Skip to content
Direct2
Book a demo

Part 5 readiness

May 28, 2027. Be ready, and be able to prove it.

A complete Part 5 SMS with a live readiness tracker that maps every requirement from §5.21 to §5.97 to real evidence from your operation. Guided setup gets you configured in weeks. Daily operation builds the proof.

Book a demoCheck your readiness

Part 5 declaration due

May 28, 2027

213days left

The facts

  • Part 5 applies to every Part 135 operator. 5.1
  • Your Declaration of compliance goes to your FSDO or CMO. 5.9
  • The FAA can ask for supporting data at any time after you declare. 5.9(d)
  • Operators in the FAA's voluntary SMS program must still declare.
  • New applicants need an SMS before they're certificated. 5.9(b)

Part 5 takes months of real activity, not a weekend of paperwork. Start now and watch your readiness climb.

READINESS CHECK · 15 QUESTIONS

Where does your SMS stand today?

Answer yes, partly or no for each element. You'll see an indicator for each of the four SMS components and the Declaration, and which areas need work first. It takes about three minutes, and nothing you enter leaves this page.

Safety policy
Is your safety policy written, signed by the accountable executive and shared with your employees?§5.21
Have you named your accountable executive and written down who may accept which level of risk?§5.25
Is your emergency response plan coordinated with the organizations you'd work with in an emergency?§5.27
Safety risk management
Do you identify hazards from reports, FRATs, audits and maintenance, and assess the risk of each one?§5.53
Do you assess the risk of a change, such as a new aircraft type, airport or procedure, before it goes live?§5.51
Can you send hazard information to interfacing organizations, such as FBOs, fuelers and vendors?§5.57
Safety assurance
Are people actually filing hazard reports, and do you track safety performance indicators?§5.71
Has management reviewed your safety performance in the last 12 months?§5.73
Do corrective actions have owners and due dates, and do they close only once someone verifies they worked?§5.75
Safety promotion
Has everyone with safety duties completed SMS training for their role?§5.91
Do you share safety lessons with your crews and explain why safety actions were taken?§5.93
Records and the Declaration
Are your SMS processes documented, and are your records kept for the required periods?§5.97
Has your accountable executive reviewed the evidence behind each element before signing?
If the FAA asked after you declare, could you produce supporting data for each element?§5.9(d)
Do you know who signs your Declaration and that it goes to your FSDO or CMO?
–0 of 15 answeredSee result

HOW READINESS WORKS

Operating, not just configured.

Inside Direct2, readiness isn't a questionnaire. The tracker maps every requirement from §5.21 to §5.97 to real evidence from your operation, so it can't be gamed by setup alone.

  • A live checklist of every element, each marked satisfied, partial or gap.
  • Each gap explains why, for example “no §5.73(a) review in 12 months”.
  • Flags clear on their own when the evidence arrives: a review signed, a course completed, a report closed.
  • A point-in-time readiness report for the AE to review before signing the Declaration.

THE PATH TO DECLARED

Five steps from binder to declared.

  1. 01

    Import or start fresh.

    Bring your hazard log, training records and manual from a binder, spreadsheet or another system, with a mapping preview and a reconciliation report. Or start from the templates.

  2. 02

    Reach a configured baseline in under 30 days.

    Guided setup builds your manual, policy, accountability register, FRAT model and training assignments from plain questions.

  3. 03

    Run real activity.

    Reports, FRATs, training and a first management review. This is the part that takes months, and the part that counts.

  4. 04

    Generate the readiness report and sign.

    The AE reviews a point-in-time readiness report, then signs the Declaration for your FSDO or CMO.

  5. 05

    Store the acknowledgement. Keep proving it.

    The FAA acknowledgement is stored with the Declaration. When supporting data is asked for under §5.9(d), produce the evidence package for any date range in one click.

Getting to the Declaration

A five-tail operator, from binder to declared.

The Summit Air Charter demo operator has been through it. Every step is in the same record, so the evidence builds itself.

Explore the demo operator
  1. Week 1

    The binder comes in.

    The safety manager imports the spreadsheet hazard log with the mapping preview, fixes the errors and files the reconciliation report. Their SMS consultant joins on their own consultant seat.

  2. Weeks 2–4

    Guided setup.

    The manual comes from the template. The AE e-signs the policy and the objectives, the accountability register names who may accept which risk, a FRAT model goes live and training is assigned automatically.

  3. Day 30

    Mostly amber and red.

    The tracker shows where they really stand, and each gap explains why.

  4. Weeks 5–20

    Green, one element at a time.

    Real reports, a first management review and completed training turn the elements green one by one.

  5. Declaration day

    Signed and acknowledged.

    The AE generates the point-in-time readiness report, signs the Declaration and stores it with the FSDO's acknowledgement.

  6. Months later

    The POI asks for data.

    The safety manager generates the §5.9(d) evidence package for the date range in one click.

WHERE YOU'RE STARTING FROM

Every operator starts somewhere different.

Still on a binder?

Start from what you have.

Import the hazard log and training records you already keep, and let guided setup fill in the rest. You don't need to throw anything away to begin.

How switching works

Already declared on another system?

Bring your history and keep proving it continuously.

Your past reports, hazards and reviews come with you, so the evidence trail doesn't restart the day you move.

Bring your history

Certificating under §5.9(b)?

Have the SMS in place before you're certificated.

New applicants need an SMS as part of certification. Set it up alongside your manuals so it's operating when the inspector looks.

See the full SMS

Working with a consultant?

Give them their own seat.

Consultant seats let your SMS consultant work in your system with their own login, and switch between all of their clients.

For SMS consultants

Free guide

The Part 5 Declaration guide and checklist.

What the Declaration is, who signs it, and an element-by-element checklist you can work through with your team, whatever software you use.

Get the Declaration guide

The FAA acknowledges Declarations; it does not approve them. The readiness tracker is an indicator, not an FAA determination.

See your readiness score in the demo.

Walk through the demo operator's tracker element by element, then see what yours would look like after guided setup.

Book a demoExplore the demo operator