Safety Management System (SMS)

Systematically guaranteeing safety

Whether they are of a technical, human or natural kind, shortcomings can be spotted and eliminated thanks to our Safety Management System (SMS).  

Fraport AG’s Safety Management System serves to increase the level of safety at Frankfurt Airport, focusing on safe airport operations. The SMS takes account of all the possible factors—technical, organizational or human—that could influence it.

The SMS systematically integrates and connects safety measures for day-to-day aviation activities at Frankfurt Airport. It logs and analyzes safety-related events and incidents and is able to spot and highlight any weaknesses.

The aim is for everyone involved in aviation to embrace the regulations in the Fraport AG Safety Policy and put them into practice too. Airport employees can thus submit safety-related reports to the SMS. In addition, everyone authorized to access the movement areas—the apron and maneuvering area—is required to undertake safety training.

Obstructing taxiing aircraft – not here!

Just like when you are in road traffic, having a smartphone in your hands while driving, for example to write a text, is not allowed on the apron. Being distracted by a cell phone is dangerous. Studies suggest that one in ten fatal road accidents is caused by someone at the wheel distracted by a cell phone—more than drunk driving. According to a survey by Dekra, 55 percent of all cell phone owners use their phone at the wheel at least occasionally. This figure rises to 85 percent among 18- to 29-year-olds.

While this bad behavior puts lives at risk on ordinary roads as it is, the danger on the airport’s apron is even greater as its traffic situation is even more complex. There are not only road vehicles here but taxiing aircraft too, and their paths could potentially cross. This demands the utmost concentration from the driver. A lapse in concentration could quickly lead to a taxiing aircraft being obstructed or even involved in a collision. In other words, the consequences can be even more disastrous than on the roads.