Cites Carrier's 'Mismanagement Of Critical Immunity Provisions'

Chalk up another airline that will no longer participate in the FAA's Aviation Safety Action Program. The US Airline Pilots Association (USAPA) announced Monday it has allowed their contract of participation in ASAP to expire, citing alleged cases of retribution against pilots.

ASAP was established to allow employees to voluntarily report safety problems and incidents without penalty, with certain exceptions including the involvement of alcohol, substance abuse or criminal activities. It was the FAA's goal that this information-sharing program could help prevent airline accidents by encouraging employees to voluntarily report safety issues without fear of retribution and with immunity... a noble effort USAPA says has been flagrantly ignored by USA Airways management.

"Although immunity provisions are a safety industry standard adopted by such lauded programs as the NASA Safety Reporting System, USAPA believes US Airways' insistence on diluting these provisions has rendered them effectively useless," the union writes. "The program was originally scheduled to lapse in early 2008 but had been extended repeatedly by USAPA in an attempt to reconcile disagreements regarding the diluted immunity provision."

As ANN reported, earlier this month the Allied Pilots Association (representing the American Airlines Pilots) and the Air Line Pilots Association (representing Delta and Comair Pilots) also allowed their participation in the ASAP to expire on similar grounds, concerned their respective airlines were using the program to discipline pilots for inadvertent and minor safety infringements.

Like USAPA, those unions also requested that stronger measures be built in to the program to protect the integrity of this important safety program.

"We are extremely disappointed that our patient attempts with Management to protect the integrity of this valuable safety program have failed to produce cooperation. We are left with no choice but to allow the program to lapse. USAPA is committed to a proactive safety mindset. As a component of that effort, we cannot tolerate a dilution of the essential protective provisions that other effective safety reporting programs incorporate," said Steve Bradford, President of USAPA. "We are troubled by the deteriorating state of labor/management relations that failed to produce any movement on these issues despite repeated extensions of the agreement meant to provide opportunity for teamwork."

NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) is still in place. The ASRS similarly allows pilots and other aviation personnel to voluntarily report any safety issues they witness.

USAPA represents over 5,000 US Airways pilots in seven domiciles across the United States.

FMI: www.usairlinepilots.org, www.faa.gov