Australian Flight Crews’ Trust in Voluntary Reporting Systems and Just Culture Policies

Abstract

The aim of the research was to investigate the reporting behavior of commercial pilots and explore whether flight crew trust organizational just culture as a functioning and integral part of an airline’s safety management system. In pursuit of this aim, 270 Australian-based pilots completed a series of behavioral questions focusing on past reporting behaviors. The results revealed that 54% of the participants lacked confidence in their organization’s just culture, and as a result failed to report safety information or selectively reported safety information. The main reason for this under-reporting was ‘fear of reprisal’ from their employer. The results suggest organizations need to work on improving trust in their just culture environment.