CONTINGENCY360

Implementation typically begins with a customized protocol development phase and initial gap analysis of your existing ERP. The virtual onboard review process and system setup can usually be completed within a few weeks; however, the timeline depends on the complexity of your operation and any additional services selected.

Contingency360 is designed to work with your existing team structure. The service includes access for up to 10 managers to our ERP e-learning college and provides 24/7 support, eliminating the need to hire additional staff. However, you'll want to designate key personnel for training and emergency response roles.

MedAire's Portal can support manual input of your flight details and aircraft. By unmasking and/or sharing your aircraft location data with MedAire's secure website, aircraft monitoring is unlocked. For additional fees, you can also set up direct data links with leading avionics and flight planning software providers to remove manual efforts and automate this element of your ERP.

Pricing varies based on operation size (small, medium, or large) and whether you operate domestically or internationally. The membership includes core services with optional add-on services available. Contact our Business Aviation specialists for a customized quote based on your specific operational profile.

Having a comprehensive crisis management program like Contingency360 may positively impact your insurance profile. We recommend discussing your emergency response capabilities with your aviation insurance provider, as underwriters increasingly value robust crisis management programs.

While we hope you never need to activate crisis services, the ROI becomes immediately apparent if an incident occurs. The cost of managing a crisis without proper support often exceeds annual membership fees many times over. Additionally, the proactive monitoring and preparedness elements help prevent minor issues from becoming major incidents.

Activation occurs when you contact our 24-hour response numbers for crisis support beyond routine medical or security advice. This could include aircraft incidents, operational disruptions that require family notifications, reputational threats, or any situation that requires crisis coordination. Your initial onboarding and ERP development phase will set these thresholds.

Through our partnership with GoCrisis and the International SOS network, we provide global coverage. However, response capabilities may be limited in certain regions due to political instability or access restrictions. Our team will provide specific guidance for operations in challenging locations.

We're designed to complement, not replace, your existing professional relationships. Our team coordinates seamlessly with your legal counsel, insurance representatives, and other advisors to ensure unified response efforts while leveraging our specialized crisis management expertise.

Our aircraft monitoring system tracks each aircraft individually. If one aircraft experiences an issue, we'll focus crisis response on that situation while maintaining normal monitoring of your other aircraft. Your operations can continue with enhanced awareness of the developing situation.

Absolutely. The add-on services include conducting regular drills and simulations specifically for this purpose. We also provide tabletop exercises and can coordinate practice activations to ensure your team is prepared and familiar with the response process.

Contingency360 is designed for business aviation broadly and works with both Part 91 and Part 135 operations. The services scale appropriately for your operational complexity and regulatory environment, with specific guidance available for different operational types.

No, Contingency360 enhances and supports your IS-BAO compliance rather than replacing any requirements. IS-BAO is an international standard that provides a comprehensive framework for managing the safety, security, efficiency, and effectiveness of business aircraft operations. The standard is scalable and flexible, allowing operators of any size to implement requirements that pertain to their specific operations. MedAire has developed a suite of solutions that enable operators to achieve the highest level of compliance and safety standards, aligning with industry standards and civil aviation regulations. Our add-on services include IS-BAO guidance updates to ensure your emergency response program meets or exceeds these standards while providing practical activation support.

Contingency360 fulfills specific SMS requirements and supports certain SMS functions, rather than integrating directly with your SMS. The service meets your ERP documentation and coordination requirements, provides the required ERP training and exercises, and generates operational data that can support your hazard identification and safety performance monitoring processes. However, you'll need to incorporate Contingency360's outputs into your existing SMS framework, documentation, and processes to realize the full safety management benefits.

Yes, your membership includes access for up to 10 managers to MedAire's ERP e-learning college, access to the ERP Assist BOT, and the annual virtual ERP symposium. Flight crews also retain access to MedAire's traditional medical and security support services.

Effective exercises need three key parts: realistic scenarios, internal and external participation, and documented lessons learned. Contingency360 has created scenarios and facilitation support for both tabletop and functional exercises, and it integrates with your flight scheduling and crew communication systems to provide realistic aircraft-monitoring drills. The ERP e-Learning College offers role-specific training for up to 10 managers, and the ERP Assist chatbot delivers on-demand guidance during planning. Benchmarking data in Power BI allows comparison with anonymized industry peers. For full-scale exercises requiring GoCrisis personnel who have managed real aviation accidents and can simulate the pressure and complexity of multi-agency coordination, family notification, and media response, these are available as an add-on service at additional cost.

IS-BAO Section 4.3.3 requires annual ERP exercises at a minimum, with full simulation exercises recommended every 36 months. These standards set the minimum requirements, not the maximum. Annual discussion-based tabletop exercises test notification processes, familiarity with plans, and decision-making, but they do not simulate the pressure of real-time coordination with external agencies, families, and media. International operators, those carrying high-profile passengers, or managing multiple aircraft, should consider semi-annual exercises that cover scenarios such as medical diversions, security incidents, overdue aircraft, and worst-case accidents. Membership in Contingency360 includes access to the annual ERP Tune-Up Symposium, drill facilitation, and the ERP e-Learning College. The aim is to ensure personnel can perform effectively under stress, not just demonstrate familiarity with a document.

Post-incident reviews consistently reveal the same failure points. The issues are usually not about whether a plan exists but whether roles, responsibilities, and actions are well-understood and tested before an incident. Operators may realize the plan does not clearly define who activates the ERP, who leads the crisis response, who communicates with the client or principal, who handles next-of-kin and press communications, and who coordinates with authorities, handlers, insurers, and aircraft management partners. There is often an over-reliance on a small group of people, and in many business aviation operations, key knowledge resides with just a few senior individuals. If these individuals are unavailable, the response can slow significantly. Family assistance protocols may be documented but are not sufficiently resourced or properly developed. In business aviation, the passenger profile may include high-net-worth individuals, corporate leaders, or public figures who expect privacy, speed, discretion, and tailored support. Many ERPs do not adequately address this. Family notification protocols that exist on paper may never have been tested with actual calls and scripted language. Plans often assume limited public attention or a grace period for handling the media. Incidents involving prominent passengers or sensitive locations, combined with the speed of social media and publicly available flight-tracking tools, can generate immediate and intense media and public interest, requiring proactive communication to protect brand and reputation. Plans that are not regularly reviewed often contain outdated contact lists, personnel who have changed roles, and no backup designations. There are often incorrect assumptions about insurance coverage, availability of legal counsel, and regulatory notification timelines under pressure. There are frequently no pre-established relationships with external crisis response resources, forcing operators to negotiate contracts and vet providers during an incident. Conducting a gap analysis before an incident occurs helps identify these issues while they can still be addressed.

At a minimum, an ERP must address the elements outlined in IS-BAO Section 4.1.4 and NBAA Management Guide Section 1.1.6: authority notification procedures, activation of the emergency operations center, internal notification chains, family communication protocols, on-site crew procedures, flight data preservation, media relations, regulatory cooperation, trauma support, and business continuity. Beyond compliance, effective plans include proactive flight tracking that detects overdue aircraft before local authorities are notified; pre-written family notification scripts reviewed by trauma experts; designated spokespeople with media training; established relationships with medical, security, and crisis communication resources in primary operating regions; and scenarios covering events not explicitly addressed by regulations, such as cyber incidents, security breaches, natural disasters affecting base operations, and incidents involving non-employee passengers. Clearly documented roles and responsibilities are essential. The ERP should specify who leads the response, who makes key decisions, and who is responsible for functions such as operations, communications, family assistance, regulator liaison, crew support, passenger care, insurance, legal matters, and record-keeping. For business jet operators, the most critical test is whether the ERP remains operational and usable at 2am with a small team.

Location selection should prioritize privacy, controlled access, and family protection as the primary criteria. The site should be physically separated from the incident location, company headquarters, and any area where media will congregate, with secure and discreet access to reduce the risk of families being photographed or approached. Security personnel must control all entry points through identity verification and use a sign-in process. Interior layout should include private rooms for individual family briefings, a larger space for group updates, separate areas for children, and dedicated spaces for welfare, mental health, and support services. The venue should also have a strong communications infrastructure, including reliable phones, Wi-Fi, and video conferencing for remote family members. Proximity to airports and hotels matters for families traveling from multiple locations, but this should not come at the expense of privacy or security. Cultural and linguistic support must be arranged in advance based on passenger demographics. GoCrisis maintains trained personnel and established protocols for the Family Assistance Center setup, staffing, and operation across multiple jurisdictions.

The economics and expertise requirements make a fully internal capability impractical for most operators. Mass-casualty response, family assistance, and crisis communications are specialized fields that require ongoing training, 24/7 availability, multilingual skills, and global reach. An operator experiencing a major incident perhaps once a decade is unlikely to sustain that level of readiness internally. IS-BAO Section 4.1.4(g) and NBAA guidance both acknowledge the role of external entities in family assistance and recommend that ERPs include details on how to engage these resources. The key question is whether to establish that relationship before or during an incident. Reputable emergency response providers will not be needed because a strong response relies on a pre-established partnership and relationships, vetted response resources, in-place contracts, and integrated protocols within your ERP. This results in a single uncomplicated activation call, followed by a comprehensive response from expert emergency responders with real-world experience. This is not about outsourcing responsibility for the response; it’s about providing the specialized resources necessary to meet the needs, aligned with industry standards and the expectations of families and the public. Operators will still need internal resources to activate the ERP, lead decision-making, handle client and stakeholder communications, coordinate with authorities, and manage the response. Contingency360 offers access to 28 assistance centers, over 91,000 vetted providers, thousands of specialized crisis responders strategically located worldwide, with real-world deployment crisis experience across commercial and business aviation, with activation protocols already integrated into your emergency response system.