 5 SMS requirement. She said it offers operators, ground handlers and small maintenance providers another resource to organize their safety efforts, called it a valuable addition to the SMS toolkit, and urged all operators affected by the SMS mandate to examine this and other resources in developing their compliance solution.
Further details will be discussed during NBAA-BACE safety sessions, including the NBAA Single-Pilot Safety Standdown and the Small Operators Symposium, both scheduled for Monday, Oct. 19.
How CORE is built
CORE rests on five principles: understanding the circumstances behind outcomes, recognizing human limitations, examining everyday work, making safe actions easier, and translating lessons into improvements.
The program emphasizes a thorough examination of how employees accomplish daily tasks and adapt to operational challenges. That examination can reveal gaps between written procedures and actual work and help leaders better support safe decisions. It also encourages frontline employees to contribute solutions and helps organizations allocate resources toward risk.
Participation requires no existing SMS and involves no external audit. CORE includes an alignment module addressing a pathway toward regulatory compliance, while the overall program focuses on strengthening an organization's ability to understand and manage risk.
Industry impact & what to watch
Small business aviation operators, ground handlers and maintenance providers generally have few dedicated safety staff, so a fixed regulatory date tends to concentrate demand on low-cost, pre-built resources. A program that needs no existing SMS and no external audit lowers the entry barrier for exactly that group, and it is being delivered through the associations those operators already belong to.
The design choice to start from how work is actually done, rather than from documentation, matches how SMS programs are meant to surface hazards in small organizations where procedures and practice can drift apart. The alignment module links that internal work to the Part 5 requirement without making CORE itself a compliance certification.
The next concrete milestone is the set of NBAA-BACE sessions on Oct. 19, where further details on CORE are due to be discussed.
