I spent all day yesterday at an ALPA Symposium, "Just Culture, A Proactive Use of Data" at the Capital Hilton in Washington, DC.

My amateur summary of the subject matter was ... now that the industry is in the "big data collection" business, how should that data be handled and who should have access to it? How should the data received from our many safety programs be handled?

I had the opportunity to relay to Peggy Gilligan, the Associate Administrator of Aviation Safety, my feeling that the proposed "Just Culture" concept might not work well at FedEx because the line pilots can't trust management not to use the SAFETY DATA for disciplinary purposes (her boss, Michael Huerta was in the audience). Her immediate reply was that the program will never work if we can't trust each other and that she would discuss my feelings with FedEx Management the next time she meets with them.

It seems that almost the entire industry has evolved into a practice that if your questionably unsafe event wasn't intentionally reckless or negligent then no enforcement action will follow. I was able to relay two different ASAP type reports that were as evidence in discipline hearings. Hmmm ... I wonder if other airlines have that problem?

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the FAA Senior Management seems to understand the pilots' professional vulnerability and seemed to be inclined to give us the benefit of the doubt if there was one. :D

I'm sure you said, "I thought this was off the record, please don't use my name. I fear retribution."

Kinda odd that she wants to rat you out like that. I don't think she gets it.

Getting a little paranoid aren't we?

Once those type of questions start he or she will be told to go to the back and stay there.

If you were still on the property you would be aware of active monitoring of our phone conversations with scheduling. Apparently management wants to prove there is a coordinated labor action going on.

But that is nonsense. The fact is more and more of us, individually, are sick of managements failures.

I think they're wondering why it took so long for us to start drowning in the sewage that is continually heaped upon us.

Gunter, you say "the company has been monitoring phone conversations with scheduling." If you haven't realized it, the company has been recording all phone conversations with CRS since about 1990, and probably even before that."

As for my "paranoid aren't we" comment, Mark never said that they knew his name, just that Ms. Gilligan promised to mention how Mark felt about the lack of trust between the pilots and FedEx management. So when you commented that: "I'm sure you said, "I thought this was off the record, please don't use my name. I fear retribution." and "Kinda odd that she wants to rat you out like that.", it just seemed a little paranoid to me.

They're doing more than just recording in case someone gets an irregularity report. They're listening in real time to get a picture of how we are reacting to them. Which is why I said "active" monitoring.

Please do try to keep up.

Whether an observer is allowed to jumpseat or not jumpseat can be settled by reading FOM 2.93 page 2-41. The bottom line is this is a new world. IOSA and the FAA require QA programs and data gathering. I was reading data in the WBAT and some of the questions asked that were objected to are in the ERC reports and are nothing more than data gathering that in actuality may help crews by adjusting flight schedules and manning issues that have been brought up in other threads.

Read Tonys post...
 

There isn't an MOU. Read Tonys post...

You're right. Its just a line in the FOM that says they are mandatory