The Airline Process

Malaysia Airlines Experiences

Captain Missman Leham Flight Safety and Human Factors, Malaysia Airlines
3rd ICAO-IATA LOSA & TEM Conference 13-14 September 2005 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Objectives

 To briefly describe some of the processes involved in the implementation of a LOSA programme  To share what we have learned from our own experiences.

LOSA Milestones
 Working Team Selling/Planning/Preparations  Selection, Training and Recalibration of LOSA Observers  Data Gathering and Transmission  Data Processing (TLC)  Report - Presentation of findings  Communicating the findings  The next step - SCP.

Malaysia Airlines Fleet Composition

Boeing 747-400 Boeing 777-200 Airbus 330-300 Airbus 330-200 Boeing 737-400 Fokker 50 Twin Otter Total 17 + 2 17 11 3 39 10 5 104

Our Observations

 Observation took place May-July 2004  309 observation flights carried out  285 crew sets observed  Operations into 52 Airports observed

Observation Demographics
Fleet Observation Targets Observations (actual)

A330 B737 B747 200F B747 400 B777 F50 TOTALS DHC6
(Case Study Only)

50 - 15% 100 29% 20 5% 40 15% 45 14% 75 22% 330 100%

50 - 16% 95 32% 20 - 6% 29 9% 41 13% 74 24% 309 100%

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A Few Good Men

 Appoint a dedicated LOSA Manager  Form Steering Committee & Working Group  Important to get the right mix  The Young and The Grayed  From as many different fleets as possible  Individuals committed to the concepts of CRM and Threat and Error Management  A good collection of individual and group skills.

Planting Seeds
 Preparation began 2 years before LOSA  Carefully selected snippets of Information
 LOSA articles from Industry Journals, UT website, Conferences Proceeding Handouts, etc.  Introduction of LOSA concepts into CRM courses and the annual Safety Awareness Programmes  The introduction of Threat and Error Management concepts into Fleet Training.

The Budget

 In can be difficult to be accurate  In Malaysia Airlines, we decided to ticket all

observers, after the budget was approved.

 Unexpected advantages presented themselves.  Prudent management allows budget fulfillment.

Selling LOSA to the Board

    

Division Senior Management must be convinced Together with LOSA Manager, the concept must be communicated to the rest of the board members A Budget must be approved Dont forget the bean-counters. A Management Paper should be submitted Board must not only approve the exercise, they must endorse the concept.

The Importance of the Pilots Union

   

It is imperative that the Pilots Union become a significant stake holder in this project Improving Safety equals better welfare for the Unions members LOSA is in the best interest of the Pilots The Union should ideally dedicate full time officers to the project.

Planting more Seeds

Communications Officer should start a carefully planned barrage of more detailed information about the LOSA concept / project

 Set up a LOSA Information Website  Disseminate soft and hard copies of LOSA
stories from other airlines

 Compose an FAQ to be placed on the website

and slowly disseminate hard and soft copies of the same.

Early Days
 Steering Committee plans regular meetings  Regular reference to The LOSA Implementation Checklist, TLC, and other LOSA airlines  Tasks farmed out to individuals  The importance of proper documentation, monitoring tasks assignments, action plans; Project Management Software can help  Set up a LOSA command centre with dedicated e-mail box, fax and telephone facilities.

The LOSA Year

    

More Frequent LOSA Working Group Meetings Less Frequent Steering Committee Meetings Final Arrangements The LOSA Survival Guide Finalise Observer Training Venues Finalise Procedures and communicate them to relevant personnel  Divisional Briefing Other divisions should understand what we are doing; they can help  Selection of LOSA Observers.

Divisional Briefing
 Security Department to arrange additional clearances and Identification.  Catering

Additional Meals for Observers.

 Cabin Crew To recognize an observer and assist him to the cockpit.  Technical Support

Head sets and Jump-seat

 Accounting To pay LOSA observer s fees and allowances.  Oversea stations HOTAC, Transportation, etc.

Selecting your Observers

 Remember, these are the Authors of your LOSA  Must be computer and Internet savvy  Must have good understanding of CRM  Must have good writing skills  Personal Notebook Computer ownership would be most advantageous  A strong mix of backgrounds, age groups and experience levels.

Problems
 We have never done this before  People can be very suspicious of anything new  People will be reluctant to do things differently Divisional Briefing Helps  New procedures should be clear and well documented  Decide early if the Flight Safety Department requires more full time staff dedicated to LOSA.

The LOSA
 Observation schedules should be drawn up and handed to fleet schedulers.  LOSA duties should appear on the observers individual roster to prevent FTL breaches.  Training Week includes 2 days of Training Observations and ends with a day of Observer Calibration  Observations begin immediately after training is concluded.

The LOSA
 Observers dispatch completed reports directly to The LOSA Collaborative (TLC)  TLC should periodically report number of reports received, in case there is a need to schedule additional observations  Be prepared for computer problems such as hard drive crashes and lost reports - Backups  Ensure Observers send in their reports as soon as they are completed Reports can be edited after submission and resubmitted to TLC.

Beware ! - The Rogue Observer

 Writing LOSA reports is not an easy process. Some observers may have difficulty completing their reports  Poorly written or weak reports will be discarded and of no value to the analysis  Contingencies should be factored into the planning to ensure sufficient acceptable reports are submitted.

Closing LOSA Observations

 When TLC confirms sufficient reports have been submitted
 It may be necessary to plan additional observations during the last week of the LOSA programme to make up the minimum numbers required

 Once TLC says yes

 Support staff can begin processing observers claims  LOSA Manager can go to the beach  Everyday, for 2 months

The LOSA Report

Straight to the BoSS Board warned of consequences Red-faced Need to be dealt with carefully shooting duck Joint presentation with TLC Divisional commitment for change

     

Summary

      

Planting seeds Selling LOSA to the BoSS & Bean counters Union participation & stake holders Observers: The Authors of your LOSA Handle findings with care Communicate the results Do not get over-enthusiastic for SCP ..*

The End.
Thank You