Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Kerry Lynch

The Air Charter Safety Foundation’s (ACSF) Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) picked up another participant, Fair Wind Air Charter, bringing to 107 the number operators and companies incorporating the ACSF risk-management program. Tailored to the business aviation community but modeled after programs long in place with Part 121 carriers, the ACSF ASAP is a voluntary, self-reporting program designed to provide a forum to identify unintentional non-compliance, safety issues, and operational deficiencies in a non-punitive environment.&nbsp;The program is carried out through memoranda of understanding with the FAA.

 


ACSF began working with the FAA on the program in 2012, initially in the Great Lakes region. The program has since spread throughout the contiguous U.S., approved in FAA regions including Eastern, Central, Great Lakes, Southern, Southwest, Western-Pacific, and Northwest Mountain regions. ACSF also has expanded the program to both Part 135 commercial and Part 91 corporate operators. In fact, corporate operators now account for more than half (61) of the total participants.

 


In operation since 1980, Stuart, Florida-based Fair Wind provides aircraft management and charter services, operating a range of midsize, super-midsize and large-cabin aircraft. “At Fair Wind Air Charter, safety is at the foundation of all our services,” said Fair Wind COO and owner Alexander Beringer, who added that its safety programs are supported by ongoing comprehensive international and third-party audits. “Our participation in the ASAP heightens the validity of our commitment to safety, and we’re very pleased to have the support of the ACSF.”

 


While ACSF continues to expand ASAP, so too is it increasing access to its Industry Audit Standard (IAS), among the most stringent safety standards specifically tailored for the Part 135 community. ACSF has formed a new partnership with Wyvern under which charter and fractional ownership operators can undergo a single audit for both the IAS and Wyvern Wingman Standard.

 


The IAS will be offered as an add-on module to Wyvern Wingman, and, once it is complete, operators can receive the Wyvern rating, as well as become IAS registered.&nbsp;The IAS module includes operational requirements that reflect best practices of Part 121 operations that apply to Parts 135 and 91K.

 


“Wyvern Wingman has for years now represented the most sought-after rating by charter consumers around the world,” said Sonnie Bates, Wyvern president and CEO. “Yet we recognize that some operators require or desire compliance with other standards, yet dread the thought of the time and money associated with multiple audit events. This will represent a significant decrease in both time and cost for each participating charter company, without any compromise to either standard or actual audit.”

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News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

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