FAA Administrator Keynotes ALPA Safety Forum

Fresh from his fairly warm reception at Oshkosh, FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt shifted his focus to airline pilots Wednesday with speech to the Airline Pilots Association Safety Forum in Washington, DC.

“We cannot regulate professionalism,” Babbitt said. "No matter how many rules, regulations, advisories, mandatory training sessions, voluntary training sessions — pull them all together, and it still comes down to us — and by us, I mean every pilot."

Babbitt, a former president of ALPA, said the Colgan Air incident called the professionalism of airline pilots into question for the general public. "If you haven’t read the transcript of the CVR for the Colgan accident, I’d encourage you to do so. The professionalism of the flight crew has been raised as an issue — and this isn’t the first time. We’ve got to put a stop to that. The accidents we’ve seen, and the call to action I’ve made all have the crying need for refocus on professionalism running through them."

Still, Babbitt said he things there is a high level of professionalism among airline pilots, but part of the issue is the relative age of people in the left seats of airplanes. "I am saying that this is a time for veterans to take the extra effort to mentor the pilots coming up through the ranks to ensure we maintain the highest levels of professionalism. This not only deals with safety, but with the need for you to help the new pilots learn how to react and adapt to change."

Babbitt also addressed the issue of pilot fatigue that has become a major issue on Capitol Hill. "The timeline is 45 days for a notice of proposed rulemaking. That brings us to September 1. We vet it inside the FAA first, then ship it to DOT, which should turn it around in less than 90 days, then the NPRM is on its way to OMB. The proposed rule then will go out for public comment. By the way, I’ve requested both DOT and OMB to expedite this one. Why does it take so long? Well, rulemaking is a deliberative process, and it’s slow by design. The last thing we want is a knee-jerk rule that doesn’t answer the mail. I can tell you that the committee is giving this issue a good, hard look."

FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt

But, he said, the ultimate responsibility for safety is in the cockpit. "I can’t say this any more directly than I am right now:  We all have to take on additional responsibilities whether we’re legally required to or not. This is about safety, and safety is about saving lives."

FMI: www.faa.gov