Airside safety isn’t something that happens automatically, it’s a shared responsibility that requires active involvement from everyone. As Liam Bolger, Head of Airside at London Luton Airport, puts it, “SMS is not done to you, it’s something you participate in.”

That philosophy set the stage for a remarkable 12‑year transformation of Luton Airport’s Safety Management System (SMS), led personally by Bolger, from early uncertainty to an industry‑leading example of collaboration and community engagement.

Cultural Shift: Adult‑to‑Adult Accountability

Over the past decade, London Luton Airport’s Safety Management System has undergone a profound transformation, reshaping both mindset and measurable outcomes. Central to this shift was abandoning punitive point‑based schemes in favor of adult-of-adult accountability. The message is clear: airside safety isn’t imposed; it’s collaboratively maintained.

This cultural pivot went hand‑in‑hand with an extraordinary community-first strategy. With more than 16,000 direct points of engagement (POEs) recorded in 2024, airport leadership demonstrated a deep commitment to dialogue, feedback, and shared action. People were encouraged not just to comply, but to participate, building a sense of shared ownership across airlines, ground handlers, and support services.

The results speak for themselves... 

2024 marked a turning point in Luton Airport’s safety culture.

With 93.6% of incidents requiring no follow-up, and red-level emergencies disappearing entirely, our systems and staff showed remarkable progress.

Final Words: Harnessing Collective Brains for Safety Excellence

Liam Bolger’s guiding principle, “You don’t need all 48 brains on your team, just more than 3. Use them,” underlines the belief that diverse insight matters more than hierarchical input. By leveraging collective wisdom, Luton Airport’s SMS has become a dynamic, responsive ecosystem where safety is co‑created, not enforced.

Luton’s journey demonstrates how shifting from punitive compliance toward trust‑based, inclusive participation can deliver measurable safety gains and foster a culture where people feel safe to act, report, and improve.