There has been a “significant spike” in safety issues at American Airlines, according to an email summarising the concerns sent by a pilots’ union for the carrier.
Reaching out to union members on 13 April, the Allied Pilots Association referred to “problematic trends” in terms of maintenance practices and safety precautions. As well as increasing the interval time between inspections and removing overnight checks, the concerns include express test flights on craft coming back into service after largescale maintenance or long-term grounding.
The incidents and practices described echo filings made by Boeing whistleblowers who have spoken out about shortcuts in safety checks and procedures at the manufacturer as it presses to meet order and sales targets.
Accidents result from a chain of events
The APA union email also made clear there had been a perceived drop in vigilance over ensuring tools are removed from “sterile” working areas and potential risks related to “operating on the ramps and taxiways in congested airports staffed with inexperienced controllers and ground personnel.”
“We all understand that aviation accidents are the result of a chain of events — often a series of errors — and catching just one of those errors could prevent a tragedy,” the union’s message went on, asking members to continue to log and report any incidents or concerns to management.
Initial response “encouraging”
The union’s views have been shared with management at the carrier whose “initial response to our request was encouraging,” said Dennis Tajer, a pilot and union spokesperson. “We fully intend to do everything we can to assure that American maintains strong margins of safety,” he added.
American Airlines’ response to Bloomberg was to highlight its “world-leading” and “robust safety program” and the way it cooperates on schemes with US aviation regulator, the FAA, and other unions, to work on behalf of flyer safety. It said it would continue to seek ways “to further bolster our strong safety record and enhance our ever-evolving safety culture.”
Obligation to detect and prevent
So far American Airlines seems to have escaped further FAA review, with the agency so far declining to confirm whether or not it would be increasing its scrutiny of the airline. It has only gone as far as to confirm that all airlines are under an obligation to have failsafe systems in place to prevent and detect hazards before they turn into a critical event.
The regulator recently brought United under closer surveillance with a safety review following a number of incidents on the carrier’s flights.
