Clarifying “Professional Standards”

Thursday, August 6, 2009 - Recent high-profile accidents put professional standards, among other issues, in the spotlight. During the Professional Standards 101 session during the Pilot Assistance Forum, pilots and industry representatives held a frank discussion on exactly what falls underneath ALPA’s Professional Standards Committee’s (ProStan) purview.

“There is a lot of discussion these days about professionalism. Then, there is the ALPA Professional Standards Committee. These are two related and overlapping things,” said ALPA’s Professional Standards Committee Chairman, Capt. John Rosenberg (DAL). “When issues arise, nine times out of 10, a professional standards representative will hear it first. But we’re trained to listen to the pilots’ issues and refer them to other ALPA resources as necessary; we’re just volunteers, pilots helping other pilots resolve whatever their issues might be.”

Diving into the session, Capt. Bob Lynch (UAL, ret.) provided a 30,000 feet view of the Professional Standards Committee, its representatives’ roles and the importance of the reps knowing their boundaries. “ProStan primarily deals with problems between crewmembers that, if left unaddressed, could compromise flight safety,” Lynch said.

He explained that typical problems that pop up in ProStan deal with CRM, crew communications/coordination issues, personality conflicts, non-Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) operations, style of flying, and distracting personal habits. He stressed that ProStan does not deal with grievances, FAA violations, substance abuse problems, medical problems, legal issues, and pilot proficiency problems.

“You need a tuned ear to listen to see if they’re ProStan problems, or if the pilot should be referred to another ALPA committee,” Lynch told ProStan representatives in the audience. “If you find one of these problems, refer them to the ALPA committee that specializes in that specific issue: Aeromedical, HIMS, training committee, CIRP, etc.”

He said that the goal of the program is to get the parties talking again, and encourage the pilots involved in the situations to realize their contribution to the problem, and their responsibility for it. ALPA trains ProStan representatives to give ideas for solving the altercation, facilitating the resolution and mediating an agreement to get the issue solved.

“We don’t want these little things developing into something much more serious,” Lynch added. Capt. Rosenberg then provided some tips on the mediation process—how to get started, how to deal with conflicts, and how to advocate professionalism by setting the tone and referring to ALPA’s Code of Ethics.

FAA representatives participated in the Q&A, explaining how the NTSB wants the agency to facilitate a discussion on professionalism and training, particularly professional standards programs. They sought clarification on how ProStan representatives dealt with safety issues that arise, given that the public is putting more pressure on pilots to act professionally.

“If I’m a captain and my first officer isn’t SOP, and I take it to a ProStan member, who’s defining that immediate threat to safety?” inquired Mike Wilson, of the FAA’s Air Carrier Training. “Pilots are responsible for keeping each other in check, but I think that’s a fine line.”

Lynch responded, saying “ProStan does take proficiency standards issues first, but when we hear those problems, we need to recognize them as training issues and refer them to the appropriate ALPA committee, so that they can get additional training to address the issue at hand. We can contact our chain of command—depending on the airline, the MEC/LEC Pilot Assistance Chairman or even an MEC/LEC Chairman—and we can say this pilot needs to be referred for more training.”

“Public entities, and others, are reaching out for this professionalism hook, and the Call to Action is one of several things that we’re responding to,” Wilson continued, saying he and his colleague are working on a professionalism training guide. “In my view, your workload will increase. Like Administrator Babbitt said yesterday, we can’t regulate professionalism. We can regulate operations and lots of other things, but professionalism isn’t one of them.”

“I’m very aware of the Call to Action, and it’s a big, big deal,” Rosenberg concluded. “The ProStan committee has limitations in how far we can go in directing authority. We don’t know there’s a problem until the telephone rings, and it has to be that way. We are a service to our pilots. We’re at their disposal, should they choose to seek us out. But they don’t have to. It’s an expected standard of behavior, and that’s appropriate as a professional.”