WDB CAPT RPTS COMPANY'S TRANSITION TO A NEW AERO CHART SUPPLIER IS UNSATISFACTORY.

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THIS LETTER IS WRITTEN IN ADVANCE OF WHAT IS SURE TO BECOME A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN FILINGS FROM AFFECTED AIR CREWS. THE COMPANY HAS EMBARKED ON A PLAN TO CHANGE PLT NAV CHARTS TO A TOTALLY NEW FORMAT FROM A DIFFERENT SUPPLIER. THIS SYS HAS BEEN PUT INTO PLACE TO ALLOW FOR THE INSTALLATION OF AN ELECTRONIC FLT BAG WHICH; IN AND OF ITSELF; IS A GOOD IDEA. THE COMPANY HAS CHOSEN TO TEMPORARILY USE THE PAPER VERSION OF THESE CHARTS WHICH WAS NOT THE FORMAT FOR WHICH IT WAS ORIGINALLY DESIGNED. THE PROB IS THAT THIS PAPER FORMAT SYS IS VERY PROPRIETARY AND VERY DIFFERENT FROM ALTERNATIVE COMMERCIAL CHARTS IN CHARTING CONVENTIONS; TERMS; AND LAYOUT AND IS EXTREMELY UN-INTUITIVE DUE; IN PART; TO EXTENSIVE USE OF ACRONYMS. INFO IN OUR PREVIOUS AERO CHARTS IS LOGICALLY LOCATED (FROM DECADES OF DEVELOPMENT WITH LINE PLT INPUT). THAT SAME INFO IN NEW CHARTS IS DESIGNED FOR COMPUTER ACCESS NOT DIRECT HUMAN ACCESS. OF CRITICAL IMPORTANCE IS THAT ROUTING AND ALT RESTRS ON SIDS; STARS; ETC IS LOCATED IN AS MANY AS THREE POSSIBLE LOCATIONS ON THE CHARTS WHICH WILL MAKE INEFFECTIVE TRADITIONAL METHODS FOR CUEING TO INFO THAT IS EASILY MISSED. LOST COM PROCS; FOR EXAMPLE; ARE LOCATED IN A COMPLETELY SEPARATE MANUAL. ALSO; THE NEW CHARTING SYS HAS BEEN SHOWN TO HAVE LITERALLY HUNDREDS OF CHARTING INACCURACIES THAT THE CREW FORCE IS CURRENTLY TASKED TO FIND; RPT AND TROUBLESHOOT AS IT USES THEM. THE COMPANY HAS PROVIDED THREE; 1 HR COMPUTER BASED 'TRAINING' MODULES TO 'FILL THE TRAINING SQUARE;' WITH NO REAL SIMULATOR OR ONE ON ONE TRANSITION TRAINING. IN AN ATTEMPT TO GET CREWS 'FAMILIAR' WITH THE CHARTS; THE COMPANY HAS DIRECTED 'USING THEM SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH THE ORIGINAL CHARTS AS 'BACKUP' AS THE ORIGINAL CHARTS ARE STILL THE LEGALLY BINDING DOCUMENT.' SO HOW CAN PLTS USE TWO SETS OF CHARTS AT THE SAME TIME? IF WE DO SPLIT USE; CAPT ON ONE; FO ON THE OTHER; BRIEFING THE PROC IS FRAUGHT WITH INCONSISTENCIES. WHILE USING THE CHARTS IN PARALLEL; MANY PROBS THAT PLTS HAVE RPTED HAVE BEEN ADDRESSED BY THE COMPANY BY SAYING 'THE INFO IS ALL THERE;' OR 'YOU SHOULD PAY MORE ATTN' TYPE STATEMENTS. ON MANY PLT SAFETY RPTS THE ERROR IS PASSED OFF AS INCONSEQUENTIAL SO LONG AS ATC HASN'T FILED A VIOLATION AGAINST THE CREW. WE ARE SCHEDULED TO TRANSITION TO THE NEW SYS CHARTS EXCLUSIVELY IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS AND WILL NOT HAVE OLD CHARTS FOR BACKUP. OUR AIRLINE OPERATES ACFT IN THE MOST CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENT THERE IS. WE HAVE NEW PLT EMPLOYEES CHKING OUT DIRECTLY ON TO OUR ACFT THAT WILL HAVE HUGE PRACTICAL LEARNING CURVES IN ADDITION TO LEARNING A NEW CHART SYS. THOSE PLTS WILL BE FLYING IN SOME CASES WITH NEW CAPTS. THE LIMITS WILL BE TESTED. THE FAA HAS RUBBER STAMPED THIS TRANSITION WITH INADEQUATE TRAINING. THE OPPORTUNITY FOR A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON SAFETY IS TREMENDOUS IN THE NEAR TERM. FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME; WE WILL HAVE ALL THREE PLTS ON THE AIRPLANE EQUALLY UNFAMILIAR WITH ONE OF THE MOST SAFETY CRITICAL SYS WE USE; NAV CHARTS; AT THE SAME TIME! THERE IS CONSIDERABLE CONCERN ON THE PART OF THE CREW FORCE THAT IS NOT BEING ADDRESSED. THIS SYS IS ALSO BEING INSTALLED IN THE NON-ELECTRONIC; NON MOVING MAP DISPLAY ACFT WHICH ARE FLOWN BY PLTS; SOME OF WHOM HAVE LITTLE EXPERIENCE WITH COMPUTERIZATION OF ACFT. THIS MAKES A HANDS ON TRAINING PROGRAM EVEN MORE SIGNIFICANT.