Speech

Press Briefing

Good afternoon. I promised to keep you updated on where things stand as we undertook our audit of our airline oversight and maintenance program.

The special audit that began on March 13 showed us that the system we have in place is effective. All told, we performed almost 2,400 audits of our airworthiness directives and found a rate of compliance of about 99 percent.

What this means is that the fact that we are currently experiencing the safest period in aviation history is no accident or miracle. It is the result of an entire industry making safety their driving focus.

Though our initial audit results are impressive — results you’ll hear more about later — we have learned a great deal from this experience and have found ways we think can increase the accountability of all parties, the FAA included, and strengthen both the reporting role and the regulatory process.

Today I am announcing five initiatives that address issues of responsibility, accountability, communication and ethics. Continuous improvement is what makes the system safe already, and it’s what will make it safer still.

First, we’re going to develop and implement a Safety Issues Reporting System, SIRS, by the end of this month. SIRS is on a fast track because we want to provide employees an additional mechanism to raise safety concerns. If employees feel that concerns they raise are not receiving appropriate attention from supervisors or managers, SIRS provides a totally new avenue for the employee to raise attention and get results. This is in addition to existing channels, including the Administrator’s Hotline and the Safety Hotline, which exist today and provide employees a method to raise concerns anonymously.

Second, we’re initiating a rulemaking to address ethics policies. We’re paying particular attention to post-employment restrictions, a cooling off period that makes sure there’s an appropriate distance from previous employers. We currently have a two-year cooling off period to prohibit inspectors from overseeing their previous employer. We are now pursuing changes that will apply that same two-year cooling off period to an inspector who is hired by an airline.

Third, we’re working with manufacturers and air carriers to develop a system to improve the clarity of the rules themselves. We want to ensure effective implementation by the industry. We will eliminate ambiguity using plain, clear language and ensure better overall coordination.

Fourth, we’re amending the voluntary disclosure reporting program. We’re making sure that there is awareness and sensitivity at the highest levels at each airline. We will be requiring that reports must be submitted by senior officials, specifically, directors of safety, operations or maintenance.

Finally, we’re accelerating the expansion of our Aviation Safety Information and Analysis Sharing program. Now that we have all 117 carriers participating in our ATOS program, we’re blending this oversight data with other data sources. This will give us a better look at nationwide trends — something that gives us an even greater perspective on the health and safety of the system.

You’re about to hear more of the specifics on the audit from Nick Sabatini, but I’d like to underscore that the results clearly validate our approach to the risk based management analysis. These initiatives I’ve just detailed provide better tracking mechanisms and avenues for communication that will be vital additions to the data driven system.

The bottom line, despite what a small few may imply, is that our system works, and that flying is safer today than at any time in the past. And that is because we have more access to more safety data than at any previous point in the history of commercial air service.

We had a breakdown in the system with Southwest airlines. It was a two-way breakdown. There is no excuse. We have taken appropriate personnel action in-house. We continue to review the action of the region in their response, and we’ve taken action against the airline. The most important outcome is that we learned from the experience and strengthened our system to reduce the likelihood of a reoccurrence.

And for those who question our commitment to safety, I would suggest that there’s at least one airline today with 10.2 million reasons why those critics are simply wrong. And the recent actions by Delta and American show that all U.S. airlines understand that the safety of the system is paramount.

One more thought:  Partnership programs and voluntary disclosure are an important piece of our safety oversight efforts. We need a cooperative and meaningful dialogue with the airlines about critical safety initiatives to identify safety issues. If we don’t, the public loses. Silence puts the public at risk. Without these programs, we will drive safety issues underground and that is a result we cannot afford.

In closing, I must emphasize that this chapter is by no means closed. We will take further actions as we learn more. I want to be absolutely clear on that point.