Making the Glue

Editorial Comment

Welcome to the WATS issue of CAT Magazine.

Thisissue has been assembled with a view to support and mirror the conferencecontent of WATS 2019, and in particular the continuing themes ofprofessionalism and the role of the instructional resource in identifying anddeveloping that professionalism.

Inmy Comment in CAT 5-2018, I drewattention to the fact that increasingly air carriers - and even aircraft OEM’s- are becoming more interested in primary flight training due to a perceivedlack of professional competencies in some new hires. As a result, there is aview that professional competencies need to be assessed in primary training, asthese qualities often require further development once hired. And some carriershave pointed out that candidates with apparent equivalent flying backgrounds oftendemonstrate widely different competencies and professional attributes once intheir new hire training programs.

Interest,therefore, in Selection and Assessment is increasing, and in this issue weinclude an article on the current thinking related to the subject, ten years onfrom the first publication of the IATA Guidance Material and Best Practises forPilot Aptitude Testing. The author points out that the industry has changed agreat deal even within this decade, as have the incidents and accidents and theskills needed to address them. Witness the impact of Upset Recovery, FlightPath Monitoring and Startle Effect, to name a few. The attitude that selectionis a tick box exercise has given way to an understanding of the great value of anadaptive selection system that ensured operators hired candidates who are professional– i.e. capable, self-disciplined and resilient.

Withthe unfortunate recent accidents on the minds of all us, we have also tapped a veteraninstructor to discuss Upset Prevention and Recovery Training (UPRT), asking thequestion “Is UPRT Working?” Loss of Control – Inflight (LOC-I) caused 60% ofall air transportation fatalities between 2005-2015 and the industry respondedwith the UPRT initiative. There is now broad acceptance of the value of UPRT andsignificantly, the author points to the critical role of the instructor, andthe specifics of his/her training. He states “Instructors are the ‘glue’ thatholds airline training programs together, melding objectives, understanding,and effective use of the training device…”

Indeed, instructional resources have been a central theme in CAT Magazine for many years, and we’ve not missed an opportunity to highlight the importance of Instructor selection, training, career management and reward. As coach, mentor, role model, subject matter expert, and even career guidance counsellor, Instructors instill the critical skills, values and ethos of the industry to their charges, yet the industry has historically never placed commensurate value on the role.

Anupdate to the Airbus ab initio pilot training program, also in this issue,reminds us of these Instructor challenges, including the limitations of theindustry practise of recently qualified CPL/IR holders automatically becoming Instructors.Good pilots are not necessarily good Instructors. But good Instructors shouldnot be asked to limit their careers by accepting lower remuneration andopportunity, which has been the practise historically. Airbus gets it rightwith its view that what is needed is a transparent structure that allows ayoung pilot to start his/her career with an airline, but subsequentlytransition to an instructor role without loss of compensation or seniority. Achallenge for the industry certainly, but the payoff of early airlineinstructional experience is better command and Instructor pilots at the airlineat a later date.

Finally,it is not without some emotion that I announce it is time for me to step-downas Editor of CAT, a role I havesimply delighted in for almost 20 years. Although I have been in the aviationS&T industry my entire working life, managing the content of CAT and its North American and Europeantraining events has been the highlight of my career. Rick Adams, a respected andwell-known S&T journalist will take the reigns as of next issue. I won’t beentirely disappearing, however, as I will be transitioning to a strategic rolewithin Halldale, and I look forward to occasionally chiming into the narrativewhen the urge strikes. It’s safe to say, however, that emails will take me abit longer to answer!

Safe travels, Chris Lehman, CAT Editor in Chief

Published in CAT issue 2/2019