Ground Handling Safety Continued from page 13 aggregating, de-identifying and shar- ing data. NATA is in a good position to facilitate that growth. We think such a program will complement our existing Safety 1st initiatives. The keys to such an initiative are the root causes and root analyses, and the ability to see and address patterns as organizations collect and analyze this kind of data. It’s about recogniz- ing that sharing data around both incidents and solutions protects you more than not telling people about the kinds of problems you’ve had.” ASAP is currently used by on- demand charter operators, fractional program managers, and Part 91 flight departments, and isn’t neces- sarily a perfect as-is solution for ground operators, but France and NATA Safety Committee Chair Bob Schick say they believe it’s a good starting point for a conversation in which they aim to engage NATA members over the next few months. “When we talk about safety, we’re not just talking about pre- venting injuries—NATA has done a tremendous job on that front, through Safety 1st and other initia- tives—but also preventing damage,” says Schick, Director of Safety & Risk Management at TAC Air. “Industry- wide, towing is the biggest exposure you have, so let’s start there: any time you connect or disconnect with an aircraft you risk damaging it, and moving it in and out of a han- gar is probably your biggest hitter. Ground damage is a big number in this industry—I’d guess among NATA members it’s in the tens of millions of dollars annually—and that’s a big driver. The damage to aircraft and the subsequent loss of value issues that creep in after you’ve dinged it, that’s something I think we can put our heads around together. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe there are a lot of huge discoveries or big leaps in improvement to be found in this business, so what we’re talking about here are all the little tweaks that over time will help drop those numbers. It’s about continuous im- provement, not major corrections in most cases, and I think open dialogue and data sharing are going to be the first and most important steps.” Schick, France, and the NATA Safety Committee have been pay- ing close attention to how the Air Charter Safety Foundation and other member groups in the avia- tion industry have managed the transition to this kind of data shar- ing while protecting their members from liability or punitive measures for reporting incidents and talking about the kinds of fixes and correc- tions those incidents have prompted. “I think the initial response a lot of companies will have is that no- body wants to air their dirty laundry, which I can understand, and there’s a fear that by sharing data around these kinds of incidents that data could be used against you,” Schick says. “The fact that these incidents are happening is horrible from a marketing standpoint, for one thing, and the lawyers are the next people who are afraid of it. So the first thing people want to know is, if I put this information out there, how do I make sure my name isn’t on it? Our bosses and stakeholders don’t want any of us to look bad, and the attor- neys don’t want us throwing things out there that could hurt us, but we also have to acknowledge that not working together on the fix is hurt- ing us even more in the long run.” “When we look at the ASAP model, ASAP was meant to help get pilots to self-disclose without fear of FAA administrative action every time they said something,” Schick says. “It’s less serious with the ground operators in some ways, because they’re not cer- tificated operators. But, then again, these people are moving 60 million dollar airplanes around. If you’ve figured out how to do it over at your place without damaging them oc- casionally, I’d sure like to know how you do it, and I think an anonymized data sharing program and some formal ways to talk about the pat- terns we find in that data could help us do it. I have a towing certification program that I know works at our lo- cations to reduce the damage. Maybe it would help you to learn about it, or maybe you’ve come up with something even better that I need Continued on page 16 IT’S ABOUT CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT. Aviation Business Journal | 4th Quarter 2015 15
