March 9, 2026
As the business aviation community prepares for the 2026 Business Aviation Safety Summit (BASS), safety remains at the heart of the industry. This year’s event will focus on advancing safer operations through stronger safety cultures, innovative thinking and practical solutions operators can apply in the real world.
Set for May 5-6 in Provo, UT, BASS, now in its 71st year, is organized by Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) in partnership with NBAA and the National Air Transportation Association (NATA).
During a recent webinar discussing the highlights of this year’s event, NBAA Senior Vice President, Safety, Security, Sustainability, International Affairs Doug Carr and NATA COO Hector Huezo and moderator Paige Kroner, FSF director of media relations, examined the need for safety culture and some simple tips to create that culture.
“Perhaps one of the biggest things our leaders can do is to embrace slowing down,” said Carr. “When we’re facing competing attention priorities, whether it’s from ATC giving us a complex taxi instruction, whether it’s from our passengers who just changed our mission, whether it’s from other internal flight operations, changes that perhaps weren’t expected. I believe one of the biggest things we have on our side, if we’re willing to take advantage of it, is time and slowing down to ensure that everyone remains on the same page – the crew, the passengers, the operation.”
Also, Carr added, it’s important for leaders to reinforce for their staff that they should raise questions if they’re not comfortable with what they’re seeing.
Huezo reiterated the need for an environment where safety is prioritized.
“When folks on the ramp or somewhere else are juggling multiple roles, errors can happen, and that is concerning,” he said. “I go back to creating the safety culture.”
The webinar posed several poll questions to participants, including. “Which vulnerability most concerns you in the next 12 months?”
The highest response was “complacency/procedural drift,” which was selected by 57% of respondents.
“There’s a substantial amount of change happening in our industry right now,” Carr said. “And if we are static in our view of what we as an operation, as a pilot, as a crew member, as an FBO, as a ground handling agent need to do, then we could very well be contributing to the challenges, to the risks that the rest of the industry is trying to address.”
Beyond safety culture, other topics for discussion at BASS include:
- Resiliency in aviation operations
- Mental well-being and Its impact on safety
- Human factors
- Continuous improvement and proactive safety strategies
- Runway, airport and surface safety
- SMS
- Emerging technology and new entrants
- Weather
Rounding out the program, NTSB board member Michael Graham will take the keynote stage to share lessons learned for operators navigating congested airspace — and to explore why rigorous data analysis matters, from individual organizations to the FAA itself.
International Business Aviation Council Ltd.