1.4 - What Does Ethics in the Aviation Profession Mean to You?
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary contains two definitions for ethics. This blog will focus on the first definition, which states, “A discipline dealing with good and evil and with moral duty”
When we examine the first part, “A discipline dealing with good and evil,” we see that ethics can be good or bad. Good ethics would be an aviation professional deciding to perform the task correctly and following the proper procedure. Within the Navy, we have a common slang term, called gundecking. This term refers to someone who purposely disregards a procedure, does not do the work despite stating they did, someone who knowingly performs a task without being qualified, or taking a shortcut. When someone gundecks, they are demonstrating bad ethics.
The second part of the definition deals with moral duty. Everyone within the aviation community must demonstrate moral duty. Within the aviation community, every person is responsible for another person’s life. Not obeying the principle of moral responsibility could endanger someone else's life.
- The human resources personnel that employs a maintainer has the moral duty to verify that the maintainer is qualified for the position.
- The maintainer has the moral duty to perform preventative and corrective maintenance accordingly.
- The quality assurance inspector has the moral obligation to verify the maintainer performed the job correctly.
- The pilot has the moral duty to be suited to fly the plane while not impaired, under sound mind, and under safe conditions.
References
Aristotle. (340bc). Nicomachean Ethics. (R. C. Bartlett, & S. D. Collins, Trans.) Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. (ISBN 13: 9780226026756; ISBN 10: 0226026752)
Merriam-Webster, Inc. (2019). The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Brandon,
ReplyDeleteEthical behavior within the aviation industry is by far the most important characteristic all employs should have. As you stated in your post, everyone from the hiring department to the pilot in command of the aircraft deals with decisions that could ultimately take numerous lives all due to the simplest mistakes.
One of the most treasured positions I was privileged to hold in my career was that of a Technical Inspector within the Quality Control office; I'm not sure what the Navy calls this duty. The sole purpose of this department is to ensure that all inspections, maintenance, historical records, and air worth safety messages are complied with. Ultimately it was on us to go and sign off all work done on an airframe and return it to service. I always felt the weight of "being ethically sound" in my work no matter what I was doing, but while I was a TI I had never felt that weight so heavy. It was completely on me to look at the maintenance done, ask questions to the maintainer who did the procedure, and sign off on it for a maintenance pilot to fly. Having deeply rooted and confident ethical morals was key. It didn't matter if it was my best friend who had just spent the past few hours on a task or our head production officer breathing down my neck asking me why a task had to be redone and reminding me of "all the time lost" because I made the maintenance crew start over; if I didn't believe the task was done correctly I couldn't put my name or the flight crews lives at risk over it.
Good job on the post Brandon and enjoyed reading your thoughts on the subject.