The US Department of Labor has ordered Asia Pacific Airlines (Guam) to pay more than USD2 million in wages, damages, and legal fees to a pilot disciplined, suspended, and eventually sacked for raising aircraft safety concerns.
The department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) ordered Asia Pacific Airlines to pay their former employee USD419,267 in back pay plus interest, eight years of future salary, USD27,596 in interest on loans and restoration of 401k contributions, USD75,000 in damages, and reasonable attorney fees. In addition, it was ordered to expunge the employee’s record and provide training to current employees on their rights.
A three-year investigation found that the pilot, Captain Brant Swigart, repeatedly raised concerns that the cargo carrier’s maintenance team was approving maintenance and repair reports without properly diagnosing engine problems.
The team also allegedly used the wrong procedure to troubleshoot and diagnose the engine malfunctions, making it impossible to identify the cause of the problem and fix it before clearing the aircraft to fly.
“Asia Pacific Airlines has shown an unacceptable and potentially catastrophic disregard for safety and shamefully viewed pilots’ safety concerns as employee conflicts,” said Ryan Himes, OSHA assistant regional administrator.
The investigation said that the airline disregarded Swigart’s concerns and retaliated against him for exercising his federally protected rights to raise safety concerns. On at least one occasion, the OSHA said the pilot refused to fly an aircraft because of engine reliability concerns, specifically an uncommanded engine shutdown.
However, Asia Pacific Airlines told ch-aviation that Swigart had been sacked following a serious safety breach at Honolulu on November 21, 2021. “Asia Pacific Airlines strongly disagrees with these findings, which inexplicably ignore significant evidence, including sworn statements of material witnesses,” the company’s statement on the matter reads. The carrier said the Department of Labor ignored sworn testimony which “seriously undermined” Swigart’s credibility. The airline says it will formally appeal the outcome and request a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge.
Asia Pacific Airlines says Swigart lost his job due to performance issues, including prematurely powering up a B757’s engines and beginning to taxi while the ground crew was still in close proximity to the aircraft. It says the State of Hawaii later denied Swigart unemployment benefits after finding that he had violated company policies, that Swigart confirmed that he was “accountable for this potential fatal error”, and that he “was negligent to such a degree to show misconduct.”
According to ch-aviation fleets data, Asia Pacific Airlines operates three B757-200(PCF)s and one B757-200PF. The freighters operate scheduled services between Guam and Chuuk, Hong Kong International, Honolulu, Koror, Kosrae, Kwajalein Island, Majuro, Pohnpei, and Yap. The airline is wholly owned by Saipan-based Tan Holdings Corporation.