Every Part 135 operator must declare SMS compliance by May 28, 2027.
The FAA's expanded Safety Management System rule (14 CFR Part 5) now covers on-demand and commuter operators. There is a hard, published deadline — and a Declaration of Compliance you have to file. 301 days remain.
Safety Policy
A signed safety policy, a named accountable executive, and defined safety responsibilities.
CLEARSPAR → A DO-validated compliance methodology stands in as your documented, accepted safety governance.
Safety Risk Management
A process to identify hazards and assess/control risk before it bites.
CLEARSPAR → Every quote runs a FRAT; crews and ground staff file hazards through a no-login link — the volume is your evidence.
Safety Assurance
Monitoring that the controls work — audits, corrective actions tracked to closure.
CLEARSPAR → Corrective actions carry due dates, root cause, and verification; closure rate is computed for you.
Safety Promotion
Training and communication that keep safety in front of the whole team.
CLEARSPAR → Recurring safety meetings and training logs roll up into the readiness gauge automatically.
A binder built the week before is not an SMS
Existing 14 CFR 135 on-demand & commuter certificate holders (and 91.147 air-tour). New entrants must have it at certification.
SMS readiness is evidenced over time — months of hazard reports, FRATs, audits, and closed corrective actions. You cannot manufacture the record in May 2027.
No declared, functioning SMS by the deadline puts your authority to operate at risk. This is the one program you are legally required to stand up.
Your SMS evidence builds itself as you dispatch
Clearspar doesn't hand you a template to fill in. Every trip you run through the compliance gate generates the exact evidence the four pillars demand — risk assessments, hazard reports, corrective-action closure, and a tamper-evident decision ledger — and rolls it into a live Declaration-of-Compliance readiness gauge that shows precisely what's left.