The National Air Transportation Association (NATA) and a number of heavy hitters in the air charter industry have created the Air Charter Safety Foundation to promote Part 135 safety initiatives, including an industry-wide standard safety audit and adoption of safety management systems. Once an operator has completed the audit, the operator’s information will be included in an online registry for charter customers and others to review. Following the lead of the airlines in adopting safety management systems, NATA hopes that its Safety Management System for Air Charter will be standard across the industry in a few years. Charlie Priester, chairman of Priester Aviation, is the foundation’s first chairman, and Jim Christiansen, president of NetJets, is serving as vice chairman. A majority of the board of governors will be Part 135 certificate holders and the remainder will represent OEMs, brokers, insurers, customers, airports and safety professionals.