January 14, 2000

PRESIDENT CLINTON ANNOUNCES NEW PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS

TO INCREASE AVIATION SAFETY

 

                    THE WHITE HOUSE



               Office of the Press Secretary

_________________________________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release                                    January 14, 2000



              PRESIDENT CLINTON ANNOUNCES NEW PUBLIC-PRIVATE

                 PARTNERSHIPS TO INCREASE AVIATION SAFETY



                             January 14, 2000



The President today will unveil the Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP),

a new public-private partnership to boost aviation safety and protect the

millions of Americans who travel by air every year.  The partnership, which

brings together the Federal Aviation Administration, airlines and employee

unions, will encourage better reporting of safety concerns by aviation

employees to their employers.  ASAP will give the FAA and airlines an

important new source of information to prevent safety incidents and will

help meet the Administration's goal of reducing commercial aviation

accidents by 80 percent by 2007.  The President today will be joined by a

number of airlines and unions, and he will call on other members of the

aviation industry to join this path-breaking effort.



NEW AVIATION SAFETY ACTION PROGRAM WILL PREVENT ACCIDENTS.  Today the

President will announce a new Aviation Safety Action Program, which will

encourage aviation employees to report safety-related issues and incidents

to their employers and to the FAA on an expedited basis.  ASAP has three

important features:  (1) new sources of safety data, (2) new incentives to

report safety problems, and (3) the ability to reduce accidents and track

problem areas.



?    New Data Sources:  Improving air safety depends heavily on the ability

to collect and analyze safety data and to use that information to develop

safer systems and take corrective actions before accidents occur.  Airline

employees are sometimes reluctant to report data that might result in the

FAA undertaking enforcement action.  As a result, important information

goes unreported.  The ASAP program will provide an important, previously

unavailable source of data that will allow information to be captured

rapidly and directly from those responsible for the day-to-day safe

operation of our aviation system.



?    Incentives To Report Safety Issues:  The ASAP program provides

incentives to encourage aviation employees to swiftly report safety

problems.  It protects employees who promptly report problems, while at the

same time retaining the FAA's ability to vigorously prosecute cases

involving substance or alcohol abuse, or intentional falsification by

aviation employees, and to refer cases of potential criminal activity for

prosecution by the Department of Justice.  It also preserves the FAA's

ability to take enforcement action in cases where FAA safety inspectors

independently become aware of a potential violation.



?    Reducing Accidents and Tracking Problems:  The ASAP program will help

meet the Administration's goal of an 80 percent reduction in the commercial

aviation accident rate by 2007.  It will do so by providing a better look

at human performance errors, helping improve man-machine interactions, and

making it easier to put user-friendly technology in the cockpit and control

towers.  It can also lead to better aircraft operating and maintenance

procedures, better equipment design, and improved pilot and mechanic

training programs.



THE CLINTON-GORE ADMINISTRATION'S RECORD ON AIRLINE SAFETY.  In August

1996, President Clinton established the White House Commission on Aviation

Safety and Security, chaired by Vice President Gore.  The Commission's

final report set high goals, including reducing the commercial aviation

fatal accident rate by 80 percent by 2007 and recommending ASAP programs.

Following up on these recommendations, the Vice President launched the

Safer Skies agenda in April 1998, which, as an initial step, expanded

engine inspections and improved pilots? warning and detection systems.

Today's announcement is the next step in the FAA's Safer Skies agenda and

only the latest of the Administration's efforts to make air travel safer

for all Americans.




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Friday, January 14, 2000 | Print this story

Feds Urging Pilots to Report Errors

By SONYA ROSS, Associated Press Writer


     WASHINGTON--President Clinton told airline pilots and mechanics Friday that they will be protected if they go to the Federal Aviation Administration as whistle-blowers on safety problems. "Everyone must focus on fixing problems, not fixing blame," he said.
     Clinton appeared at the White House with officials from the FAA, the Transportation Department, pilots unions, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines to announce the deal. He said the plan allows airlines, labor and federal regulators to work on aviation safety issues "as partners, not adversaries," for the benefit of the flying public.
     "Already, there is less than one fatal crash for every one million commercial flights," Clinton said. "But we know we can do better still. Any accident, any death in the air, is still one too many."
     Under the Aviation Safety Action Program, a public-private partnership will be created to accept from aviation workers reports of safety problems or concerns before they worsen, Clinton said. In turn, those who report problems will be protected from possible reprisal.
     "They'll be encouraged to share their valuable insights about doing a job more safely," Clinton said. "They will be freed from the fear of being disciplined for admitting that something went wrong."
     The FAA's ability to handle deliberate aviation rules violations, criminal activity or drug and alcohol use will not be affected, Clinton said. "The experts will get the data they need to stay in front on safety, to solve problems, evaluate existing safety systems and propose new ones," Clinton said.
     The deal is the result of more than a year of discussions between the airlines, the pilots and the Clinton administration and are an outcrop of the work done by an aviation safety commission headed by Vice President Al Gore.
     It aims to improve understanding of errors that cause accidents, which might go unreported by pilots or crew members fearing reprisals or punishment for violating FAA regulations.
     Pilots at American Airlines and ground crew members of the Transport Workers Union already are experimenting with safety committees that share information among workers, airline officials and government regulators.
     Under the expanded deal, unionized pilots from American Airlines, Continental Airlines and members of the Air Line Pilots Association, which represents 50,000 pilots at 51 airlines, and others will participate in the safety program.
     Pilots, mechanics and other airline personnel can go to committees established by the program with problems they observe or even errors they themselves commit. The aim is to increase the pool of safety information to try to stop accidents from happening.
     "I hope we'll be able to follow their example and open this program to all the people who make airplanes fly -flight attendants, mechanics, dispatchers," Clinton said. "When it comes to safety, everyone has a responsibility. We want everyone on the team."

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Flight Attendants Say Safety Program Falls Short


Jan 17, 2000 

The Association of Flight Attendants, AFL-CIO, says the White House's new "Aviation Safety Action Program" is no substitute for a real whistleblower law. "While any program to improve airline safety must be viewed as a good thing, this new program announced by the White House falls short of the need for a real, unencumbered law that protects aviation workers who report safety problems," said AFA President Patricia Friend.

A hotline, as proposed by the White House, does not provide sufficient protection to aviation workers who report major problems. Aviation employees, including flight attendants, pilots and mechanics, need the strong protections from company reprisals offered by legal whistleblower protections, the AFA said.

The need for real whistleblower legislation is also supported by the Government Accountability Project (GAP), a non-profit organization that provides support to whistleblowers.

"Confidential hotlines are a fine start, but if there is a cover-up, genuine whistleblower protection is a necessity," said Tom Devine, GAP's Legal Director. "Otherwise, employees may risk their professional lives to ensure that the public is safe."

"We will continue to pursue whistleblower legislation in Congress to make sure that all aviation workers have the ability to report safety hazards without fear of reprisals," said Friend.

AFA is the world's largest flight attendant union, representing 47,000 flight attendants at 26 airlines.
 

 
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