ASAP
So What is an ASAP All About
As communicated in ‘Hotline’ messages and posted on the website (http://www.nwaafa.org/safety/), the Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) has been proposed for NW Flight Attendants, providing a non-punitive way to report safety related issues and concerns without the threat of company disciplinary action or enforcement action by the FAA.
ASAP is a joint effort between Northwest Airlines, the FAA and AFA-CWA to improve safety of operations by offering the opportunity for Flight Attendants to “voluntarily” disclose safety related events. Such a program (NASAP) has been in effect for NW pilots for over six years.
A formalized ASAP Working Group began discussions in May, working toward the finalization of a required Memorandum of Understanding to be approved by the FAA prior to launch of ASAP. Further efforts have been stalled due to the continuing issues of ‘integration.’
However, your MEC ASHS Committee is committed to bringing this program and its protections to our workgroup - now and in the long term. Stay tuned!
Aviation Safety Action Program
What is ASAP? ASAP is an acronym for the Aviation Safety Action Program. This program is a joint effort between Northwest Airlines, the FAA and Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. The intent of the program is to improve safety of operations by offering the opportunity for crewmembers (in this case, NW Flight Attendants) to ‘voluntarily’ disclose safety-related events and concerns.
What Other Carriers Have an ASAP? At Northwest, our pilots have had an ASAP since 2001 and dispatchers since the latter part of 2007. Other AFA-CWA carriers who currently have ASAPs specifically for FAs include: United, Alaska and Horizon.
What Are the Benefits to Flight Attendants? ASAP is designed to be a safety-reporting program - and is not a “get out of jail free” program. To encourage reporting via ASAP, the program does have several ‘enforcement-related incentives’. Flight Attendants who submit a qualifying ASAP report to the company will face no disciplinary action - and will receive either no action (or only administrative action in specific cases) from the FAA.
Also, no data or information gathered by such report may be used to initiate, facilitate or support any FAA legal enforcement or company disciplinary action, except as specifically set forth in the Memorandum of Understanding. Such MOU is an agreement between all parties (NWA, FAA and AFA-CWA) and individually approved by each.
How Are the Reports Used? Information obtained from ASAP reports will permit ASAP participants to identify actual or potential risks. Such data and information might otherwise be unknown or go unreported. With such information, corrective actions can be implemented in order to reduce the potential for reoccurrence of incidents, accidents and/or other safety-related events.
Will ASAP Reporting Take the Place of Inflight Incident/Narrative Reports? No - the ASAP report form will be separate from current incident reporting procedures. However, it is possible that a single event may require an ASAP form and an Inflight Incident Report. An example might be that an evacuation occurs and is required to be reported via an Inflight Incident Report; if there was a deviation from procedures during such evacuation, an ASAP report would also be recommended. Such reporting will be made easier and more convenient with the advent of ‘automated’ incident reporting which will parallel the introduction of ASAP for NW Flight Attendants.
Must All Flight Attendants Submit an ASAP Report? No - the program is ‘voluntary’ by each Flight Attendant. Should a FA choose not to submit an ASAP, they
would not be protected by the MOU agreement. It is in one’s best interests to submit an ASAP report in order to gain the protection of the program.
What Are the Personal Benefits for Participating in ASAP? The program offers an opportunity to report safety issues or violations that could be caused by a systemic problem, without implicating any individual employee. Participation in ASAP is strictly voluntary and confidential, and no record of a Flight Attendant’s participation is kept in their personnel file. A report that has been accepted into the program will not be used to initiate or support any FAA or company disciplinary action - nor will the event be the basis for any FAA or company disciplinary action.
What Are the Benefits to the Company and FAA? The benefit of receiving information about how safety violations could or do occur is much more valuable to the safety of the operation than the ability to discipline or fine an employee. It is the hope that the integrity and anonymity of the program will encourage such reporting long before any violations, accidents or injuries occur. Air carriers who partner on such ASAP programs, along with the FAA, are willing to forego the normal deterrents in order to create the type of safety climate we (at NWA AFA) have been striving for over many years.
What Criteria Must Be Met for an ASAP Report to be Included in the Program? In order for an event report to be accepted into the program, the event must occur while performing duties as a Flight Attendant, should be inadvertent (and not intentional) and cannot involve any of the following which (under the FAA’s Advisory Circular and guidelines governing ASAP Programs) are automatically excluded from ASAP:
- intentional disregard for safety
- criminal activity
- substance abuse
- controlled substances
- alcohol usage by a working employee
- intentional falsification and/or intentional violation of a FAR
Such report must also be made within the time limits which will be defined by the MOU referenced above.
What Happens Once an ASAP Report is Filed? The ASAP Manager will record the date/time of the event and the time the report was filed. Names, flight numbers, dates and any other information that could pinpoint an individual will be removed (de-identified); the de-identified report, along with supporting data, will be entered on the agenda for the next Event Review Committee (ERC) meeting. The ERC is comprised of one member of each of the participating parties to the ASAP. The FA will receive a confirmation that the report has been received. The ERC will meet at least once a month to review reports that are made a part of the agenda.
Posted by NWA Webmaster on 07/21 at 06:23 PM