ASAP's Back At Delta... Thanks To Northwest
Delta Air Lines signed a memorandum of understanding this week
with the Air Line Pilots Association and the Federal Aviation
Administration to reinstate its Aviation Safety Action Program
(ASAP) covering pre-merger Delta pilots.
ASAP was created to improve flight safety, by removing the
threat of disciplinary action against pilots who identified
potential hazards and human errors. Individual flight crew members
are encouraged to submit reports to identify safety concerns, with
the data used to develop corrective action and to educate the
appropriate parties to prevent a recurrence of the same type of
event.
Pilots at Delta nixed ASAP in November 2006, along with their
counterparts at Delta's Comair regional subsidiary. Pilots blamed
the failure on management retailating against pilots who reported
safety violations, under what was designed to be a program free of
such actions;
unions at American and US Airways have subsequently dropped
their ASAP programs, as well.
"ASAP has proven to be a valuable tool in helping to spot
possible safety problems before they become accidents," said US
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "We hope the other carriers
will follow Delta’s lead and realize just how critical
voluntary programs are to commercial aviation safety."
Reinstatement of ASAP at Delta can be attributed to the
carrier's recent merger with Northwest Airlines... whose pilots
remained part of ASAP. The revised program mirrors that existing
program.
"Reestablishing our pilot ASAP program has been a top priority
for Delta, ALPA and the FAA, and this agreement is a testament to
the partnership and hard work of these parties on behalf of all
Delta pilots," said Steve Dickson, Delta senior vice president
– Flight Operations, and a B767ER captain. "Safety always
will be our highest core value, and programs like ASAP are critical
to identifying, understanding and correcting safety events to
ensure a safe and reliable work environment and travel experience
for our employees and customers. With the current safety reporting
programs at Delta, and those from Northwest that we will continue
to support, Delta is now the largest user of voluntary safety
reporting systems, with six programs covering nearly 17,000
employees."
Captain Lee Moak, Chairman of the Delta Master Executive
Council, the Delta chapter of Air Line Pilots Association, Intl.
that represents 12,500 Delta pilots added, "Through a
safety-focused approach and a professional working relationship
with Delta Flight Operations and the FAA, we were able to mutually
craft a solution to immediately begin the process to reinstate ASAP
at Delta. I’m confident that Delta’s new ASAP will set
the gold standard for ASAP programs throughout the airline
industry."
In addition to the reinstated pilot ASAP, Delta has formal ASAP
programs in place for its dispatchers and Technical Operations
employees, and other safety reporting programs for flight
attendants and ground employees. Delta also will continue ASAP
programs currently covering pre-merger Northwest pilots,
dispatchers and load planners, and other safety reporting programs
for its other workgroups.