Your Executive Safety Wish List: A 15-Minute Gift to Your 2026 Safety Culture
December has arrived - the season of year-end reports, office parties, short weeks, full calendars, and inboxes that somehow grow faster than the snowbanks. Across Canada’s airports, leaders are juggling budgets, operations, staffing, year end audits, winter weather, and everything that needs to be wrapped up before the holidays.
It’s busy. We know it.
And yet - this moment is still one of the best opportunities all year to pause, reset, and define what you want safety to look like in 2026.
Not a full strategy.
Not a 200-page plan.
Not a day-long retreat.
Just 15 minutes - to articulate your Safety Vision for 2026.
Because here’s the truth: if executives don’t define the safety culture they want, the organization will define one on its own. And drift, shortcuts, and misaligned priorities - all things we’ve discussed this year in Acclivix Insights - will fill that vacuum far faster than good intentions.
This week, we’re offering a festive, practical way to refocus: an Executive Safety Wish List. Consider it a starting point for your 2026 safety vision - the things you wish were already true in your organization, and the actions that will turn those wishes into reality.
And as you read, ask yourself:
What else belongs on your wish list? What matters most for the safety culture you want to lead next year?
🎁 The Executive Safety Wish List (2025 → 2026)
Here are some items every aviation executive should consider as they build their 2026 vision:
1. A Real, Working Safety Culture - Not One Written on Posters
What leaders wish for:
A culture where employees report incidents and near-misses promptly, raise concerns, identify hazards, and feel supported rather than judged.
What makes it real in 2026?
Leaders asking more questions and making fewer assumptions.
Routine engagement with frontline teams - not just during incidents.
Reinforcing that “finding gaps” is how the organization gets safer, not how people get in trouble.
2. Processes That Match Reality
What leaders wish for:
Manuals, SOPs, and SMS processes that reflect what people actually do, not what they should do.
What makes it real in 2026?
Conducting at least one process walk-through with your SMS Manager each quarter.
Fixing drift before regulators find it for you.
Ensuring auditable processes are clear, lived, and regularly refreshed.
3. A Safety Risk Profile Used for Decisions - Not Filing
What leaders wish for:
A hazard register that executives actually reference, trust, and use to guide budget, staffing, and training.
What makes it real in 2026?
A documented annual review with your SMS Manager (is it scheduled?).
Visibility of the organization’s highest-rated risks in senior leadership meetings.
Evidence that decisions and funding align with those risks.
4. Corrective Actions That Fix Root Causes
What leaders wish for:
Corrective and Preventive Actions (CAPAs) that create lasting behaviour change, not additional paperwork.
What makes it real in 2026?
Findings tied to coaching, training, equipment, or process improvements.
Leaders reviewing not only whether a CAPA was closed - but whether it was effective.
Audits designed to be welcomed, not feared.
5. Strong, Supported Safety Leaders
What leaders wish for:
Safety Managers who feel empowered, valued, and well-resourced.
What makes it real in 2026?
A meeting in the calendar to review safety priorities for next year.
Clarity on roles, authority, and expectations.
Ensuring the SMS team has the tools, training, and support they need to succeed.
6. A Risk-Based Approach That’s More Than Buzzwords
What leaders wish for:
Evidence that decisions reflect real risk, not habit, “corporate folklore,” or the loudest voice.
What makes it real in 2026?
Asking: “How do we know?” at least once in every safety discussion.
Using risk to justify - or challenge - investments, projects, and operational changes.
Reviewing whether risk scores are actually being updated and used.
7. A Clear Vision for Safety in 2026
What leaders wish for:
A unified direction: “Here’s where we’re going. Here’s what matters. Here’s why.”
What makes it real in 2026?
Spending 15 minutes - today - writing down the three most important safety outcomes you want next year.
Sharing that vision with your SMS Manager and leadership team in January.
🎄 And the Question Every Executive Should Ask:
What else do I want to see from my SMS in 2026?
Better communication?
Faster CAPA cycles?
A stronger audit program?
More transparency?
Clearer safety performance objectives, goals and KPIs?
A healthier, more learning-focused culture?
Your Safety Wish List isn’t a fantasy - it’s the beginning of your strategic direction. What you write today becomes what your safety team builds tomorrow.
Need help making your wish list a reality? That’s where Acclivix comes in. Whether you need guidance shaping your 2026 safety vision, support strengthening your SMS, or a fresh external perspective on your risks and processes, we’re here to help. Reach out today to set up an initial discussion.