American Airlines And Association Of Professional Flight Attendants Announce Beginning Of Aviation Safety Action Program

FORT WORTH, Texas – American Airlines, in conjunction with the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), implemented an Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) for the first time yesterday. ASAP is a safety partnership between the three organizations designed to encourage flight attendants to voluntarily report safety-related information. The reports will help identify potential precursors to serious safety incidents. The flight attendants’ ASAP at American Airlines is now the single largest ASAP in the world by virtue of American’s more than 18,000 flight attendants.

“Our flight attendants have made a huge commitment to supporting safety at American – one of our top priorities,” said Lauri Curtis, Vice President – Onboard Service, American Airlines. “We have initiated this program with the best flight attendants in the industry, to help us remain one of the safest airlines.”

ASAP is designed for flight attendants to report safety related-issues through a non-punitive reporting process. Participation in ASAP is voluntary and confidential. A “sole source report” (an event that has been reported by the flight attendant only) 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. The program allows a flight attendant to report an event or incident that may otherwise go unreported.

Laura Glading, President – Association of Professional Flight Attendants, said, “The safety and security of our passengers is our number one priority. As the industry’s front-line safety professionals, flight attendants play a key role in maintaining and improving all areas of cabin safety, for the flying public and crews alike. We look forward to the success of this program and working with American and the FAA to uphold our strong commitment to safety.”

The information gathered in the ASAP reports will be analyzed jointly by American, APFA, and the FAA in order to develop and implement effective solutions to possible safety concerns. Addressing prospective safety concerns is essential to reducing future accidents and incidents.

Flight attendant ASAP at American also embraces the “Just Culture” philosophy and process. The Just Culture model establishes a defined, objective process to evaluate incidents and events to determine if reports should be accepted into the ASAP program. The Just Culture philosophy has taken hold within the U.S. airline industry and is on its way to becoming an accepted industry standard.