What is an accountable manager in a flight training organisation?
In an approved or declared training organisation, the accountable manager is the single person with the authority and responsibility to ensure the organisation is properly financed and its activities are carried out to the standard the regulation requires. Under Part-ORA (ORA.GEN.210) they hold ultimate responsibility for the management system, and while day-to-day duties are delegated to nominated post holders, accountability for the whole rests with them.
The accountable manager is a named individual, not a committee, because the regulation wants one person who can be held answerable for the organisation as a whole. In a small club that person is often the owner or a director; in a larger ATO it is typically a senior manager with the authority to commit the resources compliance requires.
Their job is not to do everything but to make sure everything is done: that the organisation has the funding, staff and systems to operate safely and lawfully, and that the nominated post holders, such as the Head of Training, are in place and doing their part. When an inspection asks who is responsible, the accountable manager is the answer.
Questions people ask
- Can the accountable manager delegate their duties?
- They can delegate tasks to nominated post holders, but not the accountability. The regulation holds the accountable manager ultimately responsible for the organisation even where the work is done by others.
- Is the accountable manager the same as the Head of Training?
- No. The Head of Training is a nominated post holder responsible for training standards. The accountable manager holds overall responsibility for the organisation and its resources, and the two are usually different people.