An initiative to collect data on ground-handling incidents has been launched by the US National Air Transportation Association Airline Services Council (NATA ASC). The initiative is aimed at improving ground safety and cutting insurance claims and costs for airline service providers.
NATA has teamed with consultant SH&E to create a programme enabling the confidential reporting of safety incidents. The agreement requires SH&E to protect the integrity of data supplied to NATA ASC by participants in the programme. SH&E will analyse the data and provide historical and trend information to participants, while ensuring the source of the information is not disclosed.
“This initiative will allow us to get our arms around where the safety issues lie, and to develop corrective actions,” says Stan Mackiewicz, NATA government and industry affairs representative. “It will provide companies with an assessment of how they perform versus their competitors, and help to develop best practices.”
Participants, which need not be NATA members and could range from ground handlers to air carriers, will submit monthly reports on ground incidents in a standard format. “It will allow us to get a mark on the number of departures,” says Mackiewicz, enabling rates for specific incident types to be developed and tracked.
GRAHAM WARWICK/WASHINGTON DC
Source: Flight International
