Aviation workers muzzled
No whistleblower law to protect them
Dozens want to talk but say they're afraid
Jun. 23, 2006. 05:25 AM
ROBERT CRIBB
STAFF REPORTER
More than three-dozen airline pilots, mechanics, air traffic controllers and Transport Canada employees say they are afraid to speak out about serious safety concerns in Canadian skies — an industry code of silence that has triggered calls for whistleblower protection aimed at aviation workers.
While U.S. airline workers have a federal law upholding their right to speak out without fear of reprisals, their Canadian colleagues say sharing what they know would jeopardize their livelihoods and careers in aviation. With families to support, they cannot take that risk.
Four Air Canada Jazz mechanics were suspended last week when they warned of poor maintenance at the airline that threatens passengers' safety.
The widely publicized disciplinary action triggered a chill across the industry. Many contacted the Star with concerns.
In the past two weeks, an investigation by the Star, the Hamilton Spectator and The Record of Waterloo Region has revealed growing cracks in Canada's aviation industry, with close calls in the sky, growing numbers of mechanical defects and lax oversight of airlines.
Consider this from a Transport Canada inspector:
"Inspectors ... will bring to (our) management's attention a case where a company is not complying with the safety-related regulations and management then tries to find a way to make the issue go away without putting any burden on the company. Management would frankly rather not know about any safety issues. ... I can't go on the record for obvious reasons."
From a Nav Canada air traffic controller:
"This system we have in place is broken ... We are becoming increasingly tired, distracted and overworked ... I don't mind my comments being used but anonymously only. I do not want to take any chances with my employment."
From a pilot with a major Canadian airline:
"They're running the airplanes ragged. We've got airplanes going back and forth, back and forth across the Pacific with snags that need to be fixed and maintenance is chasing them but they have no chance."
Like several of his colleagues, the pilot originally agreed to share his comments on the record. But he changed his mind after four Jazz mechanics were suspended for speaking publicly about being pressured to cut corners and release planes into service with potentially serious defects.
Jazz officials said they will investigate the claims, adding that safety is their first priority.
When the pilot learned of the suspensions he told the Star: "Following the recent suspensions of the four Jazz employees, your next article will be scrutinized by my employer for anyone else who is speaking out of line. I would appreciate it if you did not use my name."
Federal Transportation Minister Lawrence Cannon defended his department yesterday, saying Canada's aviation systems are among the safest in the world and there's no evidence to suggest the allegations of the Jazz mechanics are true.
"From Transport Canada's perspective, Air Canada Jazz is conducting a safe operation."
More than a dozen Jazz mechanics — on the condition of anonymity — said they share the same concerns raised by their suspended colleagues.
"There's truth in what they said. At times, safety is compromised," said a Jazz mechanic who has worked for several airlines in Ontario. "(Pressure) to cut corners is something that all mechanics encounter in the industry. It's a known stigma."
Cannon said proposed amendments to Canada's aeronautics act would allow airline companies and individuals to report on minor regulatory violations on a confidential basis. But such reports would be kept from the public even under federal access to information rules.
"Here we're seeing an attempt to make vital safety information more secretive," says Peter Julian, NDP transportation critic. "There is no way anyone can argue that more secrecy is in the public interest. I think we need whistleblower protection so that when we learn of these allegations, the people who bring it forward are protected so we can get to the bottom of it."
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`I don't think the minister should be downplaying this. I think the minister should be asking for an inquiry in his own department'
David McGuinty, Liberal transportation critic
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Airline workers say they want protection when they report their concerns to employers or federal authorities or go public with the complaints.
Those who manage Canada's aviation system downplay the concerns from pilots, mechanics and controllers.
Transport Canada officials say there are sufficient measures in place to protect aviation workers with concerns to report.
Officials with Nav Canada, the private company that operates the nation's air traffic control system, say that, while there is a problem of understaffing in some facilities, it is spending $40 million a year on recruitment and training and has introduced a "fatigue management program" to ensure "maximum alertness on the job."
Air Canada officials say they welcome any initiatives that will make the aviation system safer and that the company has an internal, non-punitive reporting policy for safety concerns.
On Saturday, retired Alberta justice Virgil Moshansky, who led the country's last major inquiry into aviation safety after the crash of an Air Ontario jet in 1989 that killed 24 people, called for the federal government to launch a new public inquiry in light of what he calls "backsliding" safety standards in the industry.
"When you've got mechanics on the front lines saying you've got a problem and the guy who wrote the definitive report on aviation safety saying it's time for a public inquiry, I'd be very worried," says David McGuinty, Liberal transportation critic. "I don't think the minister should be downplaying this. I think the minister should be asking for an inquiry in his own department."
Many aviation professionals expressed support for the idea of a public inquiry to help reverse what they call a decline in safety standards that is undermining public safety.
"The cost-cutting and general laissez-faire attitude of the authorities and the major airlines (has) left some gaping holes in the public trust," says Capt. Raymond Hall, a 33-year Air Canada pilot. "We're continually being pushed to go further with fewer resources and that inevitably leads to cutting some corners."
Hall is among the few willing to speak on the record. While he has concerns about repercussions, he says public safety is more important.
"I believe that when it comes to flight safety, my professional responsibility to the public that entrusts me with their lives supersedes my fiduciary responsibility to my employer that entrusts me with their assets."
One of Hall's Air Canada pilot colleagues, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear for his "young family", said a "perfect storm" is forming around public safety thanks to an "overburdened, under-funded, somewhat inefficient government regulatory body, a privatized air traffic control system, continuing industry-wide financial crisis (and) demoralized, angry, fatigued, embittered, fearful employees within the transportation system."
On Wednesday, MPs finished debate on the federal whistleblower legislation covering public sector employees. It must still pass through the Senate before being proclaimed law. But the protections offered do not extend to employees of private companies such as airlines.
In the U.S., federal whistleblower legislation covers airline workers who report revelations about serious safety problems to independent federal authorities. The so-called Air 21 legislation directed at the airline industry prohibits employers from retaliating against employees involved in "raising concerns or reporting violations of airline safety rules and regulations."
Airline workers who are suspended, harassed, demoted, blacklisted or disciplined as a result of speaking out can receive everything from job reinstatement to costs associated with filing their complaint.
In 2001, George Gulliford, a former United Airlines mechanic, was reprimanded for reporting aircraft defects to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The U.S. Department of Labor eventually concluded the airline violated federal whistleblower protections. United was ordered to withdraw the mechanic's reprimand and pay his attorney fees.
In another case, Northwest Airlines mechanic Thomas Regner was fired after raising concerns about mechanical issues in 1998. After more than two years of legal wrangling, he won a legal decision that awarded him his job back and over a year's worth of back pay.
"My sympathies go out to those Jazz mechanics," Regner said in an interview yesterday. "It brings back a lot of memories for me. It's sad. These protections need to be in place. You need to be able to say you're not going to look the other way. You need to know you can fight."
Nick Granath, the Minnesota labour lawyer who represented Regner, says the public interest is served when aviation workers with important information are able to come forward.
"These are a class of workers that you want to have protected because they're your front-line defence," he said "There's pressure in the industry to get planes off the ground.
"The mechanic is the one guy who can stop a plane from getting off the ground under questionable circumstances."
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...l=968793972154