Approved Training Organisation (ATO)

ATO

How to get started as an ATO

Organizations seeking an ATO certification are informed about the process by means of a pre-application meeting. Depending on the quality of the submitted documents, a complete certification requires about 6-12 months. We are looking forward to hearing from you to set a date for your pre-application meeting.

Applications: General

New applications and changes within an Approved Training Organization (ATO) usually require a document evaluation and, in some cases, further oversight activities by an inspector. Certain documents must be submitted, depending on the type of application. On this page you will find these documents and downloads.

Certification Leaflet CL MS und CL OM/TM

For obtaining an ATO certificate, a training organisation is required to have a FOCA approved management system. The management system consists of an “Organisation Management Manual” (OMM), an “Operation Manual” (OM) and a “Training Manual” (TM).

The “Certification Leaflet CL MS” is available to training organisations (ATO) as guidance to establish their “Organisation Management Manual” (OMM), which should describe the ATOs management system.

For developing and maintaining the “Operation Manual” (OM) and “Training Manual” (TM), we are providing the CL OM/TM as a guidance. It contains examples for the content of these manuals, as well as questions for compliance verification and self-assessment and as a preparation tool for audits and inspections.

Required forms

Application for issuance or amendment of a certificate

A certificate must be applied for in the event of an initial ATO application or if a change to the ATO certificate is requested (e.g. new courses, changes to simulators used). If all requirements are met, an ATO certificate listing the approved courses is issued. A course is now considered approved once the certificate and Form 105, signed by the FOCA, has been received. In order for the application to be processed, both Form 105 and a corresponding compliance list must be submitted.

Application for changes to the ATO's documentation

An application to change documentation (e.g. changes to OMM, OM, TM or syllabuses) does not affect an ATO certificate. ATOs must now apply for any changes to be made to documentation using Form 105. The FOCA issues approval or acceptance of the change also via Form 105.

Notification of new or changed nominated persons

The FOCA must be notified of appointments to the relevant positions in a flight school. This applies to both new appointments and when a position is filled for the first time. In addition, the FOCA must approve the Accountable Manager.

The positions in an ATO are as follows: Accountable Manager (AM), Head of Training (HT); for professional pilot training: Chief Flight Instructor (CFI) and Chief Theoretical Knowledge Instructor (CTKI); except in the case of ATOs with organisational review: Safety Manager (SM) and Compliance Monitoring Manager (CMM).

The FOCA must be notified at least ten days in advance of any change in management personnel. The OMM must be revised as a result of any such change. Form 105 must be submitted each time a change is made to the OMM and new management personnel are appointed.

Templates for ATO manuals (OMM, OM, TM, list of aircraft/instructors)

FOCA provides template manuals (OMM, OM, TM) for ATOs in word-format. The content of these templates correspond to the examples given in the CL OM/TM. The aim of these templates is to support new ATOs in preparing their management system. It is paramount, however, that an ATOs management system reflects the actual procedures and processes used and is ultimately useful in the operation.

There are two options to implement an OMM’s “Safety Risk Management” and “Compliance Monitoring”. The method of the “Organisational Review” (OR) is, however, only available to training organisations providing training toward the LAPL, PPL, SPL, BPL and their associated ratings.

Templates:

Training programmes (Syllabi)

Flight schools are required to develop a training programme for any kind of training. These programmes must comply with Part-FCL of the Air Crew Regulation. Additionally in case of type ratings, the training programme shall take the operational suitability data (OSD) of the aircraft manufacturer into account. The document CL OM/TM contains further information on the development of the specific training programmes.

Implementation Journals

The Implementation Journals support the flight schools with new requirements in specific topics. The documents help to implement these changes and accompany the certification process.