3 American Airlines pilots say they weren't given enough time to learn new safety protocols. One said it created 'unpracticed anarchy.'

• Three American Airlines pilots voiced concerns about new company protocols for critical incidents.
• They told Insider they weren't given enough time to learn the new rules.

Three American Airlines pilots have raised concerns about new safety protocols for critical incidents, saying they weren't given enough time to learn them.

The new protocols American imposed on Tuesday change procedures for cockpit communications during events including low-visibility landings, as well as for setting thrust, controlling exterior lights, and sounding flight-attendant alert chimes. They apply to both Boeing and Airbus aircraft.

Insider reviewed a document setting out the new procedures and an email from American telling pilots they shouldn't "feel undue pressure" to become familiar with them immediately.

The three pilots, whose employment Insider verified, asked not to be named for fear of reprisal.

One said: "The problem with what the company is proposing is that it is throwing away our carefully practiced script and leaving unplanned, unpracticed anarchy in its place."

One likened the move to asking a band to learn a new song on stage. "Unfortunately, if we pilots play out of tune, even a little, there can be life-threatening consequences to our audience," they said. "If we screw up, it's our pilot certificate that's at risk. We get in trouble, we lose our job, we lose our license."

Another of the pilots said: "We have training that we usually do on an iPad every quarter. With this big a change, they should have issued iPad training and paid pilots to review the new procedure.

"But they did nothing of the sort, and then their way to ease the pilot's mind is to say, 'Don't worry, you don't have to know all this well for the safety of the public.' How can you tell pilots that we have a procedure that you're not required to know?"

Dennis Tajer, a spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association, which represents American Airlines pilots, told Insider the company issued a 35-page bulletin and a 65-page manual with no face-to-face training.

He said several pilots had been disciplined for wanting to learn the new procedures before their next flights. A representative for American Airlines denied that any pilots had been disciplined in connection with the new procedures.

One of the pilots said, "They just gave it to us and said, 'You need to study this on your days off.'"

A representative for American Airlines said that it regularly updated aircraft operating manuals and that its approach to familiarizing its pilots with procedural changes had been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration.

"These changes represent industry best practice and ensure improved crew coordination and consistency across fleet types so that our pilots can easily transition across different aircraft if they choose," the representative said.

The representative added that the updates had been underway since 2021 and had been coordinated with the Allied Pilots Association's training committee.

The FAA didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

January 5, 2023: This story has been updated with comment from American Airlines regarding a claim about pilot discipline.