3.24.16 – (LAA/LUS) – Flight Attendant Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP)

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Thursday, March 24, 2016

Flight Attendant Cabin Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) – LAA/LUS

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in partnership with the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) and American Airlines (AA), have worked to provide a Cabin ASAP program as an additional layer of safety oversight. The Cabin ASAP Program began for LAA Flight Attendants on January 15, 2009 and for LUS Flight Attendants on February 18, 2013. This program reflects the desire to solve safety related issues through proactive solutions and education by identifying hazards in order to prevent incidents and accidents in a non-punitive venue for reporting employees.

The American Airlines Cabin Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) is an FAA sponsored voluntary safety program designed for Flight Attendants to self-disclose unintentional violations of Code of Federal Regulations (CFR, aka FAR) and report general and/or specific safety concerns in an effort to enhance the safety environment for Flight Attendants and passengers. Self-reporting via ASAP is an opportunity for an employee to make a difference in the safety of the airline. The representatives from APFA, Flight Service and the FAA assigned to our Cabin ASAP program form the ASAP Event Review Team (ERT). The Cabin ASAP ERT works jointly to identify potential safety hazards, analyze the associated risk with those hazards and implement controls to mitigate future occurrences. Cabin ASAP provides a wealth of information that would otherwise be unknown if not for the benefits of the program.

How it Works

A Flight Attendant reports an inadvertent FAR violation or a safety concern via the Cabin ASAP reporting system. The report is de-identified (name and employee number removed) and forwarded to the Event Review Team (ERT). The team reviews the report and, collectively, determines whether or not the report meets the acceptance criteria agreed upon by all three parties from the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which is the ASAP written agreement between AA, APFA and the FAA. Automatic exclusion from the program includes reports involving criminal activity, the use of a controlled substance or alcohol, and/or intentional falsification. The event must also be unintentional, and not involve behavior that is considered reckless. There may be times the ERT requires additional information to fully understand the scope of the reported event or safety concern, therefore, a response from the reporting Flight Attendant for additional details is vital to the ASAP process. Once the report is accepted into the program, the Flight Attendant involved is protected against any Company discipline and any FAA civil penalties. Following the outcome of the ERT review, the Flight Attendant may be requested to participate in some follow-up activities recommended by the ERT as an additional measure for acceptance of the report in the Cabin ASAP program. Follow-up activities may include interviews, procedural reviews and/or skill enhancement review training.

How to Submit a Report

Visit the Flight Service website on Jetnet, and click on the Safety and Security link on the left side of the homepage to access the LAA and LUS Cabin ASAP Report forms.

ASAP FAQs

Q; Does a FA have to submit an ASAP report?
A: No. The ASAP program is voluntary.

Q: Can I choose to submit a report even if the FAA or the Company is aware of the event?
A: Yes. Provided all other acceptance criteria are met, the ASAP report is not used to initiate or support any disciplinary action. A good example of this type of a report would be a slide deployment.

Q: What types of reports would a Flight Attendant consider submitting to the ASAP program?
A: Cabin safety events, inadvertent FAR violations, and Company safety policy/procedure concerns include the following examples:

Non-compliant Flight Attendant tablet (example: inadvertently working a flight without a tablet)
Inadvertent slide deployment
Cabin air quality event
Not properly stowing carry-on baggage (examples: stacking bags in an aircraft cabin closet or placing bags in a catering cart)
Exit seat briefing not performed
Non-safety related duties performed during taxi (example: taking beverage/meal preferences before take-off)
Not seated in jumpseat for take-off/landing
Minimum crew not on board during boarding/deplaning
Not properly arming/disarming a cabin door
Not completing all pre-flight duty checks
Aircraft boarding door closure issues
Turbulence notification

Q: What happens after the report has been submitted online?
A: Upon receipt, the ASAP manager records the date and time of report submission and hotline call (if applicable). De-identified reports are reviewed by the ERT at scheduled meeting intervals. Flight Attendants may be interviewed and additional information gathered as necessary. Decisions about follow-up actions, including corrective actions, are made based on ERT consensus.

Q: What if the ERT recommends coaching or procedural review as a corrective action?
A: You are contacted by an ERT representative and they discuss the ERT’s recommendation with you. Any recommended corrective action must be completed to the satisfaction of the ERT. Coaching and/or procedural review is not included in the employee’s company personnel file. Failure to comply with the recommended corrective action results in the report being excluded from the program.

If you have any questions, please contact the APFA Cabin ASAP Representative at [email protected] or 817-540-0108, ext. 8888.

Kelly Skyles
APFA National Safety & Security Chair
[email protected]