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Allied Pilots Association Releases Statement Concerning Request for Whistleblower Protection by Dispatcher of AA Flight #63
FORT WORTH, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 13, 2002--The Allied Pilots Association, collective bargaining agent for the 11,000 pilots of American Airlines and the 2,300 pilots of TWA LLC (NYSE:AMR - News), released the following statement today:
"We applaud the courageous decision by dispatcher Julie Robichaux to bring to the Federal Aviation Administration's attention a variety of problems with American Airlines' handling of the so-called 'shoebomber' incident aboard AA Flight #63 on December 22, 2001, as well as subsequent flights that she was responsible for that involved security concerns," said Captain Bob Ames, APA Vice President. "Based on Ms. Robichaux's filing with the FAA, it appears that American Airlines management is more concerned with keeping flights on schedule than they are with potentially serious security threats.
"Flight dispatchers serve as our pilots' information lifeline," said Ames. "Among their duties is to issue necessary information for the safety of each flight. According to Ms. Robichaux, her supervisor on December 22 instructed her to 'hold off informing the authorities' about the threat, which is absolutely unconscionable.
"Another bizarre aspect of AA management's handling of this incident is the fact that, after conducting their own independent investigation, they then erased all of the recorded transmissions of Ms. Robichaux's conversations with the pilots, North American Aerospace Defense Command, Federal Bureau of Investigation and others on December 22. APA believe it is extremely important for our pilots and others to apply the lessons learned on December 22 to future threats, and I cannot imagine why management chose to discard the tapes, rather than retaining them for training purposes."
Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, APA was founded in 1963.
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Contact:
Allied Pilots Association
Gregg Overman, 817/302-2250
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Related News Categories: airlines/aviation, government
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