Growing distrust between elements within various pilot groups and airline management over the use of confidential safety information is threatening the integrity and effectiveness of the FAA’s Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP), according to the Regional Airline Association. In fact, the issue dominated the discourse during a December meeting of some 20 regional airline safety directors at RAA headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Instituted to encourage employees to voluntarily report safety problems and incidents, ASAP has recently come under fire by employees who charge that management has used the privileged information as the basis for disciplinary action.
Although the Air Line Pilots Association officially endorses the program, the ALPA-represented pilots of Cincinnati-based Comair and Delta Air Lines have allowed their ASAPs to expire, as have the pilots at American, represented by the Allied Pilots Association, and US Airways, represented by the US Airline Pilots Association (USAPA).
