Plane Conversations

Andy Paztor of the Wall Street Journal in an April 22 Article writes:

“Reducing pilot fatigue is a top priority for U.S. airline regulators. But new rules are being delayed by disagreements within the Obama administration over whether the anticipated safety improvements would justify the cost to airlines.

When U.S. Federal Aviation Administration chief Randy Babbitt last summer launched a drive to update decades-old rules covering how many hours a day U.S. airline pilots can fly or remain on duty, the agency hoped to release draft regulations by early 2010.

That date later slipped by several months, but Mr. Babbitt and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood continued to say that keeping sleepy pilots away from the controls was essential. With Congress also prodding the FAA to move quickly, they talked about expedited White House review of regulatory changes.

Now, according to industry and government officials, the proposed changes are snagged by a dispute between the FAA and the White House Office of Management and Budget.

Budget officials have informally told the FAA that the proposal’s projected cost to airlines wasn’t justified by the anticipated safety benefits, according to people familiar with the details. As a result, there could be further delays in agreeing on a package.

The FAA’s proposals could cost carriers billions of extra dollars through the next decade. But if the agency scales back the proposal to reduce likely costs, FAA and outside experts fear it would undercut basic safety goals. If that happens, some pilots’ unions have threatened to oppose the entire package.”

I find it interesting that the administration is suddenly concerned about the cost of the new duty rules and the White House OMB is now in the decision tree for rules that affect the safety of flight for airlines.

What expertise does the OMB have in areas of safety?  

The committee formed by the FAA to come up with a new rule set was comprised of FAA, labor union representatives and industry representatives including experts in the areas of safety and fatigue. It would seem that this group would have a better grasp of the issues at hand than the OMB would.

I guess the concern is that this will cost the airlines billions. But what we all know is that the cost will be passed on to the traveling public, anyway.  We need to be prepared to pay more money to fly if we want to keep it safe. The public needs to get used to the idea that maybe it is worth a few more dollars per ticket to have a safe crew up front guiding the aircraft they are riding on.   

The current rules for crew duty time have been in place since the 1940s when aircraft could not fly the distances they fly today. The airlines of the 40s were not the same airlines we fly on today.  One would hope that we have learned a few things about safety, not just with aircraft design, but also with the human factors involved in flight.

Originally the FAA was prepared to issue a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) this month; but, now, that has been pushed out to this Fall. I wonder how long this will drag out as the wheels of bureaucracy grind?  

Is Safety on Hold?  

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• The United States has the safest air transportation system in the world. Flying in aircraft, whether large airliners or small private propeller aircraft, gets safer each year. The overwhelming majority of us in this business work increase levels of safety every day not only becuase it’s good for business, but also because we genuinely care about safety
• Throughout the years of working with the FAA I have had the privilege of working with many dedicated and caring people who take their jobs seriously and want to make the industry safer.

Now that we have the positives out there let’s talk about the problems.

As in any federal government agency, there is a level of bureaucracy in the FAA that creates inefficiency. Inefficiency in an organization happens when people are put into positions of leadership for any reason other than their ability to effectively lead. In business, eventually the economic pressure of the market weeds out the inefficiency, one way or another. In government, the inefficiency is often rewarded and propagated. Now go to the top of the organization where the leader is appointed by the politician who knows nothing about the organization. And the politicians are criticizing the corporate board structure and its lack of oversight in business?  Mix it all up with a little congressional (politicized) oversight from more people who don’t really understand the issues and you get a dysfunctional organization.

In business, dysfunctional organizations fail, even when they have really good people trying hard to ensure success. They fail not because of the good, caring and competent people showing up every day working hard; they fail because of incompetent leadership.

On the other hand, dysfunctional government organizations don’t fail. They just keep going (and going and going). And maybe at some point the organization gets lucky and a leader is inserted who makes incremental change for the good of the organization.

Our beloved FAA is no different than any other federal regulatory agency. Many good people showing up every day trying to do the right things and a few bad people who don’t do the right things.

In spite of this dysfunctional regulatory system, our industry gets safer every year. Why? Because of those good people in the agency who do care,  and the aviation professionals on our side who really care about the lives of those who trust us and get in back of our airplanes every day.

There is no simple solution that will come out of a congressional hearing (i.e. political rhetoric) on this. The solution is in the constant and constructive conversations between the industry and those entrusted with oversight.

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