The Work of the Safety Council

Commercial aviation helps drive more than 10M American jobs and 5 cents of every dollar of U.S. GDP
Commercial aviation drives more than $1 trillion per year in economic activity
In 2012, U.S. airlines moved more than 48,000 tons of cargo per day
In 2012, the value of a kilogram of U.S. merchandise exported by air averaged 121 times the value exported by sea
For every 100 airline jobs, some 360 are supported outside of the airline industry
Federal taxes constitute $61 – or 20% – of the price of a typical $300 domestic round-trip ticket
In 2011, U.S. airlines carried 16 percent more passengers and cargo using 10 percent less fuel than in 2000
Domestically, airlines drive 5% of economic activity but account for 2% of man-made GHG emissions
From 2000-2011, airlines reduced GHG emissions by 11% while transporting 16% more passengers and cargo
From 1975-2011, U.S. airlines and their partners reduced significant noise exposure by 99%
Commercial air travel is the safest form of intercity transportation in the United States
In the most recent decade, scheduled air service on U.S. airlines was seven times safer than in the 1970s
From 2000-2012, U.S. airlines improved the on-time arrival rate from 72.6% to 81.9%
From 2000-2012, U.S. airlines reduced the flight cancellation rate sharply from 3.30% to 1.29%
Airfares are a bargain: From 2000-2012, U.S. CPI rose 33% while average domestic fare rose just 13%
Adjusted for inflation, the average round-trip domestic airfare fell 15% from 2000
2007 domestic flight delays cost the United States approximately $31 billion
In 2012, the value of U.S. merchandise exported by air reached an all-time high of $427B
In 2012, U.S. exports of air-travel services reached an all-time high of $39.5B, driving a $5.1B trade surplus
In 2012, U.S. passenger and cargo airlines spent more than $50B on fuel, averaging 36% of operating expenses
In 2012, U.S. airlines posted the lowest annual rate of mishandled baggage ever recorded
FAA projects U.S. air travel demand to top 1 billion passengers in 2027
In 2012, US airlines flew 83.4 million passengers in scheduled international service - a record high
In 2012, the total value of merchandise exported from or imported to the United States by air exceeded $927 billion
In 2012, 7.15 teragrams of merchandise was exported from or imported to the United States by air

	The Work of the Safety Council
	PubZone1 The Airlines for America (A4A) Safety Council comprises senior safety leaders from 11 of the nation’s largest airlines.1 A4A Safety Council initiatives provide industry leadership to the Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST), a unique consortium of government aviation safety-related agencies, airline safety experts, aviation employee associations, aviation manufacturers and academic institutions committed to implementing voluntary safety enhancements to prevent fatal airline accidents. Over its 15-year history, CAST has developed risk-reduction tools aimed at avoiding in-flight/ground loss of control, controlled flight into terrain, approach and landing accidents, mid-air collisions, fire/explosion, runway collisions, uncontained engine failures and crew incapacitation. New work involves developing methodologies for early identification of adverse trends (possible accident precursors) in areas such as airplane altitude and energy state awareness, wrong runway departures, runway incursions, runway excursions, etc. The Safety Council’s primary work groups, the Flight Safety Committee, Ground Safety Committee, Maintenance and Ramp Human Factors Joint Task Force, and Hazardous Materials Working Group meet frequently to compile and review incident data, exchange the most effective safety practices, and formulate risk-based safety strategies. The best means to obtain actionable information on system safety performance is through direct observation by employees who subsequently voluntarily report what they see and do so without fear of harassment, intimidation or unjust punishment. Aviation Safety Action Programs (ASAPs) are a partnership between the regulator, the company and the employee. These programs encourage a “just reporting culture.” Approximately 93 percent of the hundreds of thousands of A4A member employee ASAP reports submitted each year reveal information that would otherwise have been unknown and undiscoverable and thus almost impossible to fix before an unwanted incident occurs. A robust and confidential safety reporting culture is one of the most fundamental underpinnings of a Safety Management System (SMS). Safety Management Systems are being adopted by all A4A airlines as the U.S. moves to embrace standards created by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a United Nations agency. Just as individuals benefit from ASAP, companies are encouraged to aggressively seek out systemic issues and submit them to the FAA regulator along with a comprehensive solution to prevent reoccurrence. This procedure is called the Voluntary Disclosure Reporting Program (VDRP). Many carriers also manage Flight Operational Quality Assurance (FOQA) programs to collect hundreds of digital parameters (speed, altitude, attitude, rate of climb/descent, engine performance, etc.), often at a rate of eight times per second or greater during every flight, in order to detect and assess the risk of off-normal operations. Finally, pilot behaviors are trained and assessed in an Advanced Qualification Program (AQP) and Line-Oriented Safety Audit (LOSA) to heighten awareness and train pilots in “threat and error” management. Pilots learn to trap errors before they lead to an undesired aircraft state. In summary, voluntary reporting and comprehensive risk analysis, enhanced by innovative technologies, lead to optimal safety strategies and continuous improvements. The key is getting ahead of a potential hazard through early identification, mitigation and follow-up to ensure effectiveness. [1] Airlines for America is the premier trade group of the principal U.S. airlines. A4A airline members and their affiliates transport more than 90 percent of U.S. airline passenger and cargo traffic. PubZone2	Safety is the number one priority for our airlines.