In a highly unusual move to allay concerns in the cockpit, American Eagle Airlines said Wednesday that its Midwest pilots who no longer want to fly the model of plane that crashed in an Indiana field last month will be permitted to transfer to other turboprops in the company’s fleet.
The surprise action came after three pilots refused to fly ATR-72 turboprops over the last few weeks and about a dozen others raised questions about taking off in the blustery, rainy weather that engulfed O’Hare International Airport on Sunday.
The new policy pertains only to pilots for Simmons Airlines, one of four carriers that operate American Eagle planes. Simmons serves the upper Midwest, where icing conditions are common this time of year.
Although the company insists that the plane is safe, “any crew member who does not wish to fly the ATR aircraft will not be disciplined,” said Peter Piper, Simmons president. “The crew member will be relieved from duty, with pay, until he or she can be requalified . . . and reassigned to another type of aircraft.”
The offer also applies to pilots of a smaller version of the French-built plane, the ATR-42.
“We know there are some pilots who have concerns,” said Marty Heires, an American Eagle spokesman. “We want to address those concerns.”
But “we don’t expect many people to opt for this. We don’t think there is a widespread concern among pilots about the aircraft.”
Most pilots who choose to switch probably will be transferred to Saab 340s, which would require them to move to Simmons’ Dallas-Ft. Worth hub from O’Hare, where ATRs are the company’s mainstay.
The transfer offer also has been extended to flight attendants.
The Association of Flight Attendants, a union that represents 480 Simmons American Eagle attendants, announced it had asked the airline to ground all ATRs when there are icing conditions until a special certification review of the plane is completed.
American Eagle Flight 4184, a Simmons plane, was in a holding pattern in cold, rainy weather for 32 minutes Oct. 31 before suddenly losing control and plunging to the ground. All 68 aboard were killed.
Icing, in concert with possible autopilot problems, is a prime suspect as federal safety experts continue their investigation into the cause of the crash. Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration has ordered special safety precautions when ATRs fly in icing conditions pending completion of the investigation.
Two of the three Simmons American Eagle pilots who flatly refused to take off in ATRs because of weather concerns over the last few weeks were ordered by the company to undergo psychological evaluation.
Simmons attributed their refusal to fly to stress stemming from the Indiana crash and said the evaluations and possible counseling were not disciplinary in nature. But other pilots fearful of flying ATRs in bad weather took a different view.
“It’s a form of harassment,” one said. “You don’t want to go in for counseling because it is going to wind up on your record, and chances for advancing your career at that point are pretty slim.
“In one ear, they’re telling you, `Be safe; don’t make a bad judgment.’ In the other, they’re whispering, `We’re losing money; you’d better go.’ “
Simmons officials said counseling does not appear on an employee’s record, and they asserted the airline does not fly in unsafe conditions.
No discipline was imposed on the pilots who demanded more extensive weather information Sunday at O’Hare before they would take off, and Simmons officials insisted the airline made the subsequent decision to cancel flights.
Pilots call the shots when it comes to the operation of their planes, but the same federal regulations that give the pilots the power to decide whether it’s safe to fly provide no protection if their decisions put them at odds with their bosses.
What would seem to be a sword hanging over the pilots’ heads seldom becomes a problem, in part because of very specific FAA standards that help spell out when it’s safe to fly, experts said.
But the apparent labor-management rift that has developed at Simmons over the ATR in icing has raised questions about the adequacy of the FAA regulations.
Noting pilot concerns about the ATR, the FAA said in a statement that it “would not permit continued operation of these aircraft” if it thought the plane was unsafe.
“Nevertheless, in accordance with FAA regulations, the pilot in command is responsible for and is the final authority as to the safety of any flight,” the agency said. “We expect pilots to exercise that responsibility.”
Even so, airline officials are free to evaluate any action by a pilot-including refusal to take off-and administer discipline if they conclude it was inappropriate.
Blanket protection from discipline would be extended to pilots in “an ideal world,” said John Mazur, a spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association, the nation’s largest pilot union. But “the reality is the FAA does not get involved in that kind of issue because it is considered to be a labor-management issue, not a safety-enforcement issue.”
Industry experts said protection from discipline also could be abused if pilots used safety as an excuse for refusing to fly when they really were trying to apply pressure in contract disputes.
“I think the reason the safety record of U.S. flag carriers is so good is because management respects pilots’ decisions 99.9 percent of the time,” said Ted Beneigh, associate professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Institute in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Beneigh said he believes blanket protections are unnecessary.
The concept of the pilot ultimately making decisions has been around since the dawn of aviation, possibly stemming from maritime law that granted ship captains extensive authority, said Walt Coleman, president of the Regional Airline Association, an industry group.
“It is extremely rare when a pilot makes a decision not to go and that decision is challenged,” he said.
But that has been of little comfort to some Simmons American Eagle pilots in recent weeks.
Referring to company managers, one declared: “These guys are sitting 18 inches off the floor. That’s as far as they can fall. We’re out there in it at 10,000 feet.”
