American Air and attendants begin safety program

FORT WORTH, Texas - American Airlines and its flight attendants' union said Friday they agreed to start a program in which workers can report safety concerns without fear of retaliation.

A similar program involving American's pilots died last year when the pilots' union and the company couldn't settle differences over job protections, an impasse that drew criticism from the nation's top aviation official.

Fort Worth-based American, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants and the Federal Aviation Administration said they had agreed to begin an Aviation Safety Action Program, or ASAP.

They said participation in reporting potential safety issues would be voluntary and confidential.

ASAPs with pilots at American, Delta and other carriers have lapsed in recent years. Leaders of the pilots' union at American accused the company of abusing the program by disciplining captains for inadvertent safety lapses.

The former acting FAA chief, Robert A. Sturgell, said in November that the voluntary disclosure programs were critical for improving safety. He blasted the unions and airline management and urged both sides to "separate safety from the labor issues and put these programs back in place."

American is a unit of AMR Corp. AMR shares rose 42 cents, or 3.8 percent, to close at $11.40.

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