Hot News for August 2010

American union threatening to leave FAA safety program

By DAVE MICHAELS / The Dallas Morning News

WASHINGTON – American Airlines' mechanics union has threatened to quit a key aviation safety program, arguing that federal inspectors have used it to investigate its workers.

The disagreement is the latest dispute between Fort Worth-based American and the Federal Aviation Administration, which has closely scrutinized the carrier's maintenance practices for more than two years.

The program at issue, known as ASAP, encourages pilots, mechanics and other airline workers to self-report safety violations to the FAA in exchange for immunity from punishment. To be accepted into the program, an airline worker must be the sole source of a report, which can't involve falsification, intentional misconduct or alcohol or drugs.

In a letter outlining its concerns, the Transport Workers Union cited 16 recent reports in which American mechanics disclosed violations that the union says should have shielded them from further investigation.

ASAP cases are confidential, so neither the FAA nor the union will say what happened in those cases. But the TWU's letter says the FAA has used such reports "to open enforcement action against employees and the airline."

"We felt like we should use this [program] consistently and apply it in a fair way to every report," said Brad Brugger, the union's safety of flight and compliance coordinator.

"And we don't feel that has happened every time," he said.

FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford said the 16 reports were rejected because they didn't meet the criteria for acceptance into ASAP.

"All of the parties to this [ASAP] agreement knew from the outset that certain things would not meet the criteria," Lunsford said.

So-called partnership programs such as ASAP encourage pilots and mechanics to report safety risks that otherwise wouldn't be known.

However, pilots and mechanics have expressed concern that ASAP reports could be used against them. American Airlines' pilots union briefly suspended its participation in ASAP in 2008 over that concern.

Aviation watchdogs sometimes have the opposite view – that ASAP has been used to grant amnesty for incidents that should prompt corrective action. The U.S. Department of Transportation's inspector general reported in 2009 that the program lacked guidance about what kinds of incidents should be accepted into the program.

Robert Gless, the Transport Workers' system coordinator for American Airlines, said his union is continuing to negotiate with the FAA over the program. In a July 22 letter to the FAA, Gless wrote that misuse of the program would cause workers to "go underground" and "hide their mistakes."

"Just the way they are viewing [the reports] – it is not so much, 'We are happy the report was filed, we'll look into this,' " Gless said. "It's, 'I can't believe the individual made this mistake. It was reckless!' "

Lunsford said the FAA remains committed to the ASAP program because it has worked as intended "in the cases that qualify to be accepted."

American has sparred with the FAA since the carrier grounded hundreds of jets in spring 2008 to address FAA inspections of electrical wires on its McDonnell Douglas MD-80 fleet.

The incident forced American to cancel thousands of flights, as the FAA charged the violations were serious enough to jeopardize safety. American said flight safety was never at risk. The FAA is still considering a civil penalty against American for the alleged violations.

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Important Info on ASAP-Read!!!

To all TWU employees:

Recently it has become apparent that the FAA no longer appreciates the flow of information that is gathered in the ASAP program. Please read the following attachment fully! If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Thank you
Doug Housley
TWU Local 567 Executive Board

See Attachment Below:
>>> 7-22-2010 ASAP Alert <<<

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