TRB’s Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Report 1, Safety Management Systems for Airports, Volume 1: Overview provides a brief description of safety management systems (SMS) and is intended to be an easy-to-read, quick introduction to SMS for airport directors and their governing boards. The report explores the advantages associated with instituting such a system and examines the four components or pillars that are part of an SMS--safety policy, safety risk management, safety assurance, and safety promotion. The report also includes background information on the International Civil Aviation Organization’s requirements for SMS at airports and relates the experiences of airports located outside the United States in implementing SMS. Summaries of interviews on SMS implementation at airports outside the United States developed out of research conducted during in the development of ACRP Report 1 are available online. ACRP Report 1: Safety Management Systems for Airports, Volume 2: Guidebook supplements ACRP Report 1, Vol. 1.