SILENCE IN THE TOWER: ANALYSING THE REASONS OF AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS AVOIDING VOLUNTARY REPORTING

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ÜNDER İ., Gerede E.

AVIATION, cilt.25, sa.3, ss.129-139, 2021 (ESCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 25 Sayı: 3
  • Basım Tarihi: 2021
  • Doi Numarası: 10.3846/aviation.2021.14540
  • Dergi Adı: AVIATION
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Aerospace Database, Central & Eastern European Academic Source (CEEAS), Communication Abstracts, Compendex, Metadex, Directory of Open Access Journals, Civil Engineering Abstracts
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.129-139
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: aviation, voluntary reporting, safety management system, air traffic control, organizational silence, human factors, AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE ORGANIZATIONS, SAFETY MANAGEMENT-SYSTEM, EMPLOYEE SILENCE, CULTURE, CHALLENGES
  • Anadolu Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Defined in the organizational behavior literature as employee avoidance of expressing their feelings, thoughts and ideas, the concept of organizational silence refers to the failure to submit reports voluntarily in the context of aviation safety. Due to various factors, aviation employees may avoid reporting. However, managers need voluntary reports from their employees to prevent future accidents. The primary purpose of this study is to find out why air traffic controllers, one of the most critical safety components of flight operation, fail to do voluntary reporting. In addition, whether controllers are involved in real-life voluntary reporting and whether the factors that prevent voluntary reporting vary by demographic variables. The data collected from 212 controllers were subjected to Confirmatory Factor Analysis by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 24 program and the reasons for their failure to do voluntary reporting were identified. Furthermore, the study concluded that approximately 27% of controllers did not submit voluntary reporting on unsafe situations or safety-enhancing recommendations they had seen.