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Captain reported that aircraft are being operated with known mechanical discrepancies to minimize delays and cancellation by direction of company management.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1683684 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201909 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Commercial Fixed Wing |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Other Non-Flight |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural Maintenance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
Aircraft are being operated with known mechanical discrepancies. It is not until the aircraft has returned to ZZZ or upon the last block in at ZZZ from multiple inter island flight segments that a mechanical discrepancy will be written up. Aircraft that are down but needed to be operated as spares or flown back to ZZZ because a pilot has the integrity to write up a discrepancy away from ZZZ are being 'pencil whipped' to get the aircraft back to ZZZ. Flight crews are being discouraged from writing up discrepancies when inter island away from ZZZ. Pilots are 'reminded' by key personnel in flight ops management how expensive it costs [company] to cancel or delay a flight and the financial penalties company faces contractually to [airline]. These same personnel in flight ops management will 'counsel' pilots on particular keywords used in a write up that would look bad in an audit. Punitive action is threatened by dispatch and flight ops management if a pilot has legal or safety concerns about a flight. Check out how many times a plane is written up at ZZZ versus written up inter island away from ZZZ. A good majority of the write ups happen at the end of the crews last block in at ZZZ.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Captain reported that aircraft are being operated with known mechanical discrepancies to minimize delays and cancellation by direction of Company Management.
Narrative: Aircraft are being operated with known mechanical discrepancies. It is not until the aircraft has returned to ZZZ or upon the last block in at ZZZ from multiple inter island flight segments that a mechanical discrepancy will be written up. Aircraft that are down but needed to be operated as spares or flown back to ZZZ because a pilot has the integrity to write up a discrepancy away from ZZZ are being 'pencil whipped' to get the aircraft back to ZZZ. Flight crews are being discouraged from writing up discrepancies when inter island away from ZZZ. Pilots are 'reminded' by key personnel in Flight Ops Management how expensive it costs [Company] to cancel or delay a flight and the financial penalties Company faces contractually to [airline]. These same personnel in Flight Ops Management will 'counsel' pilots on particular keywords used in a write up that would look bad in an audit. Punitive action is threatened by Dispatch and Flight Ops Management if a pilot has legal or safety concerns about a flight. Check out how many times a plane is written up at ZZZ versus written up inter island away from ZZZ. A good majority of the write ups happen at the end of the crews last block in at ZZZ.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.