A handling audit correlates procedures with the activity observed at the aircraft. For fuel, the verification tracks the continuity of traceability and checks from receipt to delivery, including the handling of a suspicious product.
How do you establish the scope and criteria?
Specify the services to be audited: ramp handling, loading, push-back, towing, storage, or refueling. Identify the locations, air carriers served, equipment, and shifts included. Criteria can be derived from applicable requirements, contracts, manuals, and explicitly adopted industry standards.
Regulations (EU) 2025/20 and 2025/23 must be treated with their transition timeline toward application from March 27, 2028. In 2026, the assessment of readiness for the new framework is separate from identifying non-conformities against already applicable obligations.
What do you check during aircraft servicing?
Observe stand preparation, GSE approach, aircraft protection, and communication between participants. Verify whether equipment is appropriate for the aircraft type, inspected before use, and how defective items are taken out of service.
The sample must allow for the examination of interfaces: who confirms the start of a maneuver, who can stop the operation, and how a change is communicated. For loading, cross-reference instructions and documents used with the actual responsibilities of the personnel.
How do you track fuel traceability?
Select a batch and reconstruct the path using receipt, storage, transfer, and delivery documents. Check product identification, certificates, check records, samples, and relevant reports. The data must allow for the identification of equipment and deliveries affected by a suspicion of contamination.
Examine the procedure for product quarantine and release, the persons authorized to decide, and the communication to affected parties. Acceptance criteria, testing frequencies, and limits are taken from applicable specifications and procedures, without assumed universal values.
What evidence is required for equipment and personnel?
Prepare the GSE and fuel facility inventory, maintenance records, functional checks, and measurement instrument logs. Correlate the physical identifier of the equipment with its file. Check the handling of recurring faults and the authorization for return to service.
For personnel, request competencies related to actual tasks and evidence of practical assessment. Observing an operation may reveal differences between documented training and actual execution.
What should the audit deliver?
The report describes the scope, criteria, sample, limitations, and findings supported by evidence. The action plan includes causes, measures, responsible parties, and verification of effectiveness. A consulting audit must not be presented as a certification issued by an authority or an industry program.
For tendering, provide the activities, locations, number of equipment, contractual standards, and operating intervals. This allows for the estimation of a relevant sample and the duration of field verifications.
Also consult the technical chapter in the guide
Discuss your project with the Sky Meridian team
Compliance and improvement audits (handling)