United pilots contract, MOU 21-02 — FSAP MOU 2021
1. OPERATOR INFORMATION. United (CALA) holds an air carrier certificate issued under 14 C.F.R. Part 121 and conducts its operations as authorized in (CALA)s Operations Specifications (OpSpecs). United operates approximately 788 aircraft, and employs approximately 13,000 Pilot employees related to this MOU. The Pilot employees are represented by the Air Line Pilots Association.
2. PURPOSE OF THIS MOU. The FAA, United, and any participating labor groups are committed to improving flight safety. Each party has determined that safety is enhanced if there is a systematic approach for employee groups to promptly identify and correct potential safety hazards. The primary purpose of the United ASAP is to identify safety events and to implement corrective measures that reduce the opportunity for safety to be compromised. In order to facilitate flight safety analysis and corrective action, the FAA, United, and the participating employee labor groups agree to implement this ASAP voluntarily. This ASAP is intended to improve organizational safety through self-reporting, cooperative follow up, and appropriate corrective action. This ASAP is based on a safety partnership that includes the FAA and the eligible entity, and may include a third party, such as the employees labor group or safety organization serving as an ASAP facilitator. To encourage an employee to voluntarily report safety issues, enforcement-related incentives have been designed into the program.
3. BENEFITS. The program will foster a voluntary, cooperative, nonpunitive environment for the open reporting of safety concerns. Through such reporting, all parties will have access to valuable safety information that may not otherwise be obtainable. This information will be analyzed in order to develop mitigation strategies and employee corrective actions if necessary to help solve safety issues and possibly eliminate deviations from Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations. For a report accepted under this ASAP MOU, the FAA will not use any enforcement action to address certain apparent violations of the regulations. This policy is referred to in this MOU as an enforcement-related incentive.
4. APPLICABILITY. The United ASAP applies to all Pilot employees of United and only to events that occur while acting within the scope of their employment with United and their contractors (if applicable). Reports of events involving apparent noncompliance with Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations that appear to involve intentional or reckless conduct, criminal activity, substance abuse, controlled substances, alcohol, or intentional falsification are excluded from the program. Reports of events that directly involve an employee but that occurred while he or she was acting outside the scope of his or her employment for the eligible entity are also excluded.
5. DECISION-MAKING. The success of an ASAP is built on the ability of the event review committee (ERC) to achieve consensus on the acceptance or exclusion of each event that is reported.
Consensus of the ERC means the voluntary agreement of all representatives of the ERC. The ERC reaches a consensus when deciding whether to accept a report into the program and when deciding on corrective action recommendations related to the reporter, arising from the event (except as provided in paragraph 6, below).
6. AUTHORITY. This Agreement is entered into under the authority of 49 U.S.C. 106(1) and (m). The FAA retains all its legal authority and responsibilities contained in Title 49 of the United States Code, as referenced in FAA Order 2150.3 and in the FAA Compliance and Enforcement Program (as amended). In the event there is not a consensus of the ERC on decisions concerning a report involving an apparent violation(s), reckless or intentional violation conduct, or a qualification or medical certification issue, the FAA ERC representative decides whether to accept or reject the report.
7. TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT. All ASAPs, whether new or previously established, enter as continuing programs. A review of a continuing program is required every 2 years to ensure its objectives are met. The review is accomplished by all signatories of the MOU.
8. VOLUNTARY WITHDRAWAL. Any signatory party to the MOU may withdraw from the MOU at any time and for any reason. The withdrawal of a party, or the termination or modification of a program, will not adversely affect anyone who acted in reliance on the terms of a program in effect at the time of that action (i.e., when a program is terminated, all reports and investigations that were in progress are to be handled under the provisions of the program until they are completed).
9. POINTS OF CONTACT. The ERC is comprised of a management representative from the eligible entity, a representative from the employee labor group (if applicable), and a specifically qualified FAA inspector from the appropriate Flight Standards office for United, or his or her designated alternates as appropriate. In addition, United will designate one person who will serve as the ASAP manager. The ASAP manager will be responsible for program administration, including the development and regular maintenance/updating of an ASAP manual or other process document that defines the nature, policy, and procedures of the ASAP and its participants. In some cases (while not ideal), the ASAP manager is also the company management representative to the ERC and may perform both functions. Management officials (other than the airline representative) of any party to this MOU should not be voting members of the ERC and should refrain from influencing any ERC decisions.
10. ACCEPTANCE POLICY. The following criteria are met in order for a report to beaccepted under the ASAP:
(1) ASAP reports are accepted unless excluded by one of the criteria listed below:
(a) Any possible noncompliance with Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations disclosed in the report that involves reckless or intentional violation conduct.
Note: There is a narrow circumstance under which the ERC considers acceptance of a report despite the intentionality of a violation. Under 14 C.F.R. 91.3(b), in an in flight
emergency requiring immediate action, the Pilot-in-Command may deviate from any rule in 14 C.F.R. Part 91 to the extent required to meet that emergency. In considering accepting the report, the ERC should evaluate whether such action may have been the safest course given the circumstances at the time of the incident. If the deviation was the result of an event outside the control of the Pilot or not otherwise evidencing a lack of diligence, e.g., to address a flight threatening mechanical malfunction, the ERC may determine that acceptance of the report is appropriate.
(b) The reported event involves criminal activity, substance abuse, controlled substances, alcohol, or intentional falsification. Reports involving those events will be referred to the appropriate FAA office for further handling. The FAA may use the content of such reports for any FAA action and will refer such reports to law enforcement agencies, if appropriate
(c) The report discloses an event that involves an employee acting outside the scope of his or her employment for the eligible entity.
Note: The ERC may exclude a report that reflects an instance of a repeated act of the same or similar noncompliance by the same individual due to a common root cause that was previously accepted and addressed with corrective action under the ASAP.
(2) Timeliness. In past iterations of ASAP policy, emphasis was placed on meeting strict time period requirements as a condition for acceptance of reports. While timeliness considerations are generally still a relevant factor in determining whether to accept a report, the responsibility of the ERC now is to review all information available and determinewhether acceptance of the report is in the best interest of safety. Timeliness considerations, however, do not apply to sole-source reports.
11. EMPLOYEE FEEDBACK. The ASAP manager, in coordination with the ERC, publishes pertinent event recaps, data, and trend information derived from filed and processed reports, and ASAP analysis in accordance with United’s defined procedures. Any employee who submitted a report may also contact the ASAP manager to inquire about the status of his or her report. In addition, each employee who submits a report accepted under the ASAP receives individual feedback on the final disposition of the report.
12. INFORMATION AND TRAINING. Each United participating employee and manager receives written guidance outlining the details of the program at least 2 weeks before the program begins. Each participating employee group also receives additional instruction concerning the program during the next regularly scheduled recurrent training session, and on a continuing basis in recurrent training thereafter. All new-hire employees receive training on the program during initial training.
13. RECORDKEEPING. All documents and records regarding this program are kept by the United ASAP manager and made available to the other parties of this agreement at their request. The parties should maintain those records necessary for a programs administration and evaluation and as required by law. Records submitted to the FAA for review relating to an ASAP are protected to the extent allowed by law.
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14. DEVELOP A POLICY AND PROCEDURES MANUAL. The ERC is encouraged to develop and maintain a manual outlining ASAP processes and procedures for reviewing and analyzing reports. Information for developing this manual can be located on the FAA Flight Standards ASAP website at http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/asap under Lessons Learned for ERCs Policy and Procedures.
15. SIGNATORIES. All parties to this ASAP are entering into this agreement voluntarily.
Bryan Quigley Date
Senior Vice President
Flight Operations, United Airlines
Todd Insler Date
UAL MEC Chairman
Air Line Pilots Association
Hans C. Larsen Date
Manager
FAA CHDO for United Airlines **********************************************************************
Above named operator voluntarily withdrawn from the ASAP program by
Name:
Title:
Signature:
Effective Date:
Aviation Safety 800 Independence Avenue Washington, Dc 20591
March 11, 2021
Ms. Sasha Johnson
Vice President, Corporate Safety
United Airlines Inc.
233 South Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606 sasha.johnson@united.com Dear Ms. Johnson:
This letter addresses the connection between the United Airlines (United) Flight Safety Action Program (FSAP) and its Flight Safety Investigation (FSI) program, and the applicability of Advisory Circular 120-66C and the United FSAP Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to both programs.
Events reported by United Pilots under the United FSAP may, under certain circumstances, be subject to a United FSI. The FSI, which involves a specialized investigation of reported events, is considered to be an integral part of United’s safety reporting system and culture. As part of an FSI, representatives from United and the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) (who are not members of the FSAP Event Review Committee (ERC)) interview a Pilot about an event he or she reported under the FSAP during a flightcrew debrief. While the FSAP ERC does not participate in flightcrew debriefs, it provides input to the United and ALPA FSI representatives regarding the type and scope of questions the ERC believes should be presented to the Pilot during the debrief. Additionally, the FSI representatives obtain and analyze additional data associated with a reported event, and the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) representatives participate in the analysis. FSI representatives provide their findings to the FSAP ERC. After the FSAP ERC reviews the findings, it participates in discussions about an event with FSI representatives at the FSI Incident Review Conference (IRC). Following the IRC, the FSI representatives recommend corrective action for the reported event to the FSAP ERC. The FSAP ERC approves or modifies the recommendation for corrective action.
In view of this connection and information flow between the United FSAP and FSI program, the FAA considers the flightcrew debrief and other data obtained during the FSI to be an extension of a Pilot’s FSAP report and of the FSAP ERC investigation. As such, the FSAP protections (see, e.g., FAA Advisory Circular (AC) 120-66C, paragraphs 16 and 20) and exclusions (see, e.g., AC 120-66C, paragraph 18) https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/advisory_circulars/index.cfm/go/document.informatio n/documentID/1037363 that flow from the FSAP MOU to FSAP reports and to information
obtained by an FSAP ERC investigation apply to the same extent to the flightcrew debrief and other information obtained during the FSI. Additionally, other data received during the FSI and provided to the FSAP ERC is subject to the protections provided by regulation or policy for that
type of information, e.g., Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations section 13.401 applies to Flight Operational Quality Assurance information.
The FAA acknowledges that Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) and air carrier investigations of reported events have evolved, and that air carriers have developed processes or programs, beyond the routine ERC review, that provide for in-depth extensive analysis of certain incidents or significant events reported under an ASAP program. The FAA regards those in- depth analysis processes and programs, such as FSI, as natural extensions of ASAP, and therefore covered under the policy in AC 120-66, as amended, and that carrier’s ASAP MOU.
I trust this addresses any concerns relating to the Flight Standards Service’s view of the interrelationship between the United FSAP and its FSI program.
Sincerely,
Rick Domingo
Executive Director, Flight Standards Service