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The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association announced on Monday that they have reached an agreement to test a new program providing a framework for analyzing safety information -- while addressing the fear of reprisals on the part of employees who report safety concerns.

Both FAA and NATCA officials praised the agreement, but union leaders cautioned that the agency would have to win the trust of controllers for the program to work successfully.

"I am gratified that the air traffic controller segment of our workforce will now be able to volunteer information that will help us define conditions or circumstances that could lead to safety issues," acting FAA Administrator Robert Sturgell said. "This system, which is in place throughout the industry, lets us know immediately when we have issues."

The voluntary Air Traffic Safety Action Program calls on FAA employees to file reports within 24 hours after witnessing a violation of procedure. The reports will go to a committee made up of a representative from the agency's Air Traffic Organization, a NATCA representative, and a safety inspector at the Air Traffic Safety Oversight Service. Those three people, plus an air traffic safety action program manager, will review the reports and provide recommendations for corrective action.

Under the memorandum of understanding that sets up the program, it is scheduled to last 18 months. After a number of air traffic control facilities pilot test the program, it will be evaluated and NATCA and FAA will decide whether to continue or expand the partnership. The union and the agency have not announced which facilities will be included in the initial program.

"We consider [the program] pretty extraordinary," said NATCA spokesman Doug Church. But he cautioned that air traffic controllers would have to believe that FAA is sincere before they will come forward. The union and the agency have been locked in an acrimonious dispute about pay and work rules since 2006, when FAA imposed its final contract offer on the controller workforce after declaring that negotiations had deadlocked.

"Like anything, it's reliant upon the trust factor and getting controllers to buy in to not fearing retribution from management," Church said.

NATCA President Pat Forrey said he thought the protocol provided union members with that assurance.

"For the people NATCA represents, the benefits are clear: this provides us with protection from discipline when our members identify errors, and other performance-related issues affecting system safety," Forrey said.