Safety management systems are something the Teamsters and I have railed against for probably the better part of ten years. In fact, I think rail has safety management systems. They were a total failure. That's why the bill is here.
According to the air people, they're going to safety management systems, but they're not going to make the mistakes that rail made.
I think in a perfect world you don't need SMS in legislation. I'll be honest with you. I'm going to support it, but I'll tell you why you don't need it. It's best practices. No company needs anybody to tell them to put in best practices. Safety management systems are best practices.
Here's the problem. The original SMS model was sold as deregulation. In other words, under a safety management system, you tell us we're going to be safe and we'll believe you. This bill makes sure they're audited and inspected.
That's why previously in the air act, which I really want the government to bring back, we were successful in getting amendments that stated they would be inspected.
I very much thank you for the advisory council model. I believe over time the SMS, this entire process we have, will develop. It isn't today. It isn't going to be tomorrow. I'll be honest with you, it's not going to be over the next three, four, or five years. But maybe before I retire, whenever, 10, 15, or 20 years from now, I'll be able to come and smile and say it's a great thing.
It's a good model, but you didn't have to regulate it. It should have just been done. Companies should have done it by themselves. That's the pity.
So we support it, with those caveats.