One Voice for Training?

Editorial Comment

If reality is to match the forecasts of aggressive aviation growth in the coming decades, one foundation must be training to high common worldwide standards. Without consistent standards, global aviation risks a gallimaufry of criteria at regional and national levels which may jeopardise safety, diminish public confidence, and ultimately limit growth.

Aviation training is attempting to weanitself, with sporadic success, from the post-WWII era hours-building mentalityto a truly competency-based approach for assessing the airmanship skills of anaspiring pilot.

“After 20 years, we’re still talking about acompetency-based framework. We need less talk and more focus on implementation.It’s time to move forward,” said Capt. Hugh Webbon, FRAeS, at the RoyalAeronautical Society International Flight Crew Training Conference last month.Webbon is Director of the LOSA Collaborative and a 39-year pilot with BritishAirways and Singapore Airlines.

At the IFTC, shared purpose was on display.But so was lack of consistency. There’s even disagreement on the matrix ofcompetencies: ICAO identifies eight, Airbus nine, and the UK CAA 10. Delegatesstruggled with definitions of frequently used terms such as situationalawareness. Views ranged from Capt. Philip Adrian, CEO of Multi PilotSimulations and former Boeing Chief Pilot Regulatory Strategy:“baseless hour-requirements…incorrectly associated with experience” to FAAAviation Safety Analyst Barbara Adams: “The FAA is not about to change awayfrom prescriptive hours. Not all training providers have the ability or themeans to adopt a framework that is needed to fully embrace CBTA.”

A day ahead of the conference, a symposium was held, also at4 Hamilton Place, London, to gauge interest in forming an internationalassociation of aviation training organisations. The idea, much likecompetency-based training, has been around for a decade or more, firstchampioned by Paul Lamy, Deputy Director in ICAO’s Air Navigation Bureau, nowretired, with the baton picked up by Peter Barrett, FRAeS, Secretary of theRAeS Flight Crew Training Working Group (FTG).

“Such an organisation could create an environment for ATOs to workcollaboratively on safety concerns, share best practice, improve internationalharmonisation and standardisation, and liaise with other industrystakeholders,” Barrett emphasised. “It could also help deal with the complexissues that arise when pilots, air carriers, OEMs and ATOs come from differentregions and operate under different jurisdictions.”

There is now some urgency to forming a formal organisation. Chief ofOperational Safety Miguel Marin said ICAO’s Competency-Based Training andAssessment Task Force expects to conclude alignment of its CBTA framework byNovember 2020. And in the world of ICAO, associations can have a voice whereasindividual commercial entities generally do not. “Considerable benefit couldresult from building a good relationship between an international ATOs’association and ICAO,” said Barrett, calling it “a first step” to “achieve ICAO‘Observer’ status, which requires the ICAO Secretariat to recognise thepotential contribution that an association could make to the ICAO work programme”– much like IATA (airlines), IFALPA (pilots), CANSO (controllers) and ACI(airports).

After some haggling over wording of an official declaration, delegatesagreed, pending validation by some companies’ legal departments, to move towardcreating a global association for flight training schools which are focused ondeveloping air transport pilots. Initially, the (shall we suggest)International Consortium of Aviation Training Organisations – ICATO – might benurtured within the RAeS FTG until it becomes an independent, self-governingentity. The implementation work will be co-chaired by Adrian and Barrett.

There are, of course, flight school groups in Europe (IAAPS), the US(IACTC) and Africa (AATO), but their numbers are limited, certainly nothingapproaching the 2,500 ATOs which Barrett estimates worldwide. CAT hasagreed to assist the RAeS is identifying qualified ATOs; if your school fitsthe profile, please send your point of contact to ICATO@halldale.com.

Commercial aviation is a global industry. Pilots flying similar modern airplanes through the same airspace to the same airports should all be trained to similar modern standards. A global organisation of air transport pilot training providers could make significant contributions toward that ideal.

Published in CAT issue 5/2019