53 AUGUST 2026 REGULATORY REPORT LEE BOONE // PVA SENIOR REGULATORY AND PROGRAMS ADVISOR Flagship Member Resources ADDING TO THE TOOLBOX W hen assembling the current version of the Flagship SMS Program, the focus was on the requirements to make the program and system work: getting the twelve chapters right, getting the definitions right, getting the pathway from notice of intent to audit right. As the saying goes, however, good ideas do not wait for the right moment. While heads down on the requirements, I kept running into areas that I knew would help members implement Flagship and get more value out of it over time, ideas that were beyond the immediate scope of what was being built at that mo- ment. Rather than lose focus on the task at hand, I started a list. Every time one of those ideas surfaced, whether it came from a conversation with a PVA member, with PVA staff, or something I noticed while reviewing a gap analy- sis, I wrote it down and kept moving. That list has become my worklist for what is now taking shape in Mem- ber Resources on the PVA Member Portal, a growing area meant to sit alongside the core program and make it easier to use. Templates, forms, and procedures will live together there in a dedicated area called the Toolbox. Some of these tools already exist and are in members’ hands today. Other resources and tools are still on my worklist. I want to walk through both in this article, because participating in Flagship and getting the most out of it is easier when you know what is already available and what is coming. THE SMS MANUAL TEMPLATE The starting point for most members is the Flagship SMS Manual Tem- plate, which you will find in Flagship Member Resources. Building an SMS manual from a blank page is a signif- icant undertaking, and PVA did not want every member to have to do that on their own. The template we pro- vide today traces back to foundational work by Mike McElroy and Wendella Cruises & Tours, who developed an early manual structure that PVA adapted into the template now used across the program. Their work made Flagship implementation faster and more consistent for every member who will come after them. THE FLAGSHIP PROGRAM MANUAL Alongside the SMS manual template, we maintain a full requirements docu- ment, the Flagship Program Manual, that spells out everything required to participate in and remain compliant with the program. I use this docu- ment constantly when I review where a member stands, and I encourage oth- ers to use it the same way internally. It turns Flagship from an abstract goal into a checklist you can work through section by section, whether you are just starting a gap analysis or prepar- ing for your first Flagship Audit. POLICY NOTICES TO KEEP YOU CURRENT Flagship is a living program, and re- quirements shift as training offerings and partner organizations evolve. When something changes that affects participants broadly, PVA issues a pol- icy notice, so nobody is left guessing. A recent example is our notice defer- ring Flagship Familiarity Training until an approved training offering is available. In the meantime, every other training and experience require- ment stays in effect, and I encourage participating companies to set an in- ternal policy now, so crews are ready to complete that training as soon as it is posted. Watching for these notices, and reading them carefully, is one of the simplest ways to stay on track. FLAGSHIP FAMILIARITY TRAINING Speaking of this training, I want to spend a moment on this one specifi- cally. Flagship Familiarity Training is currently paused under FPN-2026-01 until approved by PVA. (It’s nearly done!) Nothing about this deferral changes what is expected of partici- pating companies in the meantime. Per SMS Requirements 6.3 and 6.4, each company should establish its own internal policy for how Flagship Familiarity Training will be handled once it becomes available and be ready to put that policy into action as soon as an approved offering is published. Since the course itself is nearly done, I can give you a preview of what it cov- ers. It opens by laying out who actually needs it: your company decides how to build general SMS familiarity across
View this content as a flipbook by clicking here.