American Airlines pilots raise concerns over new cockpit protocols

Jan 6 (Reuters) - The union representing 15,000 American Airlines AAL.O pilots has voiced concerns regarding the cockpit protocols enforced by the airline, without adequate training.

The carrier on Tuesday implemented procedures for cockpit communications during critical events such as low visibility landings, according to the union.

"The operational changes that management is attempting to implement without fulsome training alters how pilots communicate, coordinate, and execute flight safety duties at some of the most high-threat times of flight," Allied Pilots Association (APA) said in a post on Monday.

The changes were imposed over a bulletin, according to the union. "This attempt to train by bulletin, while ignoring serious safety concerns and well-established best practices, runs the risk of dramatically eroding margins of safety," it added.

American said in an emailed statement to Reuters, that the company does "typically issue training for these types of updates; these changes are a harmonization of flight operating manuals between our different aircraft type."

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration did immediately respond to a request for a comment.

(Reporting by Aishwarya Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)

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