Operations Manual 101: Quality Assurance

The Quality Assurance section of an Operations Manual should begin with a summation of how the quality assurance system is organized.

If it is an integrated quality assurance system, the three components of aircraft maintenance QA, education QA, and flight operations QA are described. These descriptions should include reference to the governing authorities (which of course is the primary reason for the QA systems design and organization), as this will provide general guidance as to where they can find sections of the Operations Manual relative to their respective jurisdictions.

QA Personnel

This section also summarizes the audit or inspection process that will be used by the company as the primary engine of QA, including the key players who will be conducting the audits and examination—for example, senior administrative staff or flight instructors, operations supervisor, etc.

QA Master Calendar

The Quality Assurance section should also describe how the audit and inspection cycles are organized, including, if weekly and biweekly inspection tasks, if necessary, as well as monthly, bimonthly, and annual tasks or audits. Reference should be made here to a master calendar document that depicts the cycle and, if possible, how staff members are alerted to upcoming scheduled tasks.

Sampling Strategies

The method or strategies used to assure valid and reliable random sampling for QA audits and inspections should also be described—because the types of audits and inspections vary so much in a flight training operation, it is common for the random sampling instructions to be imbedded in the individual QA task documents.

Findings and the Corrective Action Process

This section should also discuss the plan for corrective actions, including a description of the process and the document that records the outcome of the process. If a centralized hub is used to process findings and corrective actions, this should be described as well—again, this will provide guidance to the governing authority as to where the category of finds of concern to them may be found. There should be specification in this section regarding the application of root cause analysis, as well as a commitment to short-term and long-term rectification’s.

Continuous Improvement Commitment

The quality assurance section should include a statement regarding the requirement for continuous improvement, which essentially states that the flight training unit will make changes in response to findings produced by the quality assurance program, and these changes imply overall improvement in operation.