The aviation community for years has been working hard to continuously improve runway safety. ATA represents its member airlines at the Runway Safety Council, a joint effort between the FAA and the aviation industry. Formed in October 2008, the Runway Safety Council looks into the root causes of runway incursions.
On October 8, 2009, FAA announced that serious runway incursions (categories A and B) were down 50 percent for fiscal year 2009, compared to the previous year. Of 12 serious runway incursions in FY2009, only two involved commercial carriers. This is nearly an 80 percent reduction over FY2008. Neither of the two events was classified as pilot error. On the contrary, in one of the two FY2009 events, a hazardous situation was averted because of the commercial pilot’s decisive response.
Since the FAA runway safety “Call to Action” in August 2007, the aviation community has cooperated to promote runway safety and reduce runway incursions. ATA members have committed to increase awareness, improve training and establish common taxi practices, which soon will be adopted as a Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST) voluntary safety enhancement. The industry continues to aggressively support FAA efforts to eliminate runway incursions through venues such as the Runway Safety Council.