Hearing Summary: Aviation Safety: The Role and Responsibility of Commercial Air Carriers and Employees
June 17, 2009
WASHINGTON, D.C. – the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held a subcommittee hearing today on Aviation Safety: the Role and Responsibility of Commercial Air Carriers and Employees.
Witness List:
Mr. Jim May, President and Chief Executive Officer, Air Transport Association of America
Mr. Roger Cohen, President, Regional Airline Association
Captain John Prater, President, Airline Pilots Association, International
Mr. Scott Maurer, Representative of the Families of Continental Flight 3407
Key Quotes:
“Airlines must make commitments to embrace the best practices across the industry if they are going to improve safety in a meaningful manner.”
Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV
“In this country, we continue to have a remarkably safe air system. But we have a responsibility to examine crashes when they occur and ensure that we do all we can to prevent further accidents.”
Senator Byron L. Dorgan, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security
“No accident or incident is acceptable. We seek to learn from each event. Consequently, ATA has formed a Senior Advisory Task Force to address the matters raised during the recent NTSB hearing about the Buffalo accident. The task force is comprised of airline presidents, chief operating officers and their peers. It will ensure that our support of the FAA, airlines, unions and others is responsive, targeted and thorough.”
Mr. Jim May, President and Chief Executive Officer, Air Transport Association of America
“Federal safety statistics clearly show that flying is the safest mode of travel. A person is far more likely to have a fatal accident traveling in a car, train, or bus than traveling by air. According to the National Safety Council, the fatality rate for cars is 7,700 percent higher than for commercial aircraft and the fatality rate for trains and buses is 300 percent higher. This remarkable safety record is the result of decades of dedicated work from aviation safety professionals, both in the government and in the industry.”
Mr. Roger Cohen, President, Regional Airline Association
“The current U.S. flight and duty time rules are a patchwork of regulations that are intended to address disparate domestic, international flag, and supplemental operations. There have been a number of attempts to revise the regulations over the past 25 years, but those attempts have met with generally abysmal results because of the contentious disagreement by the stakeholders as to which changes were appropriate or needed.”
Captain John Prater, President, Airline Pilots Association, International
“Voluntary safety recommendations made to cash-strapped airlines cannot protect the flying public. It is imperative that the mechanism for translating NTSB safety recommendations into mandated practice be streamlined to eliminate what is often years of delay between recognition of a safety concern and action to correct it.”
Mr. Scott Maurer, Representative of the Families of Continental Flight 3407
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