Aerospace Standards

Aerospace Standards

SAE International possesses the world’s largest collection of aerospace standards. The Aerospace Standards’ repository includes more than 6,700 documents used by major airline manufacturers, the U.S. Department of Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration, and airport personnel to maintain safe, high-quality aircrafts and parts.

More than 7,000 aerospace experts – engineers, designers, and manufacturers – from around the globe provide expertise for standards on critical issues ranging from fuel to weather conditions that are used by the aerospace industry in the United States and elsewhere. About 25 percent of the research and data used in the standards program comes from engineers and aerospace experts outside of North America.

Using such world-class expertise, the aerospace standards group has developed new standards in as few as 29 days.

SAE also administers the International Aerospace Quality Group (IAQG), which develops high-quality documents that are adopted for use by the aerospace industry worldwide.

To ensure that its standards are applicable to global users, SAE partners with international groups including the AeroSpace and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD); the European Organisation for Civil Aviation Equipment (EUROCAE); and the Society of Japanese Aerospace Companies (SJAC). To further bolster its presence around the world, SAE exhibits at important international trade events, such as the Paris Air Show.

SAE Aerospace hopes to forge even more global partnerships as well. In 2008, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency committed funds and SAE hosted an SAE aerospace standards workshop in Beijing, China. SAE is in discussions to host a similar program in India for 2010.

The Aerospace Standards Program also is venturing into new areas to develop quality standards beyond conventional aviation. Among them is Radio Frequency Identification Technology – a cutting-edge method to help the industry track parts in the manufacturing process or scan parts for periodic maintenance or replacement.

SAE also is developing innovative standards to identify counterfeit parts as a way to eliminate unapproved and low-quality parts from the industry, and is working to develop standards for a European program that regulates the use of hazardous chemicals.

Through its diverse efforts and global knowledge base, SAE offers the highest level of aerospace standards available worldwide.