Journal of Airline Operations and Aviation Management

Aviation safety operates within a complex environment involving multiple independent stakeholders such as airports, airlines, regulators, and service providers. Traditional safety models and Safety Management Systems (SMS) mainly focus on risks within individual organizations and often fail to address the interdependencies across the aviation ecosystem. This study introduces the Collaborative Safety Management System (C-SMS) model, which conceptualizes aviation safety as a systemic and inter-organizational process and proposes a holistic framework for collaborative safety management. A conceptual research approach was adopted. Existing traditional and systemic aviation safety models were reviewed to identify their strengths and limitations in addressing complex, multi-stakeholder operational environments. Based on this analysis, a multidimensional conceptual framework the C-SMS model was developed to integrate operational stakeholders, organizational hierarchy, and contextual influencing factors such as procedures, technology, time constraints, and personal characteristics. The proposed C-SMS model presents aviation safety as a three-dimensional system consisting of: (1) operational stakeholders, (2) organizational hierarchy levels, and (3) cross-cutting influencing factors. The intersections of these dimensions illustrate how safety emerges from coordinated communication, decision-making, and shared responsibilities across organizations and operational levels. The framework emphasizes proactive risk management, horizontal and vertical alignment of safety practices, and the integration of technological tools to enhance collaboration and situational awareness. The C-SMS model shifts aviation safety management from an organizationcentric perspective toward a systemic and collaborative approach. By highlighting interactions among stakeholders and organizational levels, it provides a framework for proactive safety management across complex aviation systems. The model contributes to aviation safety research by offering a practical conceptual tool for improving collaboration, risk identification, and safety culture across the broader aviation ecosystem.