Aviation Safety Action Programs (ASAP)at United

5 November, 2019

Eric Nystrom, Sr. Manager, Safety Reporting Programseric.nystrom@united.com

Confidential

Aviation Safety Action Programs at UnitedAgenda

• What are Aviation Safety Action Programs?

• ASAP at United

• Governing documents and policy

• ASAP process

• Data visualization and analytics

Confidential

What are Aviation Safety Action Programs?FAA Advisory Circular 120-66

“The objective of an ASAP is to encourage employees of certificate holders or other operators to voluntarily report safety information that may be critical to identifying potential precursors to accidents.”

“Under an ASAP, safety issues are resolved through corrective action rather than through punishment or discipline.”

“ASAP participants use ASAP safety data, much of which would otherwise be unobtainable, to develop corrective actions for identified safety concerns, and to educate the appropriate parties to prevent a recurrence of the same type of safety event.”

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Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP)

1 Since tracking began in 2016

PredictiveReports5,000 Positive Changes 1Safety Data

Corrective ActionDiscipline

All United Employees can Report

PartnershipCompany + Unions + FAA

EventReports

Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP)

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ASAP at United

Corporate Safety

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Organization structure

Tech Ops Customer Service Cargo United

Express Flight Ops Ground & Network Ops

EVP & COO

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ASAP

United’s safety management system structure

ConfidentialASAP (one of many inputs)

United’s safety management system structure

Governing documents and policy

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FAA ASAP policy and guidancehttp://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/asap/policy/

Advisory Circular 120-66B

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Memorandums of Understanding (MOU)

Signed by United, unions and the FAA

Renewed every 2 years

States the terms of the program

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ASAP Business Manual

Procedures based on our best practices

Created by United, unions and the FAA

Customized for each ASAP program

ASAP process

ERCConsensus on Acceptance isReached? 

Inadvertent& NOT an

Intentional Disregardfor 

Safety

Yes

Lack of Qualification?

No

Report isIncluded

Was thesubmitter actingas employee?

Start or Stop Process Step Decision

Meetstimeliness criteria?

Report is Excluded

NoYes

No YesNo

YesNo

FAA Member will make the  determination 

Acceptan

ceProcess

Lack of Medical 

Qualification?YesYes

ERC Corrective Action?

SuccessfullyCompleted?

ERC initiates or approves a corrective action plan per MOU

No

No Was there a 14‐CFR 

violation?

Yes

No

Criminal act,Substance Abuse, 

Controlled Substanceor 

Falsification?

Close report

No

YesSole Source

ASuccessful

call?

No

Conduct ERC Compliance action call.

Yes

Is reportsufficient to ensure 

compliance?

Yes

All evidence of violation found 

in report?

Non‐Sole Source

No

No

Yes

Dispo

sitio

n Process

FAA referrals p

er M

OU

Yes

No Yes

Report Submitted

ASAP process

ERCConsensus on Acceptance isReached? 

Inadvertent& NOT an

Intentional Disregardfor 

Safety

Yes

Lack of Qualification?

No

Report isIncluded

Was thesubmitter actingas employee?

Start or Stop Process Step Decision

Meetstimeliness criteria?

Report is Excluded

NoYes

No YesNo

YesNo

FAA Member will make the  determination 

Acceptan

ceProcess

Lack of Medical 

Qualification?YesYes

ERC Corrective Action?

SuccessfullyCompleted?

ERC initiates or approves a corrective action plan per MOU

No

No Was there a 14‐CFR 

violation?

Yes

No

Criminal act,Substance Abuse, 

Controlled Substanceor 

Falsification?

Close report

No

YesSole Source

ASuccessful

call?

No

Conduct ERC Compliance action call.

Yes

Is reportsufficient to ensure 

compliance?

Yes

All evidence of violation found 

in report?

Non‐Sole Source

No

No

Yes

Dispo

sitio

n Process

FAA referrals p

er M

OU

Yes

No Yes

Report Submitted

ASAP process

Acceptance

ERCConsensus on Acceptance isReached? 

Inadvertent& NOT an

Intentional Disregardfor 

Safety

Yes

Lack of Qualification?

No

Report isIncluded

Was thesubmitter actingas employee?

Start or Stop Process Step Decision

Meetstimeliness criteria?

Report is Excluded

NoYes

No YesNo

YesNo

FAA Member will make the  determination 

Acceptan

ceProcess

Lack of Medical 

Qualification?YesYes

ERC Corrective Action?

SuccessfullyCompleted?

ERC initiates or approves a corrective action plan per MOU

No

No Was there a 14‐CFR 

violation?

Yes

No

Criminal act,Substance Abuse, 

Controlled Substanceor 

Falsification?

Close report

No

YesSole Source

ASuccessful

call?

No

Conduct ERC Compliance action call.

Yes

Is reportsufficient to ensure 

compliance?

Yes

All evidence of violation found 

in report?

Non‐Sole Source

No

No

Yes

Dispo

sitio

n Process

FAA referrals p

er M

OU

Yes

No Yes

Report Submitted

ASAP process

Disposition

Acceptance

Data visualization and analytics

Data visualization and analytics

Data visualization

Artificial intelligence

Information sharing

Predict hazards

Increases data fidelity

Leveraging proven technologies

Less interpretation

CONFIDENTIAL

Eric Nystrom, Sr. Manager, Safety Reporting Programseric.nystrom@united.com