The president of a USA pilots’ union has accused American Airlines of cutting its safety margin by “manipulating” flight plans with tactics that include faster speeds. “Pilot pushing leads to “rush to comply” behavior”, Capt. Dan Carey, who was elected president of the Allied Pilots Association earlier this month, wrote in the letter.
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The conflict is the latest between American and its 15,000 pilots.
One passenger on the plane reported the pilot and crew were great, and there was no panic from passengers.
American did not respond directly to the union leader’s claims.
American spokesman Ross Feinstein (FYN’-steen) says none of the 139 passengers and crew was injured when Flight 438 to Seattle returned to Dallas about 20 minutes after takeoff Wednesday night.
Carey is referring specifically to an initiative laid out in a July 12 memo from American’s chief operating officer Robert Isom. He said the actions caused an “erosion of the safety margin”.
“Safety and regulatory compliance are always the first and foremost consideration in every decision and in every facet of our company – and we are fortunate that our pilots are the best in the business”.
Federal rules generally limit airline pilots to shifts of nine to 14 hours, depending on when the pilot’s work day started and the number of flights.
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This article was written by MARY SCHLANGENSTEIN from Bloomberg and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.
