When choosing a charter operator, travelers may come across a number of private jet safety certifications, ratings and registrations, including names such as IS-BAO, WYVERN and ARGUS. These standards are well known within business aviation, but unless you work in aviation, it’s not always clear what they mean or what an operator has to do to earn them.
Hop-A-Jet Worldwide Jet Charter recently renewed its IS-BAO Stage 2 registration, continuing a history with the standard that began in 2010. The renewal is part of a broader safety program at Hop-A-Jet that includes WYVERN Wingman PRO, ARGUS Platinum Elite and WYVERN Level 4 SMS, and each evaluates safety from a slightly different perspective.
Understanding those differences can give charter customers another useful way to evaluate the operator behind their flight.
What Are Private Jet Safety Certifications and Ratings?
Private charter operators in the United States are subject to federal aviation regulations, including the requirements governing commuter and on-demand operations under FAA Part 135.
The FAA regulates charter operations, while organizations such as IBAC, WYVERN and ARGUS provide additional frameworks, audits, certifications and ratings used throughout business aviation. Those independent programs don’t all measure the same things, and the terminology matters because a registration, certification, rating and SMS designation can represent different types of evaluation.
For someone researching a private jet operator, a row of safety logos can tell you much more when you understand what stands behind each one.
At Hop-A-Jet, four of those credentials are IS-BAO Stage 2, WYVERN Wingman PRO, ARGUS Platinum Elite and WYVERN Level 4 SMS.
What Is IS-BAO Stage 2?
The International Standard for Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO) was developed by the business aviation community and is managed by the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC). It is a voluntary global standard designed specifically for business aircraft operations, and it provides a framework for safety and operational processes while incorporating a Safety Management System appropriate to different types and sizes of operations.
IS-BAO uses three stages to evaluate the development and maturity of an operator’s Safety Management System. Stage 1 confirms that the system’s infrastructure has been established, Stage 2 ensures that safety risks are being effectively managed, and Stage 3 verifies that safety-management activities are fully integrated into the business and that a positive safety culture is being sustained.
Hop-A-Jet’s current certificate identifies Ace Aviation Services Corp. dba Hop-A-Jet Worldwide Charter as an IS-BAO Stage 2 Registered Company, and the designation is valid through August 31, 2028. The certificate also records the company’s initial IS-BAO registration date as April 30, 2010.
Reaching Stage 2 involves more than establishing an SMS on paper because, according to IBAC, the stage is intended to confirm that those risks are being actively managed. The IS-BAO registration process also includes an audit conducted by an accredited IS-BAO auditor before an operator’s registration is accepted.
For Hop-A-Jet, renewing that status continues a process that has been part of the company for more than 16 years.
What Is a Safety Management System?
A Safety Management System, usually shortened to SMS, provides an organized structure for managing risk within an aviation operation. It brings together policies, procedures, risk management and ongoing evaluation so safety concerns can be identified and addressed systematically.
SMS has become increasingly important across aviation, and the FAA now requires Part 135 certificate holders to develop and implement an SMS that meets the requirements of 14 CFR Part 5 by May 28, 2027. The FAA’s current SMS guidance for Part 135 operators explains those requirements and the framework behind them.
That context is useful when looking at Hop-A-Jet’s other safety credentials because both IS-BAO and WYVERN place significant emphasis on the development and effectiveness of an operator’s SMS.
What Is WYVERN Wingman PRO?
WYVERN Wingman PRO is an advanced safety certification within WYVERN’s Wingman program, and its requirements extend across several parts of an operator’s operation.
Under the current WYVERN Wingman Standard, an operator seeking Wingman PRO must validate conformity with the Wingman Standard, achieve and maintain Level 4 SMS performance, demonstrate a positive safety culture validated by WYVERN, show that its pilot training exceeds minimum regulatory compliance, and proactively manage human and organizational factors.
Safety management depends on people as well as procedures, so training, communication, organizational behavior and the way risks are handled throughout an organization all contribute to how a safety program works in practice.
Hop-A-Jet holds WYVERN Wingman PRO certification through December 31, 2027.
The Wingman PRO status provides another outside evaluation of Hop-A-Jet’s operation, and it also connects directly with another recognition the company holds, WYVERN Level 4 SMS.
What Is WYVERN Level 4 SMS?
WYVERN uses a four-level system to assess the development of an organization’s Safety Management System, and Level 4 represents the continuous-improvement stage.
According to WYVERN’s SMS certification framework, all required SMS processes are already in place when an organization reaches Level 4, and all components must be effective. At this level, the organization monitors its SMS and operational processes with the objective of maintaining continuous improvement over time.
Hop-A-Jet has achieved WYVERN Level 4 SMS, so this status is closely connected with the company’s Wingman PRO certification. In fact, maintaining Level 4 SMS status is one of WYVERN’s stated requirements for Wingman PRO.
That relationship helps explain why the two WYVERN credentials shouldn’t be treated as duplicate logos. Wingman PRO evaluates a broader set of requirements under the Wingman Standard, while Level 4 specifically identifies the maturity and effectiveness of the operator’s Safety Management System.
What Does ARGUS Platinum Elite Mean?
ARGUS Platinum Elite is the highest operator rating awarded by ARGUS International, and it adds another independent review to Hop-A-Jet’s safety credentials.
According to ARGUS International’s Platinum Elite program, operators must first establish a history at the Platinum level before qualifying for Elite status. Qualification requires consecutive Platinum audits with minimal findings, and Platinum Elite operators then participate in an ongoing monitoring program.
That program includes maintenance and operations reviews every six months, followed by a company-wide review every two years.
The underlying ARGUS Platinum audit examines areas including training programs, maintenance practices, standard operating procedures and organizational controls, with reviewers comparing an operator’s documented processes with its daily operation.
Hop-A-Jet holds ARGUS Platinum Elite Rated Operator status.
The ongoing monitoring component gives Platinum Elite a different role among the company’s safety credentials, and it provides another independent source of review using ARGUS’s own standards and process.
Why Do Multiple Private Aviation Safety Credentials Matter?
IS-BAO, WYVERN and ARGUS come from separate bodies, and each uses its own standards and review process.
IS-BAO places substantial emphasis on the development and maturity of an operator’s Safety Management System, and Hop-A-Jet’s Stage 2 registration indicates that safety risks are being effectively managed under the IS-BAO framework.
WYVERN Wingman PRO looks across a wider set of areas that includes SMS effectiveness, safety culture, pilot training, human and organizational factors, and continued conformity with its standard. WYVERN Level 4 provides a more specific measure of SMS maturity and continuous improvement.
ARGUS Platinum Elite brings another approach through its audit and continuous-monitoring program, including recurring reviews of an operator’s maintenance and operations.
For a charter customer, these distinctions provide more useful information than the credentials alone because they show that different outside organizations have evaluated different parts of the operation against their respective standards.
How Can You Verify a Private Jet Operator’s Safety Credentials?
Charter customers don’t have to rely solely on the safety information displayed on an operator’s website because several organizations provide ways to research companies and their credentials directly.
The FAA maintains a regularly updated list of FAA-certificated Part 135 operators and authorized aircraft, which passengers can use to verify that a company is authorized to conduct charter flights and determine which aircraft are authorized for charter.
ARGUS also maintains an operator registry that allows users to search participating operators and view their current ARGUS rating.
Looking beyond the logo and checking the organization that issued the credential can help a customer understand what the designation represents and confirm that the credential they’re reviewing is current.
Safety Standards Have to Be Maintained
Independent safety credentials carry ongoing requirements, and several of the programs behind Hop-A-Jet’s credentials specifically require recurring audits, monitoring, or continued demonstration of safety-system effectiveness.
IS-BAO registration follows an audit process and is issued for a defined period. Wingman PRO requires continued conformity with the Wingman Standard and Level 4 SMS performance, while ARGUS Platinum Elite incorporates continuous monitoring and recurring reviews.
Those obligations are part of what gives the credentials their value.
For Hop-A-Jet, the current IS-BAO Stage 2 registration through August 31, 2028 continues a registration history that began in 2010, and it sits alongside WYVERN Wingman PRO, ARGUS Platinum Elite and WYVERN Level 4 SMS as part of the safety standards behind our operation.
Learn More About Safety at Hop-A-Jet
For 50 years, Hop-A-Jet has operated in private aviation, and our current safety credentials reflect requirements that call for continued work from the people responsible for our aircraft and operations.
Our renewed IS-BAO Stage 2 registration marks the latest step in that work, and it gives us an opportunity to explain what these credentials actually mean rather than simply placing their logos on a page.
You can learn more about Hop-A-Jet’s safety standards and credentials or request a private jet charter quote.