Delta Brings Back Aviation Safety Action Program; American Pilots Chime In

(MoneyWatch)  Delta and its pilots have agreed to bring back the Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) that went away a couple years ago. Actually, it appears that the Delta pilots will simply use the program that Northwest has been using. This is great news, and it certainly puts pressure on American and US Airways pilots to bring back their plans as well. Or does it put the pressure on management?

American's pilots clearly saw that this would make them look bad for walking away from the program, so they decided to put out a release saying that the American Pilots Association (APA) likes this new Delta program. I'm assuming from the looks of the release, if American cut and pasted Delta's plan and submitted it to the APA for a vote, we'd have an agreement.

If that's the case, then the ball is now in American's court. I would love to see American's management take them up on their offer here so that we can keep this moving. But something tells me that this will continue to be held back until management and the pilots improve their relationship.