SunClass Airlines – New Training Model

Many airlines have a history of a re-birth and making the changes that move to a new reality, and no more so than during the present challenging times. Chris Long examines a re-emerging phoenix.

One of those showing adaptability is SunClass Airlines, based in Denmark. Formerly part of Thomas Cook (Scandinavia), SunClass continues the charter airline trade with a fleet of eight Airbus A321 and two Airbus A330 aircraft. A team of 170 pilots (60 of whom are qualified on both types) and 700 cabin crew are ready for the post-Covid charter travel from Scandinavia to Mediterranean and Asian (Thailand) destinations.

SunClass Airlines has seven bases in Denmark, Norway and Finland, which, of course, increases the complication of completing the necessary training. Even before the impact of the pandemic, Captain Nicolai Bondo Rasmussen, Head of Training, was working on increasing the proportion of remote training, but the constraints of a pandemic-dominated world increased the speed of change.

First we need to understand some of the challenges for SunClass. The airline is of modest size so, as with many in the same scale, it previously had to use the training suites offered by third parties. The consequence of that is that those traditional training platforms, however good, did not represent the exact layout and details of the operating fleet. For instance, circuit breaker panels, cabin equipment and so on were not automatically in the same place as the company aircraft, so the gap between the training environment and the aircraft operated was bigger than the ideal. This gap was previously expensive to close, but with virtual tools there is now 100% similarity of training tools vs. aircraft, and on top that the training can be done with the company SOP.

The journey with virtual training started five years ago, and has today evolved into a complete virtual set-up. For the SOP, Application of Procedures, knowledge trainer for the pilots and general cabin crew procedures, they chose the Virtual360Editor (V360E) delivered by Aviation eLearning. It is a tablet or smartphone application that can be used anywhere. For specific door operation and firefighting using VR goggles, they chose Bolwerk XR. The two products are stand-alone solutions but also work in a combined set-up.

“The pattern is that we use the VR goggles for mandatory door training during our annual training cycle and the rest of the year we support our crew members both in the cabin and cockpit with the V360E,” Capt. Rasmussen told CAT.

Virtual solutions provide the opportunity of sculpting the exact representation of the real aircraft and therefore enhancing the training. Training which now, of course, is both improved and which can be brought directly to those remote bases.

Virtual Training All in One Pack

To make training easily available, the off-line V360E is delivered through an iPad, which is the fundamental tool for introducing procedures using a 360-degree view of the cockpit. Consequently, training is available 365 days a year and wherever the crews can find time – home/airports/hotels.

The VR delivery is primarily through the Oculus headset, now moving to the wireless Quest version. There is also an element of gaming in this – with individuals competing against their own previous performances and thus engaging even more in the process. So far only two of the 1,000 trainees have become dizzy when using the VR, so it is definitely a practical way of distributing the training.

Naturally, all regulatory requirements are met, but with a realistic representation of the aircraft available additional scenarios can be included; for instance, door training can be amplified by integrating ditching drills or evacuations from unusual aircraft attitudes – the unexpected “drop” to the ground has surprised some!

Virtual ditching drills can be surprisingly realistic in VR. Image credit: SunClass Airlines.

Fire drills set in the context of a realistic aircraft model are very convincing, and given the ease with which these can be delivered when compared with the legacy training required every three years, Captain Rasmussen is considering an annual refresher in this discipline, rather than that three-year interval.

The framework for training delivery is CBTA, using the now-classic nine competencies, and the results are fed into a Pelesys LMS. The pattern is to do as many of the simulator session items on the Virtual 360 platform as is possible remotely, before going to the FFS devices at the CAE Training Centre in Copenhagen – thus making much more effective use of that training time.

Virtual Refresher Rust-Buster

For Capt. Rasmussen, the swing toward a more virtual training set-up also started with the desire to transform the training department more towards a service and support mentality to crew training. An additional advantage was that the Virtual360Editor platform enabled the team to develop the virtual trainer to support their EBT (Evidence-Based Training) concept as well.

Besides being used for training procedures, during Covid the V360E has been used for Virtual Refresher sessions, a concept SunClass Airlines developed together with Aviation eLearning. The Virtual Refresher consist of a series of Virtual Lessons intended to mitigate the risk identified in the Risk Assessment performed by SunClass. These virtual lessons are designed to prevent pilots being too rusty, not only on procedures, but also on such skills as operational decision making, situational awareness, and knowledge, all of which free cognitive capacity and foster mental proficiency among their pilots.

SunClass is extremely satisfied with the results after assessing crews in the real simulator, and, together with both the results and the feedback from their instructors/examiners, show that the Virtual Refresher works as intended.

One unplanned advantage is that those pilots who are no longer on the payroll can access this Virtual360 training at no cost to the company, and thus stay in touch with the operating world.

How Effective Is It?

The training demands have changed as the effect of the pandemic makes itself felt. Not only does routine recurrent training have to be addressed, but at the moment a major part of the task is keeping currency and competency of crews who haven’t flown for some time.

One advantage of the V360E is that it provided an agile platform to develop mitigating training based on the risk assessment, but the primary gain is on the improvement in the knowledge base of the crews. Additionally, instructors have noted better adherence to procedures, which can, for instance, result in a reduction of cockpit setup time by up to 10 minutes. Not only do the instructors like the new approach, but the crews approve the new system, with 84% preferring this method of training preparation.

As experience is gained on training pilots who have been away from live-flying for less than 12 months, the top-up training with V360E has revealed that there is surprisingly little skill loss, but beyond that time there is a noticeable reduction in problem solving and situational awareness, together with an overall slowness of thought and action.

Having had encouraging success with this training pattern, Captain Rasmussen foresees increasing amounts of training being transferred to the V360E environment, thereby enhancing the value of the time in the FFS. This move will include reshaping the basic type rating and recurrent training in an evolution which involves working with the regulatory authority to approve those changes.

SunClass’ Rasmussen believes that the pandemic has accelerated the rate of change to training patterns which were already happening, and that the end result is an earlier adoption of the new technology which reduces the cost and improves the effectiveness of the training. “When we started out, we wanted to use the V360E for SOP training and, after the success of the Virtual Refresher lessons, we want to exploit it even more”. He is very clear that he sees this a “fundamental driver for cost effective training during and after Covid”.