The IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) program is an internationally recognized and accepted evaluation system designed to assess the operational management and control systems of an airline. All IATA members are IOSA registered and must remain registered to maintain IATA membership. See who is already on the IOSA Registry.

New IOSA Training Courses

• IOSA Airline Auditor Training​
• IOSA Airline Auditor – Flight Operations (FLT) Discipline
• IOSA Airline Auditor – Operational Control and Flight Dispatch (DSP) Discipline

Benefits for airlines and regulators

• Quality audit program under stewardship of IATA
• Continuous updating of standards to reflect regulatory revisions and best practices
• Elimination of audit redundancy, reducing costs and audit resource requirements 
• Accredited audit org​anizations with formally trained and qualified auditors
• Accredited training organizations with auditor training courses
• Structured audit methodology, standardized checklists 

The total accident rate for IOSA carriers between 2011 and 2015 was 3.3 times lower than the rate for non-IOSA operators. As such, IOSA has become a global standard, recognized well beyond IATA membership. As of March 2015, 145 (36%) of the 405 airlines on the IOSA registry were non-IATA member airlines.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

The ISM is now available in XML Format

The IOSA Standards Manual (ISM) is now available in XML format for easy integration into your audit management system. E-mail us at ismxml@iata.org and we will be pleased to provide you with the licensing option most suited to your needs. The PDF version of ISM will continue to be offered free of charge.

Request an IOSA audit report

IOSA Registered operators should request reports by login into our online system. Read the guidelines (pdf).

Non-IOSA Registered entities are asked to kindly complete the request form (doc) and return it to the IOSA team.

To be the leader of operational safety auditing in an accident-free world

The IOSA Standards and Recommended Practices ISARPs, as published in the ISM, are applicable only to an operator that operates a minimum (i.e. one or more) two-pilot, multi-engine aircraft that have a maximum certificated takeoff mass in excess of 5,700 kg (12,566 lb) for the conduct of:

• Commercial passenger flights with or without cabin crew
• Commercial cargo flights with or without the carriage of supernumeraries or cargo attendants

ISARPs may not be applied or used for the Audit of an operator that

• Does not operate a minimum of one aircraft as specified above, or
• Has all aircraft operations conducted by another operator. 

ISARPs are currently not suitable for and may not be used for the audit of

• Aircraft that have a maximum certificated takeoff mass of 5,700 kg (12,566 lb) or less
• Single engine aircraft operations
• Single pilot aircraft operations
• Helicopter operations
• Seaplane operations

During an audit, ISARPs are applied only to those aircraft that are of the type authorized in the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) and utilized in commercial passenger and/or cargo operations. Other owned or leased aircraft that are not of the type authorized in the AOC and/or not utilized in commercial air transport operations, will not be evaluated during an audit as they are considered outside the scope of IOSA. However, the existence of such aircraft will be referenced with an explanation in the IOSA Audit Report.

To schedule, undergo and successfully complete an IOSA audit, follow the steps outlined below:

• Download the IOSA Standards Manual (ISM)​ (zip)
• Familiarize the operations personnel with the standards (i.e.: flight operations, maintenance and engineering, cabin operations and others)
• Select an Audit Organization and undergo the audit
• Complete the audit: upon successful completion, an airline is entered into the IOSA Registry (validity period of 24 months)

Maintaining registration

Before the end of the validity period of your current audit results, reschedule and successfully complete a new audit.

IOSA Documentation Site

Please note that all IOSA documentation is now available at  the new Documentation Site where users are able to register to receive email updates.​