Meet the 2023 Speakers

Captain Philip Adrian FRAeS, currently serves as the CEO of MPS, the leading Fixed Base Simulator manufacturer for the Airbus A320 and Boeing B737 series. He leads two factories, one in the Netherlands and one in Germany, and an innovation team in the Netherlands. MPS partners with airlines, training organizations, OEMs and TDMs to provide tailored and innovative solutions for all training needs.

Philip started as the MPS CEO in May 2018 after 11 years at Boeing, where he fulfilled multiple roles, lastly as Chief Pilot Regulatory Strategy. He joined Boeing as an airplane instructor on 737, 777 and 787 in August 2007, and further served as Boeing’s 737/737 MAX Chief Technical Pilot, Assistant Chief Pilot, and Chief Pilot Regulatory Affairs. He was responsible for setting and coordinating global training standards and regulatory EIS support of new Boeing airplanes such as the 787, 737 MAX and 777X ranges. He was also involved in the design and flight testing of all new Boeing products, including the NMA range.

Before coming to Boeing, Philip was an airline Captain, Instructor/Examiner, and served as Head of Training, as well as in other management and executive positions for a major European airline for over 15 years.

Philip’s career started in the Royal Netherlands Air Force, where he went through Officers and Flight training, and he was a Flight Instructor prior to joining the airline in 1992.

During his entire career, he has served on several rulemaking tasks in the aviation industry, including FAA ARCs, EASA RMTs and many boards regarding Flight Safety, Aviation Security and Crew Resource Management.

Philip co-chaired the FAA ARC regarding UPRT and chaired the ICAO LOCART initiative and EASA RMT.0581/0582 on UPRT.

He currently chairs the EASA RMT.0599 regarding EBT and Performance Based Rulemaking, leads the EASA ABLE (Aviation Blended Learning Environment) task while also serving as a Team Leader of the Training Expert Group supporting EASA RMT.0196.

Philip also is the current Chair of the RAeS Flight Crew Training Group.

He is considered a Subject Matter Expert on Aviation Training, Simulation, Operational Suitability, EBT/CBT, UPRT, and world-wide operational regulatory affairs, and speaks on these issues regularly at multiple forums.

Philip holds 737, 777, and 787 Type Ratings, and has instructed on all those types. In his career, Philip has operated, flight tested and instructed for over 13,000 flight hours.

Pilot Conference
Day 2 – Wednesday 30th August 2023 – Session 6

Training the Next Generation Through Next Generation Training

This presentation will offer an overview of new educational models developed worldwide. It will also address the Task-to-Tool approach, Comptency Based Training and Assessment as well as the necessary changes to properly create a learning environment for Gen Z and Gen Alpha generations currently entering the global workforce.

This presentation will outline the outdated approach to training, as this setup was initially created in the mid 1970s, and has not significantly been updated since, the restrictions this creates and the global solutions available to address this.

With an urgent need for new aviation personnel to enter the industry at a never-before seen pace, while traditional pipelines such as the military are drying up at the same time, we need to identify manners in which we can safely crew our future airplanes without being hampered by current unnecessary and non-safety contributing rules and restrictions.

In this presentation, I will address essential differences in the current approach to training and qualification, such as time-based experience versus competency-based, introduce the concepts of blended learning and the Task-to-Tool approach and will attempt to reconcile differences while creating a way to manage the pilot shortage in the future by identifying ways forward which use the best of all systems.

Jose Alfonso is a retired 30-year veteran of the Boston Police Department and is the owner and founder of Empower Communications Group. Mr. Alfonso presented a workshop on de-escalation strategies in May of 2022 at the WATS Conference in Orlando Florida and is scheduled again to speak at this year’s WATS 2023 conference in Orlando Florida. He is a highly respected retired law enforcement officer holding state and nationally recognized certifications as a police trainer with a dedication to excellence that is acknowledged by his peers in law enforcement. Mr. Alfonso completed his career as a Boston Police Officer assigned to the Boston Police Academy from August 10^th, 2004, to June 4^th, 2021. While assigned as an academy trainer, he participated in several committees for the Municipal Police Training Committee in Massachusetts researching and developing training curriculums for both recruit and veteran officer in-service training. As a law enforcement trainer, he holds several instructor certifications in disciplines such as use of force/defensive tactics, patrol response to active shooter events and S.P.E.A.R (Spontaneous Protection Enabling Accelerated Response). In early 2021, as a response to the increased number of unruly passenger incidents that were occurring in the airline industry, “Communication Strategies for Airline Professionals” was created by Jose Alfonso and Darryl Owens. Mr. Owens is a veteran Boston police officer and law enforcement trainer holding state and nationally recognized certifications working at the Boston police academy. The course was taught to all Spirit Airline Flight Attendants during S3 training from September 2021 through June 2022 and is part of all initial flight attendant training for Spirit Airlines.

Cabin Crew Conference
Day 2 – Wednesday 30th August 2023 – Session 5

Reality Based Training: The Evolution of Cabin Crew Training

To prepare our cabin crew for the challenges that they are facing we need to make sure that our training reflects real life challenges. Let me give you an example. In the last two years we have asked cabin crew trainers regarding how flight attendants are trained when using restraints (Flex cuffs, etc.) the response is pretty much the same across the board. The training is done in a static (Vanilla) environment. As trainers who have been developing and conducting reality-based training for 20 years we can say without a doubt that the only thing that is accomplished in the training of restraints in a static environment is training scars. Simply put, we need to duplicate both the physical and physiological environment that is experienced in a real-world situation when we are trying to restrain someone. In this workshop we will identify and discuss:

1. What is reality-based training?
2. The use of stress inoculation in training.
3. How stress inoculation benefits cabin crew training.
4. Building blocks for a successful reality-based training program.
5. Creating a safe training environment.

Cabin Crew Conference
Day 2 – Wednesday 30th August 2023 – Session 7

LOUDER – De-Escalation Workshop

At this year’s Asia Pacific Airline Training Symposium, we will be introducing the LOUDER principle. The LOUDER principle is part of our de-escalation strategies course “Communication Strategies for Airline Professionals” that we created in 2021 as a direct response to a study by the Federal Aviation Administration on unruly passengers. The objective of the course is to empower airline professionals with real skills and awareness to manage difficult situations while remaining safe and facilitating the de-escalation of guests/passenger’s behaviors when in crisis, ultimately avoiding conflict.

Our workshop will revolve around our acronym called LOUDER (Listen, Observe, Understand the message, De-escalate the emotion, Empathize with the passenger, Respond professionally). We will also discuss recognizing the signs of possible aggression where we focus on the 4 R’s (Read, Relax through box breathing, Relate and Reassure). This will be an interactive workshop that will include audience participation.

Jean-Michel leads AMFTA as Founder & President, drawing upon 30 years experience in aviation and flight training. In 2019, he founded AMFTA as part of his vision to improve flight safety via the creation of a harmonised flight training level worldwide.

Previously, Jean-Michel was Head of Flight Training Worldwide & VP Training and Flight Ops, for major jet and turboprop aircraft manufacturers and has held executive positions including CEO & Member of Executive Board for different aircraft and simulator companies. During this time he was instrumental in developing training technologies whilst growing business revenue through innovative solutions, all the while focusing on enhancing flight safety. His wide airline experience also extends to the start-up and restructuring of several airlines.

Jean-Michel graduated at Air France and the French Civil Aviation University (ENAC) and began his career working for a major European airline, before joining the French Aviation Authorities to manage ab initio and advanced training. Throughout his career, Jean-Michel has flown for many different airlines and still flies on a regular basis. He is current on the A320/A330/A350 & A380 and is still acting as Instructor and Examiner on both Airbus aircraft and light aircraft.

Combined Session (Pilot/Cabin Crew/Maintenance)
Day 1 – Tuesday 29th August 2023 – Session 1

Progress Report: The Aircraft Manufacturer Flight Training Association (AMFTA)

For years, aircraft manufacturers have worked independently to enhance flight safety via flight training.

Nevertheless, when taking a step back, it became obvious that it would be beneficial for aircraft manufacturer flight training organisations to address common flight training challenges together.

It was with this in mind, that Airbus, Boeing, COMAC, and Embraer worked together to form an organisation: Aircraft Manufacturer Flight Training Association (AMFTA), composed of the Heads of Flight Training and their representatives, building upon our collective experiences and expertise to create a harmonized global standard for flight training.

AMFTA is actively working on flight training and training-related operations recommendations to enhance flight training and aviation safety around the world.

The set-up of this game-changer is now complete. We will share with you the members, the vision, the ambition and main goals, together with AMFTA’s first set of recommendations and planning.

Head of Training Software for Airbus Simulation (GO5) and Training Solutions, based in Dublin.

Shane is an Airbus A320 Captain with over 10,000 hours experience flying in Europe and Asia. He is also an experienced Type Rating Instructor and Synthetic Flight Instructor.

He began his flying career in 1999, aged 19, as an Aer Lingus cadet pilot. He was upgraded to Captain within Aer Lingus in 2009.

From 2011 he had been based in Asia; working from Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Ho Chi Minh City.

In late 2016 Shane began work in earnest on the VR Trainer through his startup; winning a place on Airbus BizLab (Toulouse) hybrid accelerator from October 2017.

Since Airbus acquired his startup in August 2019 he has been leading a pioneering team creating the next generation of training software in both Dublin and Toulouse.

Combined Session (Pilot/Cabin Crew/Maintenance) 
Day 2 – Wednesday 30th August 2023 – Session 8

Implementing XR-Enabled Solutions in Training

The potential benefits of immersive training seem obvious to most. But how can training organisations best implement XR training solutions to maximum effect? Captain Shane Carroll and Christian Delmas (Airbus) will explain how future trainees will not be expected to reach for an XR headset for every lesson, but will rather find an array of options to consume their training media at their convenience.

Dr William K. W. Choy is Senior Head/Mentoring & Professional Development (Research) at the ITE Academy. He received his PhD from The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, and has more than 20 years of experience in the field of educational research. His research and teaching interests include technical education and professional development, instructional design, school management, and leadership. He has published in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, and international conference proceedings.

Maintenance Conference
Day 1 – Tuesday 29th August 2023 – Session 3

Student Perception and Reception in Learning

This paper aims to present students’ perceptions and reception towards the use of the Airbus Competence Training (‘ACT for Academy’) training package for aviation modules in The Institute of Technical Education (ITE). The Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle framework was used to assess students’ perceptions of their learning experiences. We hypothesize that the activities provided by ‘ACT for Academy’ designed based on this framework may enhance student learning outcomes. The empirical findings in this study suggest that activities derived from ‘ACT for Academy’ based on the proposed framework are more likely to increase student interest and competency.

I’m Chris, the Founder of The Part 66 Consultants and inventor of the Train The Trainer SYSTEM. I have held a license to maintain aircraft since 1989 and was fortunate enough to travel the world and work with many diverse people and cultures.

Around 15 years ago I was part of a project training Aircraft Engineers, and this quickly became my passion.

Watching students evolve and seeing how their hard work and diligence pays off has been the driving force to carry out the 2 things I love the most, Aircraft Engineering and Training.

Today, our focus is the training of Training Staff as I feel that over time this has been neglected.

My vision is to provide Aviation Trainers with a platform to aid their Professional Development at both an industry and personal level.

I want to help Aircraft Engineers transition from fatigued shift workers to confident, fulfilled instructors, and be able to share their years of valuable experience with the next generation of upcoming engineers.

I also want to provide both emerging and established aircraft engineering instructors with the tools to elevate them from feeling isolated and overwhelmed by administrative tasks, to efficient, productive, and engaging professionals, able to make better use of their passion for training.

Maintenance Conference
Day 2 – Wednesday 30th August 2023 – Session 6

Train the Trainer

Our Train the Trainer SYSTEM is the first of its kind.

For us, learning doesn’t end on the last day of a course. We promote a follow-up system in the form of a community, which is currently lacking in most Training Organisations.

Our Train the Trainer SYSTEM provides instructors a platform to exchange experiences and knowledge through real life scenarios in a like-minded community. It is a haven for aviation professionals to hang out, network, interact, communicate and all be part of the SYSTEM.

It is a place where we support each other while we move with clarity, where together we can evolve into a better group of people within a system that works for us and start visualising where this could take us in 1 year, 3 years or even 5 years from now.

David Cirulli is the Embry Riddle Aeronautical University Aeronautics Chief of Operations for Deparrment of Flight in Asia, Academic Faculty and UAS Certified Remote Pilot & UAS Subject Matter Expert.

David Cirulli is a former Group Engineering Director of Kambyan Networks, Vice-President and co-founder of CEMSol, Director of Programs at ENEA TekSci and Honeywell Engineer. Mr. Cirulli spent more than fifteen years in management and development of solutions-driven Engineering and Technical in aviation and real-time engineering development, civil and military avionics systems, and FAA certifications. He pioneered the latest in airworthiness, regulatory and safety principles for small, medium altitude long endurance, high altitude solar UAS. His systems
and software fly in the most popular Boeing and Airbus commercial airlines and he has participated in most every major commercial aircraft development in the past two decades.

Mr. Cirulli has a BS in Aerospace Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and an MBA from the Keller Graduate School of Management.

Maintenance Conference
Day 2 – Wednesday 30th August 2023 – Session 6

Next Stage UAS Field Operations Maintenance Support – Digital Twin System Health

Presently we are reaching the exponential growth point in uncrewed flight operations (aka UAS), the industry will require better design and better trained maintenance operational integrity.

As the UAS industry continues to evolve, so must our approaches to training for system diagnostic technology. As more complex and highly sentient versions of robotics become the forefront of aviation operations the industry will experience a need for functional system development that integrates both system diagnostics and maintenance as foundational design elements.

There needs to be a seamless integration between the way we design, train and operate UAS when place into field operation theater. Whether the operations theater is central downtown as in our Urban Air Mobility initiatives or remote agriculture or forestry regions – system management of operational health needs to provide continued safe mission critical tasking. The tools, methods, and system performance need to seamlessly supports both operations and safety. To reach that goal, new paradigms for design and training are key requirements.

In this session we plan to develop a representative example on how Design, Training and Operations seamlessly integrate into a maintenance centered efficient and effective System Health Integrated Support System for UAS field operations. Along this path we will bring forth application of Diagnostic Digital Twins for Remote Intelligent Maintenance Support. The key within these health monitoring systems is the ability first design, then train and subsequently operate by Digital Twin Diagnostics to remotely troubleshoot problems within the aircraft. This integration creates the pathway to bringing forth awareness on how embedded systems can derive from both system data and experiential knowledge reusable safe intelligence for the future Smart Systems with-in the airspace domain.

Blair Cowles is IATA’s Asia-Pacific Regional Director focused on Safety and Flight Operations. He is based in Singapore and leads a small team engaged in extensive advocacy work throughout the Asia-Pacific region representing the safety and operational interests of IATA member airlines. Before joining IATA in 2013, Blair spent twelve years with Airways New Zealand in various air traffic control-focused operational and managerial roles.

Combined Session – Keynote Address
Day 1 – Tuesday 29th August 2023 – Session 1

As one of the founding members of British Airways pilot Crew Resource Management trainer team, Trevor has been developing training courses and delivering practical human factors awareness and more advanced courses since 1991.

Trevor began introducing human factors concepts to healthcare professionals in 2002 with paediatric cardiac surgery and now continues to do so across the entire spectrum including maternity, surgery, ICU, mental health and other healthcare teams.

Trevor has been active in development of research and training initiatives in healthcare, aviation, and other safety-related industries including nuclear power generation.

He has collaborated on several research projects in healthcare, including at Great Ormond Street and Oxford University Hospitals, focussing on learning from error and success.

His passion is to help professionals develop and maintain their full range of skills, both technical and non-technical. He is helping others to introduce human factors integration into child protection social work.

In 2022 he developed implementation of a neuro-science-based digital learning methodology for HF and Quality Improvement Science blended for several healthcare providers, both public sector and private.

He continues to fly for fun and is a committed voluntary worker within his local community.

Cabin Crew Conference
Day 1 – Tuesday 29th August 2023 – Session 2

Making Memories Sticky

Human Factors continue to feature significantly in aviation safety statistics for cabin and flight crew as well as engineering and support teams.

In the post pandemic world, the need to create professional, high performing employees from inexperienced staff quickly and effectively has never been greater.

So why do we rely on training methodologies that address the short-term memory and fail to embed both the knowledge and the behaviours required to deliver the desired safety culture? And why do we rely on testing methodologies that do not demonstrate knowledge acquisition and provide a false sense of security?

Time sequenced learning, and the corresponding testing protocols, is increasingly being used to improve the retention of knowledge and the embedding of behaviours in organisations such as the Police and the NHS. It’s application in aviation training can provide a true step change in safety-related training.

Activities in Aviation Psychiatry, 2014 – present:

• Consultant in Aviation Psychiatry: analysis of aviation organizations’ interpersonal dynamic issues, systemic built-in bugs and bumps, and strategic planification to enhance efficacy;
• Guest speaker at major international Association of Human Factor Experts, Aviation Psychologists, Aviation Medical Examiners, Psychiatrists etc., worldwide, giving presentations, workshops, training or consultations in psychiatry topics in the aviation context.
• Psychiatry Practice, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1989-Present:
  • Psychiatric Consultation – Liaison and Emergency, Santa Cabrini Hospital, 2000 – Present.
  • Crisis Intervention and Insight Oriented Psychotherapy, 1990-Present, Private Practice.
  • Teaching, McGill University, 1990-2004.

Cabin Crew Conference
Day 1 – Tuesday 29th August 2023 – Session 4

Pilot Conference
Day 2 – Wednesday 30th August 2023 – Session 5

Training Aviation Professionals in Detection and Management of Mental Unfitness

Mental health not only promotes workers’ well being, it is a powerful tool to boost enterprises’ potentials. Indeed, in a sound mental health culture, employees would struggle less against emotional blockage and invest more in defending their employers’ interest.

However, at every level of the aviation organizations, many obstacles prevent such favourable settings and erode safety:

• The lack of understanding of how mental dysfunction impact a system;
• A weak political will to take control;
• The rarity of training programs adapted to workers’ responsibility (flying, cabin and ground crews; technicians; security agents; accident investigators; etc). They may have the theoretical knowledge but not the skill to detect and handle emotional crisis;
• The lack of a multi disciplinary collaboration with expertise from Peer Support Programme, Employee Assistance Programme, Aviation Medical Examiners;
• Treatment gaps and delays resulting from dysfunctional treatment corridors and low access to mental care;
• And an embarrassing absence of psychiatrists in aviation.

Objectives:

• Identify weakness and strength of mental health programmes in aviation;
• Recognize the magnitude of under-detection, and the need of training multiple levels of aviation professionals to adopt a sharper vigilance for an early detection of subtle signs of mental unfitness;
• Analyse efficient strategies to control negative effects of mental disorders.

Discussions and Conclusion:

As 1 out of 5 human beings are affected by a mental and emotional problems in a lifetime in the general population, highly performant professionals in the aviation industry are not immune to life stressors. These issues affect professionals’ cognition, work performance and operation safety since if one protagonist fails, a chain of repercussion may follow and rock smooth operations. We cannot afford to avoid mental disorders control.

Fortunately, many strategies can minimize the impact of mental disorders upon everyone involved.

• Head of Airbus Worldwide Maintenance Training MTO and Structure Training since October 2015.
• 35 years of experience in Airbus Customer Support, Supportability Engineering, Maintenance Programme Engineering and Maintenance Training.
• For 35 years, lecturer at different French schools and Universities as well as 10 years at the Civil Aviation University of China (Tianjin).
• Organisation of and speaker at various Events and Seminars (Maintenance Training, Scheduled Maintenance, Supportability Engineering) since 2002.
• Active member of Committees or Groups in charge of the evolution of Industry References/Standards and Regulations dealing with Maintenance Training, e.g. European Aviation Maintenance Training Committee (EAMTC) or, previously, dealing with Scheduled maintenance e.g. International MRB Policy Board (IMRBPB) and Maintenance Program Industry Group (MPIG).
• Engineering degree in Mechanics and Master degree in Propulsion Systems.

Maintenance Conference
Day 1 – Tuesday 29th August 2023 – Session 2

The Challenge of Developing and Maintaining Competent Mechanics

The long crisis we went through generated burdens to the mechanics population. Many senior and experienced personnel left the business, together with their experience and competences. The business is recovering and maintenance organizations do not only have the challenge to replace those who left to put the aircraft back into the air, but also need to adapt to the fleet modernization and fleet increase in the months/years to come.

The purpose of this presentation is to highlight what the OEM’s can do to support the industry throughout the mechanics’ learning path from the very beginning, at school/university, up to the end of their career, with a special emphasis on competences, confidence and training efficiency.

Combined Session (Pilot/Cabin Crew/Maintenance
Day 2 – Wednesday 30th August 2023 – Session 8

Implementing XR-Enabled Solutions in Training

The potential benefits of immersive training seem obvious to most. But how can training organisations best implement XR training solutions to maximum effect? Captain Shane Carroll and Christian Delmas (Airbus) will explain how future trainees will not be expected to reach for an XR headset for every lesson, but will rather find an array of options to consume their training media at their convenience.

Ms. Natalie Do is Senior Director of International Expansion at ELSA Corp since 2019. ELSA is one of the leading edtech companies in the world, which developed an Artificial Intelligence based solution to help learners improve their English speaking and communications skills.

ELSA was recognized as “The Best Digital Learning App” by Reimagine Education and amongst Honorable Mentions as “World Changing Ideas” in 2020 by Fast Company. The company was featured as a Top 5 Best Artificial Intelligence App by Research Sniper; and one of Top 4 Companies Using AI To Transform The World by Forbes.

ELSA has 54 million users in 190+ countries, and has received funding from Gradient Ventures, Google’s AI fund.

Prior to ELSA, Natalie had 10 years of experience in the fintech – banking – investment sector, where she co-founded a financial technology startup in the wealth management space, and headed Research for Ulland Investment Advisors, US, with over $300 million in assets under management. Natalie has an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Natalie has presented at multiple conferences in the past, including Techfest Vietnam 2021, where she shared a stage with Vietnam’s Prime Minister to discuss the importance of AI and innovation on Vietnam’s economy.

Cabin Crew Conference
Day 1 – Tuesday 29th August 2023 – Session 2

Revolutionizing Cabin Crew Training: The Role of AI in Addressing the Global Cabin Crew Talent Shortage

The current aviation industry is facing significant challenges in finding and hiring high quality cabin crew, especially after the impact of Covid.

Cabin crew talent shortage is a significant problem. Only 50 percent of the flight attendants that make it through training are still employed at that airline after a year.

The high churn rate among the new generation of employees has caused airlines to hire in new markets where candidates may not be fluent in English. Given that English is the universal language in aviation, this has put immense pressure on airlines’ training and onboarding process.

Customer satisfaction and safety depend on cabin crew’s ability to communicate clearly and make no mistakes. Front-facing staff affects the NPS of an airline, and the standards are being raised about staff’s communication skills.

Meanwhile, traditional ongoing staff training has proven to be difficult, especially with crew members who travel and require a lot of flexibility. English and communication training require a lot of one-on-one coaching, which can add up to hundreds of thousands of hours of coaching hours, and millions of dollars in cost, in order to be effective.

The highly competitive market has made it challenging to identify talent that does not require extensive training, and airlines need to invest in solutions that retain training quality while cutting down on time and cost.

That’s where Artificial Intelligence comes in.

ELSA’s AI English training has helped top tier airlines such as Singapore Airlines train their cabin crew effectively, offering AI-based personalized feedback on their communication skills, leading to significant improvements in candidate proficiency levels. AI helps automate and personalize the training process, which helps airlines cut up to 80% in training cost, while improving on the quality of their training through personalization.

We’re working directly with the Singapore Airlines team to create more ongoing customized training and assessment for their cabin crew, unlocking improvement in staff that were long stuck at certain proficiency levels, and cutting down the time and cost required to train new crew members significantly.

Competitiveness for talent and for client attention are only going to rise, hence the aviation industry needs to invest in innovative and efficient solutions to address the challenges of traditional training methods. Our AI training is helping airlines compete for the best talent, train the best talent, build their brand and retain their customers meanwhile helping airlines save hundreds of thousands of dollars in training and staffing cost.

Matt Friedman is an international human trafficking expert with more than 30 years’ experience. He is CEO of The Mekong Club, an organization of Hong Kong’s leading businesses which have joined forces to help end all forms of modern slavery. Mr. Friedman previously worked for USAID and the United Nations in over 40 countries. Mr. Friedman offers technical advice to numerous governments, banks and corporations working to eliminate all forms of modern slavery and is the author of twelve books. In 2017, Mr. Friedman won Asia’s prestigious “Communicator of the Year” Gold Award.

Cabin Crew Conference
Day 2 – Wednesday 30th August 2023 – Session 5

Modern Slavery and the Private Sector

Every four seconds, another person enters a human trafficking situation somewhere in the world. It is estimated that there are over 50 million people in modern-day slavery today – more than any other time in history. To make sense of this important issue and its relevant to today’s business community, Matt Friedman will offer a comprehensive update on this topic. His talk will explore the following:

• The changing human trafficking paradigm across the world.
• A comprehensive summary of global trends and patterns.
• An update on emerging legislation and its impact on the airline industry.
• A detailed update on modern slavery on ESG.
• A description of tangible, practical tools and approaches used by airlines throughout the world to help identify and address this potential problem.

Jyoti Gayan is the Chief Theoretical Knowledge Instructor at Qatar Aeronautical Academy at Doha, Qatar. He was an Air Force navigator and holds a CPL. He specializes in military air operations and abinitio aviation training. Jyoti is a qualified Air Force instructor and has immense operational experience on the B737and AN32 aircraft. He had teneted the appointment of Director (Space Operations) in the Air Force. A proponent of appropriate usage of technology, his area of interest is in creating relevant, low-cost, effective technological solutions for sustainable aviation training.

Pilot Conference
Day 2 – Wednesday 30th August 2023 – Session 6

Sustainable Evidence Based Learning & Instructing

The fountainhead of any competency is knowledge. Any outcome is the result of application of knowledge to a context, and the person’s behaviour towards the event. These elements are observable and measurable, and when placed against a standard, a linear data analysis determines competency levels and linear trends. However, it lacks the critical analysis required to determine cause and effect of the observed outcome. Often, over-emphasis on application, skews the conclusions.

The Evidence Based Learning & Instructing (EBLI) methodology connects learning and instructing to evidence-based methods, strategies, and processes. It is a data driven approach with a much broader context, progressively becoming more and more complex. The evidence is gathered across a training-in-continuum environment, with handshakes between training stages. Access to accurate data and relevant reporting tools generate trusted knowledge and insights to help transform programs, curriculums, and trainee outcomes – and achieve desired results faster. The challenge is to achieve low-cost, sustainable EBLI processes at an ATO which obviate data inundation yet provide deep, actionable insights.

The existing CBTA approach generates a vast data trove that to a large extent suffices the requirements of EBLI at no additional cost.

Process complexity and data interpretation is addressed by participative collaboration to define objectives and determine relevance. ‘Right question’, ‘Right data’ instead of ‘more data’. This focused data analytics creates impactful and actionable processes. EBLI applications use small, centralised clusters of data handled by affordable, customizable commercial-off-the-shelf lower order data processing tools. The outputs are easily interpretable pre-programmed structured or semi-structured but inflexible data. It largely meets routine data requirements and provide valuable insight and training solutions.

Sustainable EBLI fosters continuous improvement, encourages participation, creates multi-dimensionality, develops a broader understanding of the context, and lends operational flexibility to arrive at decisions that best respond to complex challenges in training NGAPs.

Fatah is a Digital Learning Manager passionate about lifelong learning and continuous improvement. He graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2007 with a major in Biomedical Engineerig and a minor in Psychology. With 15 years of experience, Fatah is an analytical thinker, a dynamic and spontaneous team player, and loves to engage in enlightening conversations that bring sparks and moments of joy.

Fatah’s experience has been instrumental in bringing value to the learning industry. He profoundly understands how people learn and what motivates them to engage in the learning process. In addition, he has expertise in designing and delivering learning programs that meet the needs of diverse learners, leveraging the latest learning technologies and tools to create engaging and compelling learning experiences.

Moreover, Fatah understands the importance of continuous improvement in the learning industry and always looks for new ideas and best practices to incorporate into his learning programs. He approaches his work with empathy for learners, knowing that learning can be challenging and intimidating. He is committed to creating supportive, engaging, and enjoyable learning experiences that help others achieve their ambitious goals in both their career and personal life.

Maintenance Conference
Day 2 – Wednesday 30th August 2023 – Session 6

Pilot Conference
Day 2 – Wednesday 30th August 2023 – Session 7

Elevating Digital Learning: The Future of Aviation Training

Imagine a world where pilots, flight attendants and engineers can learn and develop their skills in the comfort of their homes – no momre long commutes to training facilities or expensive equipment needed to simulate scenarios.

This is the future of digital learning in the aviation industry.

As the pandemic hit the world, many industries were forced to adapt and find ways to continue operations while keeping their employees safe. The aviation industry was no exception. That’s when Asia Digital Engineering (ADE) embarked on a digital transformation.

By introducing automation to their existing learning processes, ADE was able to improve staff efficiency and productivity through the usage of technology. This saved time and cost and enables the usage of data to personalize KPIs, learning outcomes, or even the preparation for future work, resulting in better resources and greater agility for the employer and employees.

But why should the aviation industry embark on digital learning?

By acquiring knowledge or skills in a particular subject using suitable technology or platforms, digital learning gives staff some control over time, place, path, or pace. It also enables knowledge transfer or sharing through bite-sized learning and can immerse learners into the knowledge and bring it to life from VR/AR.

While the benefits of digital learning are undeniable, there are also challenges in implementing it. Investment in easy-to-use digital learning authoring tools, ensuring the right Learning Management System is in place, ensuring content integrity, getting approvals from authority and seamless knowledge transfer between subject matter experts and learners must all be considered.

In conclusion, digital learning enables the vision of life-long learning and continuous development. We will discuss how ADE embarks on this digital transformation journey and the use cases of how digital learning help optimize the company’s workforce.

The future of aviation training is here, and it’s digital.

Maddy came into aviation in 1998 through the purchase of Moorabbin Flying Services with her husband a flight instructor, after a career as an exercise physiology personal trainer. Maddy is the Chief Operating Officer and Curriculum Development manager, and has grown MFS into a Registered Training Organization which delivers up to Diploma level Aviation courses.

Maddy has been involved with Australian Industry Standards curriculum development, Aviation Aerospace Australia foundation course development, was on the RAAA board between 2017-2019 and is currently on the CASA 141/142 Technical Working Group.

Bringing success of developing aviation-based VET in School pathways in Victoria, Maddy has been engaged by the NT based company, Flight Standards, and is actively developing an industry based pilot training career program across Australia.

Maddy is the chair of the Australian Flight Training Industry Association AFTIA, and works with State and Federal departments as well as the Regulator CASA. These collaborations aim to better coordinate and develop Aviation Training in Australia. She is passionate to support student progression with high standards along with fair and transparent funding options, from Ab-initio training and throughout the pilot career pathway.

Pilot Conference
Day 1 – Tuesday 29th August 2023 – Session 4

Is Ab Initio Flight Training a Race to the Bottom?

After obtaining an MSc in Occupational Psychology in 2013, Aleksandra has been working in aviation gaining a wide range of experience in European assessments and selection programs of cadets and active pilots whilst working with a range of airlines, aviation companies and training organisations. Aleksandra is an EAAP accredited Aviation Psychologist, an assessor and KSA100 assessment specialist.

Pilot Conference
Day 2 – Wednesday 30th August 2023 – Session 6

How Aviation Psychology and Virtual Reality Technologies Can Work Together to Improve Pilot Assessments

The need for psychometric pilot assessments in the aviation industry is gradually becoming more prevalent. Aviation workplaces are so unique and demanding that thorough analysis of abilities and aptitude should always be a determining factor for checking role suitability. Verifying pilots’ personality, mental health, competencies, and attitudes is crucial for safety in the cockpit.

Aviation Psychology is focused to support these processes, finding the best assessment solutions for this specific environment. The latest scientific findings and advances show how we can improve assessment processes for pilots, making them more objective, reliable, and innovative.

Traditional ways of verifying pilots’ psychometric skills, behaviours and attitudes are based on explicit methods like tests and self-report. However, the current knowledge in neuroscience enables us to verify a person’s capabilities and limitations in greater depth. By looking at the brain or muscles activity or implicit mechanisms, we can predict all this with higher confidence, checking the direct reactions and responses.

However, it might be difficult and expensive to put pilots around the world in a laboratory environment to properly assess their abilities. This is where recent technological innovations can help. We now know that the neural responses and mechanisms that humans have when immersed in VR are very similar to the mechanisms that originate in the real environment.

Thanks to close cooperation with aviation psychologists, neuroscientists, and VR developers, Symbiotics R&D team are looking at ways to assess pilots in an innovative yet accessible way. This presentation focusses more specifically on the latest application of VR and neuro-processing in verifying pilots’ workload distribution, multitasking and stress management. By placing pilots in realistic, job-related virtual environments, monitoring their responses and analysing the results and correlations, we will be able not only to check pilots’ suitability, but also focus on the specific training needs among active pilots.

Laura Khodakovskiy – I have worked for 20 years in commercial aviation in both the UK and Australia.  My current role is Head of Inflight Customer Experience, which means I am responsible from when a customer enters the cabin to when they depart.  The inflight experience along with managing the Cabin Crew, is my work place and feels like home.  I enjoy being able to make a difference and a chance to do things differently.

Cabin Crew Conference
Day 1 – Tuesday 29th August 2023 – Session 3

Challenges for a New Start-Up Post Covid

I was very lucky to be a key stakeholder in the start up of a Low Cost airline.

As Head of Inflight Customer Experience, I was able to set up my department and be a part of system tenders and implementation. We are doing something completely different with our inflight service, with no carts and delivery straight to the customer seats which is a first for low cost first airlines. I would like to discuss the wins that we were able to celebrate in starting up an airline, as well as any learnings.

Associate Professor Tarryn Kille is the Program Director and Discipline Lead (Aviation and Logistics) at the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ). Dr. Kille commenced her aviation career as a professional pilot and flight instructor. Whilst working in General Aviation, she complemented her technical qualifications with a Bachelor of Science (Air Transport Pilot) degree at Curtin University. Awarded an Advanced Flying Scholarship from the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators and after completing a Master of Business Administration, majoring in Aviation Management, Dr. Kille decided to pursue a career in management and training within the aviation industry.

She has held various roles with a number of organizations from General Aviation charter operators and flight schools to full service and low-cost airlines. Prior to joining the UniSQ Aviation Team, Dr. Kille held the role as Director, Aviation Undergraduate Studies at Griffith University. Dr. Kille held a senior management position as Manager, Policy and Business Development within the Air Transport Operations Group of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority. Dr. Kille has also held a position as a member of the Operations Panel with the International Civil Aviation Organization.

As Program Director (Aviation and Logistics) at UniSQ, Dr. Kille has been responsible for the aviation undergraduate and post graduate programs delivered by the University. Dr. Kille also teaches aviation post graduate courses including: Aviation Management, Managing Operations in Aviation, Introduction to Aviation Research, Aviation Research Project and Commercial UAV Operations in Aviation.

Dr. Kille completed her PhD which focussed on the economic sustainability of Australian regional aviation. Dr. Kille has led the delivery of high quality training programs, informed by research, to aviation business professionals at a national and international level. Recently, Dr. Kille led a project team to successfully deliver an accelerated training program on emerging business models in the air transport industry to the Certificate Management Teams of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, the Australian Aviation Safety Regulator.

Pilot Conference
Day 1 – Tuesday 29th August 2023 – Session 4

Building the Capabilities of Future Airline Pilots Through Tertiary Education

This presentation examines how Australian University education has responded to airline industry needs with respect to building the capabilities of future airline pilots. The presentation explores the Australian student pilot perceptions of skills required for a successful aviation professional career following the COVID-19 pandemic. These student pilot perceptions are compared to contemporary airline industry needs and perspectives. An online survey of current undergraduate tertiary aviation students at Australian universities was conducted to determine the perceived impediments, additional skills required, post-graduation plans and how aviation university courses should evolve post-COVID-19. The results show that while students are cognisant of the short period of oversupply of aviation professionals due to the downturn in the industry, they are keenly aware of the burgeoning recovery of the air transport sector and the changing skill needs that the industry is calling for. Students are seeking further support with the development of non-technical skills to better prepare themselves to be competitive following graduation. These findings have implications for airline recruitment management teams, and universities offering an undergraduate aviation program. By considering these findings universities can adapt their programs to better prepare students and support the needs of the airline industry in developing skilled aviation professionals, equipped to deal with challenges of the post-COVID-19 aviation industry.

Fanessa started her career in the aviation industry in 2008, as a Corporate Flight Attendant based in Australia.

A few years later she joined TAG Aviation Asia as a Corporate Flight Attendant, she was then promoted to Assistant Manager Cabin Crew, overseeing the FA department consisting of over 50 FAs.

Since September 2017, Fanessa holds the position of Training Manager & Business Development at Flight Training Resources, which is a business unit under the Flight Training Group.

Within this role, Fanessa has expanded the footprint of Flight Training Resources within Asia, providing training services to clients in Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia.

In the last few years, Fanessa has grown Flight Training Resources significantly through the Online Live Learning platform fulfilling client’s needs when face to face training wasn’t feasible, and hopes to continue leading FTR as the benchmark of standard in Asia.

Cabin Crew Conference
Day 1 – Tuesday 29th August 2023 – Session 3

Corporate Aviation Cabin Crew Training

Flight Training Resources (FTR) and TAG Global Training (TGT) are growing their global footprint in business aviation training.

Where both FTR and TGT are supported by TAG Aviation, FTR is a cabin safety training center based in Hong Kong and TGT is based in Farnborough, UK.

By understanding various regulatory requirements in both Asia and Europe including San Marino, Cayman, UK and Malta, this multi jurisdiction knowledge allows our clients to be trained to the same standards irrespective of their aircraft registry.

With face to face training becoming a challenge during and post COVID coupled with crew restrictions on movement they key was Adaptation. We had to create a blended learning solution to ensure that crew were still able to complete their relevant training enabling them to continue with their operations. Whilst CBT is nothing new to industry, we moved to interactive online Live Learning as an alternate option.

FTR and TGT together also have over 135 third party clients globally, offering the flexibility to attend the classroom and online training. The training will be engaging and relevant for our sector of aviation.

FTR and TGT train flight crew, cabin crew and all operations staff together encouraging a holistic approach. We believe to maximize the positive principles of Human Factors that crew should train together and have a good understanding of each other’s roles in the operation which ultimately increases safety for our crews and clients.

The solution is continued adaptability, by staying up to date and providing relevant, practical training to our clients in business aviation.

Chief Pilot of HF CRM team EVA Airways, A-321 TRI, TRE. Undergraduate and Graduate Degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. EVA Airways’ EBT core team member, and founding member of ASIAN EBT Alliance.

Pilot Conference
Day 1 – Tuesday 29th August 2023 – Session 3

EBT and IBT: An Intriguing Discovery

The 20 minute presentation is divided into three parts: 1. EBT and its current status. Although EBT has been introduced for almost a decade in some carriers, there are still some fundamental issues that pose as challenges to the training community. This part of the presentation will focus on some of these issues (e.g. Cultural, IRR, and Startle Effects). The presentation will also discuss the original intent of EBT to assist crew in preparing for black swan events and its effectiveness.

The second part of the presentation consists of a review of Individual Base Training (IBT). This portion of the presentation will focus on how IBT functions, and how it incorporates with EBT and enhances its effectiveness.

The third part of the presentation will focus on the result of the 100+ IBT cases that EVA has conducted, and we will share the results and our findings. A comparison between EVA EBT and IBT training will also be provided with an explanation of the differences in these findings. Furthermore, the presentation will also present an interesting observation: crew complacency. An explanation will be provided in this observation and the impact of this observation will also be discussed.

Finally, the presentation will conclude with the future outlook of IBT and how it can incorporate into the current EBT scheme and assist trainers to conduct more effective training and enhance trainees’ understanding and safety margin.

After a career in the UK Royal Air Force, during which he was involved in a variety of operational training development projects, including flight simulator procurement, computer-based systems training and curriculum design. He then acted as a consultant in CRM design and delivery, working in over 100 airlines around the world. Latterly, he spent 8 years as the Human Factors Manager at Cathay Pacific Airways in Hong Kong when he was responsible for managing the LOSA programme as well as delivering the CRM programme to 3000 pilots and over 10,000 cabin crew.

He has written for CAT Magazine, spoken at WATS, EATS, and APATS. He is the author of two books on training design in aviation and his most recent book, published in 2021, is the first to take a comptence-based approach to pilot CRM.

He is currently working with Astrom Training, Vancouver, to develop comptence-based CRM e-learning.

Pilot Conference
Day 2 – Wednesday 30th August 2023 – Session 5

Instructor Standardisation

Considerable confusion surrounds the transition to EBT/CBT(A) in pilot training and this has implications for the concept of instructor standardisation. This presentation will, first, clarify the role of the instructor in a legacy training system and one that is based on a CBT approach. We then address the fundamental problem of airline recurrent training: how to deliver a consistent product while allowing space for trainers to share expertise and develop line pilots.

The presentation will describe an instructor skill set that is appropriate to the different CBT/EBT component modules and then consider how an airline might approach the problem of ‘standardisation’.

The presentation will finish with a proposed airline instructor standardisation framework.

Cabin Crew Conference
Day 2 – Wednesday 30th August 2023 – Session 6

CBTA and Instructor Standardisation

The advent of CBTA places additional demands on the role of the trainer, demands that have always been implicit in cabin crew training but are now being brought to the foreground. This presentation will, first, clarify the implications of a shift to a ‘competence-based’ focus in training and what this means for initial and recurrent training. We will then look at how the role of the trainer is affected by this change before, then, looking at the implications for trainer standardisation. The presentation will identify a core set of trainer competencies.

Denis Manson has four decades in the aviation industry as an aircraft maintenance engineer and as a technical training professional, with experience across flight and ground operations in large and small aviation organisations.

Denis is a strong advocate for new technology and digital methods for vocational education and especially those resources targeting the New Generation of Aviation Professionals. He has spoken on these subjects at a number of Australian and International conferences.

Denis has a keen interest in Human Factors for aviation and other safety-critical industries, having designed and delivered Human Factors training in a number of roles. He is currently involved in the design and development of a digital training environment for English language training and other soft skills.

Denis’ current role is as Aviation Consultant to a start-up digital media company Ten Hammers, based in Australia.

His current research at the University of Newcastle is investigating the ethical and educational considerations of using artificial intelligence and virtual training spaces for aviation Human Factors training.

Cabin Crew Conference
Day 1 – Tuesday 29th August 2023 – Session 2

Maintenance Conference
Day 2 – Wednesday 30th August 2023 – Session 5

Human Factors in the Metaverse? – Virtual Training Spaces for Non-Technical Skill Development

Virtual reality and other virtual training spaces are already valuable for aviation training. Technical skills can be practiced wherever physical objects can be faithfully replicated. The ‘digital twin’ has now extended from individual objects into entire workplaces. Where we once trained individual tasks in a virtual space, we can now challenge people with multi-step processes and complex procedures.

But what about non-technical skills? Can human interaction be realistically conducted in these new digital environments? And, if we can, what dangers lurk if we encourage behavioural change in humans in a virtual space, especially if real humans are interacting with non-humans?

Current research is guiding the use of virtual training spaces, artificial intelligence and ethical considerations surrounding potential human-to-AI interaction. Lessons have already been learnt from some early applications of AI, including issues of bias, discrimination and personal data security.

For aviation technical skills, virtual training spaces provide an environment that is superior in some ways to the real world (for example, safer). Will the training of skills such as leadership, conflict resolution and situational awareness be more effective when conducted in a rich digital or hybrid environment?

Considering that non-technical skills is an essential component in aviation training, further evolution of digital training environments seems inevitable to provide realistic and challenging scenarios.

Virtual human-to-human training is now used for skills such as interviewing techniques and customer service. The capability of immersive virtual spaces for further non-technical skill training is becoming clearer, with a range of anticipated benefits for aviation businesses and our geographically-dispersed and time-challenged workforces.

Combined Session (Pilot/Maintenance/Cabin Crew)
Day 2 – Wednesday 30th August 2023 – Session 8

New Generation English Language Training for Aviation

No person is a native aviation language speaker. English Language proficiency for both native and non-native speakers is a cornerstone for further growth of the aviation industry. In all job roles, more young, smart and enthusiastic people must be found, otherwise the industry will not realise the post-pandemic growth that all major players are predicting.

But in this search for new talent, and their initial education, are we doing our best? Do we rely on mostly older techniques? Research shows that younger people do not learn the same way as earlier generations. They have been exposed to gamification since early childhood, often with a blurred line between education and entertainment in their schooling.

These people do not respond to didactic teaching. They resist rote learning and lengthy classroom sessions. They respond best to exploration, discovery, collaboration, challenge, self-directed learning. Perhaps more importantly, they vote with their feet and share their experiences. If things are not done well at one college, then bad reviews jump into in their social media.

Aircraft maintenance, cabin crew and ground handling training have experienced these same challenges over the last decade. This has led to the development of a number of interactive and immersive 3D resources for technical and procedural training.

Language trainers should seek to understand this experience and consider developing virtual training resources specifically targeting English language proficiency. A well-structured virtual space can capture evidence leading to a competency assessment, while allowing free exploration for gathering of vocabulary then using it in realistic, challenging scenarios of increasing complexity.

The wider aviation community is well-versed in using simulation and virtual training spaces, with documented improvements in course completion rates, student engagement and assessment performance. If English language training is critical to allow an expansion of the industry, let’s leverage off this knowledge and immerse our students in these more modern training techniques.

Graham completed over sixteen years in the Royal New Zealand Air Force including time as a qualified flying instructor and Flight Commander on the Boeing 727 carrying VVIPs. He joined Emirates Airline in 1997 and instructed on both Airbus and Boeing aircraft. Graham flew the Boeing 777 for fifteen years, holding Standards Training Captain and Senior Examiner positions. For the last ten years at the airline he was the Training Manager 777 and oversaw the introduction of the CBTA/EBT programs onto that fleet and the airline. Graham left Emirates Airline in 2022 to join the Boeing Company and currently holds the position of CBTA Lead in the Learning Design Team for Boeing Global Services.

Pilot Conference
Day 1 – Tuesday 29th August 2023 – Session 2

CBTA – Values & Challenges Faced from a Boeing Perspective.

Boeing has now engaged with more than 50 customers and 20 around the world to introduce our new CBTA programs and provide these customers access to tools they can utilize immediately to start the transition or support their use of CBTA programs.

We will provide some insights on what we have learned from that customer engagement on the value and challenges that would be of interest to the industry.

Subhas Menon joined the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines in March 2020. Subhas has over 35 years’ experience in international aviation with the Singapore Airlines Group, having served in a wide spectrum of roles including international & government relations, marketing, product development, logistics, country & regional management.

In his various roles in the airline industry over the past three decades, he has developed a solid skill set that includes successfully building and managing relationships with different stakeholders, strong communications and public speaking skills as well as commercial acumen honed across different regions.

As Regional Vice President for an Asian airline in various regions around the world, and having also served as Chief Executive of SilkAir, Subhas is familiar with the Asian airline environment, its market dynamics and the region’s diverse political landscape. Building on his early experience in international relations, he has well-developed lobbying and negotiation skills as well as dealing with government affairs, which makes him well-placed to undertake the kind of advocacy and lobbying activities AAPA conducts as a trade association on behalf of its member airlines.

He is a graduate of the National University of Singapore, with a Bachelor of Social Science (Honours) in Sociology.

Combined Session (Pilot/Cabin Crew/Maintenance) – Keynote Address
Day 1 – Tuesday 29th August 2023 – Session 1

Safety and Emergency Procedures Supervisor in charge of the cabin safety training and procedures for Presidential Flight, Abu Dhabi, UAE.

The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority Cabin Crew focal point.

Previous Experience:

Etihad Airways, Abu Dhabi

• Training manager at Etihad Airways (2013-2016)
• Lead Cabin safety trainer (2014-2016)
• Cabin safety trainer (2009-2014)
• Cabin manager (purser) (2008-2011)
• Premium class cabin crew (2006-2008)

Tunis Air, Tunisia

• Premium class cabin crew at Tunis Air

Qualification:

• CRM & Human Factor Instructor and designated Cabin Crew Examiner

Total aviation experience of 23 years.

Cabin Crew Conference
Day 1 – Tuesday 29th August 2023 – Session 3

Issues in Training for VIP Operations

Richard is a Change Management Facilitator specialising in employee engagement and transforming workplace culture. He is also a speaker, coach and author. He has been in the training and development field for over 20 years, and has been fortunate to serve over 100 companies in 12 countries. Richard’s clients range from MNCs, SMEs, NGOs and even government agencies.

Cabin Crew Conference
Day 1 – Tuesday 29th August 2023 – Session 4

Workshop – Self Awareness

Patrick has an international reputation as an aviation safety & training professional and is proud to be part of the team that originally developed and currently implementing Evidence Based Training (EBT) worldwide. Holding postgraduate qualifications in Aviation Management and Psychology, he is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Southern Queensland and supervises research in Safety and Human Factors. He has an extensive background as a pilot, flight instructor, senior academic and manager, gaining a broad perspective from leadership positions in the military, a major international airline, and a government safety regulator.

One of the founding members of the LOSA Collaborative development team, Patrick has published widely and is regularly an invited chair and speaker at international conferences in aviation safety and training as well as other high skill, high risk disciplines such as healthcare. He is a Liveryman and Master Air Pilot of the Honourable Company of Air Pilots and holds fellowships of the The Royal Aeronautical Society, The Australian Institute of Management and The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport. Patrick is the inaugural industry Chair of the CASA Aviation Safety Advisory Panel and in 2022 was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to aviation safety.

Cabin Crew Conference
Day 2 – Wednesday 30th August 2023 – Session 6

Lessons in Moving to Evidenced Based Training

Nacho Navacerrada Blanco was born in Madrid, in 1989. He studied Business Administration at Universidad de Alcalá (UAH) and graduated by the age of 23.

After finishing his studies, he took a job in Entrol simulators in 2012, a leading company in the FNPT – FTD market of Helicopter and fixed-wing simulators. At that moment, the company was formed by seven employees that manufactured three simulators yearly. Nacho has been key to helping evolve the company to more than 50 employees and manufacturing more than 15 simulators yearly.

After 11 years in the industry, Nacho has become the Sales Director in Entrol simulators, and he is an expert regarding the certifications, capabilities and adequacy of the different flight simulators.

He has witnessed the evolution of the industry these last years and aims to introduce a serene point of view to the aviation panorama.

Combined Session (Pilot/Maintenance/Cabin Crew
Day 2 – Wednesday 30th August 2023 – Session 8

Correct Use of XR Technologies in the Aircraft Simulation Industry

Technology evolves at a vertiginous pace.

Nevertheless, in life, there is no magic bullet. Each technology is adequate for a different purpose; sometimes, we can get blinded by all the other technological advancements.

Three different XR technologies are currently in the market: VR, MR and AR. I will analyze each technology’s strong points and give examples of uses.

One of the most significant advantages of VR technology is immersion. As VR technology can simulate real-life scenarios, pilots can practice their procedures in a safe and controlled environment. The possibility of having different VR training posts interconnected also gives aircraft training a wider range of utility. This kind of technology must be supported with a motion system to reduce the possibility of motion sickness. Also, not seeing the real cockpit may reduce the immersion in the training.

A great use of VR training is phraseology training, as you can interconnect different training posts to perform the exercise in an immersive environment.

MR technologies offer a blend of virtual and real-world elements. With this, you can get the immersion of the VR with the touch and feel of a cockpit. The downside of this kind of technology is that you need the cockpit to be representative, which makes this kind of technology more expensive than VR. You also need some motion to reduce the sickness of using this device.

A great example of good MR use is general aircraft training, as you can experience all the aspects of the training within the same device.

AR technology provides real-time information on the training to perform. The upside of this technology is that it is easier to integrate with the current devices. Nevertheless, it does not offer immersion and can lower the quality of the training.

This kind of technology is best for other aspects of the training. For example, with AR, the maintenance time of the aircraft can be reduced, as you can use your phone as a guide to performing maintenance faster.

To sum up, We believe that the technological advancements are great and will definitely improve the training overall. Nevertheless, the different technologies should concentrate on improving the aspects of the training each one is proficient on.

Darryl Owens is a 33-year veteran police officer with the Boston Police department. He is a highly respected police officer and trainer who is considered one of the best communication strategies and use of force instructors in the New England region. Mr. Owens holds both state and nationally recognized certifications and has a dedication to excellence that is recognized by his peers. Mr. Owens is the author and instructor of the Boston Police Academy Communication Strategies Course that is currently being taught to all police recruits. He is the lead defensive tactics instructor at the Boston Police Academy and is certified by Force Science Institute as a de-escalation instructor and an advanced use of force analyst. In early 2022 he was selected to serve a two-year term on the Consent Decree Monitoring Team as a use of force subject matter expert for the Ferguson Police Department.

In early 2021, as a response to the increased number of unruly passenger incidents that were occurring in the airline industry, “L.O.U.D.E.R. De-escalation Strategies” was created by Darryl Owens and Jose Alfonso. The course was taught to Spirit Airlines flight attendants and guest service agents from September of 2021 through June 2022. Mr. Owens and Mr. Alfonso were invited as guest speakers at the World Aviation Training Summit in May of 2022 held in Orlando Florida where they presented a workshop on de-escalation strategies. Both have been invited back this year to the World Aviation Training Summit in Orlando Florida to speak on identifying behaviors (recognizing the signs).

Cabin Crew Conference
Day 2 – Wednesday 30th August 2023 – Session 5

Reality Based Training: The Evolution of Cabin Crew Training

To prepare our cabin crew for the challenges that they are facing we need to make sure that our training reflects real life challenges. Let me give you an example. In the last two years we have asked cabin crew trainers regarding how flight attendants are trained when using restraints (Flex cuffs, etc.) the response is pretty much the same across the board. The training is done in a static (Vanilla) environment. As trainers who have been developing and conducting reality-based training for 20 years we can say without a doubt that the only thing that is accomplished in the training of restraints in a static environment is training scars. Simply put, we need to duplicate both the physical and physiological environment that is experienced in a real-world situation when we are trying to restrain someone. In this workshop we will identify and discuss:

1. What is reality-based training?
2. The use of stress inoculation in training.
3. How stress inoculation benefits cabin crew training.
4. Building blocks for a successful reality-based training program.
5. Creating a safe training environment.

Cabin Crew Conference
Day 2 – Wednesday 30th August 2023 – Session 7

LOUDER – De-Escalation Workshop

At this year’s Asia Pacific Airline Training Symposium, we will be introducing the LOUDER principle. The LOUDER principle is part of our de-escalation strategies course “Communication Strategies for Airline Professionals” that we created in 2021 as a direct response to a study by the Federal Aviation Administration on unruly passengers. The objective of the course is to empower airline professionals with real skills and awareness to manage difficult situations while remaining safe and facilitating the de-escalation of guests/passenger’s behaviors when in crisis, ultimately avoiding conflict.

Our workshop will revolve around our acronym called LOUDER (Listen, Observe, Understand the message, De-escalate the emotion, Empathize with the passenger, Respond professionally). We will also discuss recognizing the signs of possible aggression where we focus on the 4 R’s (Read, Relax through box breathing, Relate and Reassure). This will be an interactive workshop that will include audience participation.

Vin Parker is currently Director of Learning & Development for flight operations training at Republic Airways. He continues to chair the Regional Airlines Association (RAA) Training & AQP Working Group, since 2012.

Prior to Republic, Vin was Director of L&D, Flight Training; and Cabin Services Director for a global part 135 jet operator; and was the General Manager of AQP for pilot and cabin crew training program for over 10 years at Compass Airlines.

Throughout his career, Mr. Parker served on numerous AQP, CBTA, EBT, MPL, and other crew training work groups, including the FAA’s ACT-ARC; and was a full time consultant at the FAA Training & Simulator Group (AFS-280). He also contributes to training studies for NASA Ames Research Center on targeted pilot crewmember training program initiatives.

Mr. Parker’s aviation career began in 1987 with Pan American World Airways, London; and includes Mesaba, Northwest, Delta, and Compass. He has been a professional jazz drummer for over 40 years, and is a Fellow at the Royal Aeronautical Society.

Pilot Conference
Day 1 – Tuesday 29th August 2023 – Session 3

AQP, CBTA, and Resilience Engineering – Focus On What Matters

The global bridge of aviation training can link positive training methodologies between the U.S. and the ICAO space. But is AQP really Competency-Based Training & Assessment (CBTA) program …? As adult educators in aviation, we are challenged to ensure crewmembers are trained to expand their adaptive capacity, operational resilience, and enhanced core competencies.

Currently, over 90% of part 121 carrier crewmembers in the U.S. are trained under an Advanced Qualification Program (AQP); and today’s alphabet overload of crew training programs offers numerous program options. Yet, AQP is currently the only FAA-approved alternative to its governmnt prescribed training in the United States.

Should AQP be considered a TASK-based program – or a COMPETENCY-based program?

The answer is: Yes! – (both are true, but there is a caveat …!)

Intrinsically, the AQP guidanced presented by the FAA outlines AQP as a task-based program. However, the foundational flexibility that AQP offers is a blank canvas for the operator to integrate measured criteria of competencies and behavioral indicators; to instruct beyond task outcomes. Using ISD and targeted competency methodology, AQP can (and should) be carefully designed as a CBTA program.

To help support measured competencies, the application of Resilience and Resilience Engineering, also provide an excellent extension of the competency framework. Resilience engineering is critical to support the crewmember’s ability to operate safely within desired conditions – but also in undesired and unexpected conditions.

With today’s alphabet overload in modern aviation training, it is important to stay focused on what matters. Let’s explore how AQP can be a CBTA – and how integrating resilience engineering is a very comfortable fit within the competency-based landscape of crewmember training and beyond.

Seamus Phan is a left-right brain polymath problem-solver in both arts and sciences with 35 years of professional field experience in consulting fields. He has an innate ability to predict trends and derive insights fast.

He is an award-winning, hands-on practitioner and thinker in cybersecurity, digitalization, marketing, branding, leadership, service quality, science, and philosophy. He has consulted successfully for top multinational corporations and startups. He became an entrepreneur at 10 (yes, 10).

Internet and cybersecurity pioneer since 1996 (full-stack WebDev), and software developer since 1970s. Co-developer of an Email Security Server Appliance. Doctoral research on UNIX-based business analysis system. Postdoctoral biochemistry research on antioxidants, lipids and toxicology. Pioneer Service Quality consultant for aviation and corporations.

Field-proven keynote speaker (National Speakers Association USA member), CXO facilitator, training developer, journalist (TV, radio & print), book author, theologian, formally educated artist and calligrapher. Studied Mahayana canon and Nyingma Vajrayana, Chinese (Confucianism, Taoism), Japanese (Bushido, Shinto, Zen), and Indian (Rigveda) between 16 and 21. Later crossed over to study Christianity from Luther, Rome, then Constantinople in 2004. Interviewed stars such as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and 5-time Olympian Jorge Bonnet.

Native proficiency in English and Chinese (Traditional, Simplified, Classical).

Accomplishments:

• 2021 – Biochemistry research on antioxidants
• 2020 – Crisis & media training
• 2016 – IntrinSelling sales training
• 2013 – Video for Marketing & Training
• 2013 – Journey of a Pilgrim (Eastern Orthodox)
• 2011 – 35,000 Ft Leadership (Aviation CRM/TEM)
• 2004 – Netjanus email security appliance R&D
• 2002 – This Body This Life (health/fitness book)
• 2001 – Business analysis system (UNIX)
• 1991 – ESP customer service leadership program
• 1987 – Pioneer Computer-Based Training Developer
• 1981 – Biochemistry research in autoxidation, antioxidants & toxicology

Pilot Conference
Day 2 – Wednesday 30th August 2023 – Session 7

Pilot and Leadership Transformation in the Age of AI

Automation is increasingly supplanting more and more of the tasks of pilots in the flight deck. While automation is important and crisis-averting in almost all scenarios, even intelligent automation such as AI and robotics, are prone to not only design flaws, vulnerabilities, and even cyber threats. How then, can pilots and leaders adopt the right approach to AI, both in the flight deck and beyond? We examine AI, its design and approaches, and why land, sea and air automation with AI, can change how pilots are as drivers to analysts.

An experienced pilot, Chris has been involved in pilot training and management for over 20 years, in an aviation career spanning more than 30 years.

During his career, he has led the operations and training departments at several airlines, where he was instrumental in the introduction of innovative training concepts such as AQP, EBT and MPL.

In his current role, he is responsible for leading CAE’s Civil Global Training Organisation, including Regulatory Affairs, Training Policy & Learning Science, Aviation Safety, Quality Assurance and Training Performance.

A former CAT Magazine Pioneer award winner, Chris holds a Masters degree in aviation management and is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

Pilot Conference
Day 1 – Tuesday 29th August 2023 – Session 2

Transforming CAE into a CBTA Training Organization

At CAE, we are elevating our training standards beyond simply equipping pilots to pass a regulatory test. We are standardizing our training efforts across our Civil Aviation business to ensure pilots are “mission ready” through competency-based training and assessment (CBTA) principles.

As part of our ongoing efforts, CAE has partnered with IATA to develop the first competency-based Training Program Designer Course and the first competency-based Training Program for our “Instructor Trainer” cadre, who will, in turn, train and evaluate other instructors.

We are working with several regulators to encourage the adoption of CBTA and to ensure that their personnel is suitably informed to oversee the implementation of CBTA as intended.

Our initial efforts are to transform pilot training programs by applying CBTA principles to task-based training courses.

On the instructor training front, we have progressively rolled out online modules introducing principles of CBTA to our 2,000 instructors worldwide as a pre-requisite to attending a three-day CBTA Instructor transition course. In addition, we have also rolled out a five-day Standards Instructor course to conduct an intial and recurrent assessment of instructors using the ICAO/IATA instructor/evaluator competency framework.

What we have learned is that this transition demands a significant amount of rigor and investment to prepare course designers and instructor performance teams with the competencies needed to take the first step towards CBTA – a transition which, if it is going to be successful, will require communication of the vision from organizational leadership, resources allocated to the right teams, upskilling of the existing workforce, and a clear action plan.

Paul BJ Ransbury, a former fighter pilot, military instructor and airline pilot, is the CEO of Aviation Performance Solutions (APS) and Chairman of the NBAA Safety Committee. APS has specialized in comprehensive Upset Prevention and Recovery Training, UPRT, for professional pilots for more than three decades. APS is the world’s leading UPRT provider for major US air carriers, insurance companies, government agencies, and corporate flight departments. APS’s core mission is to boost operational safety and bring pilots home safely. Ransbury presents easy-to-understand insights on transforming UPRT effectiveness to serve every professional pilot wherever they are in their career to overcome the persistent threat of Loss of Control In-flight.

Pilot Conference
Day 1 – Tuesday 29th August 2023 – Session 4

Effective Next Gen Flight School Upset Training

The aviation industry has championed properly delivered Upset Prevention and Recovery Training (UPRT) as an effective mitigation to commercial aviation’s number one fatal threat: Loss of Control In-flight (LOC-I). The benefits of ensuring UPRT programs meet the standards of effectiveness necessary to create resilient pilots as opposed to simply checking the boxes to meet regulatory minimums warrant consideration for every flight organization, especially during the current pilot shortage. The differences between implementation of ICAO recommendations versus EASA-compliant UPRT at an ab initio level are dramatic with regards to pilot competency development in the upset domain.

Implementation of highly-effective Upset Prevention and Recovery Training (UPRT) at Major US Air Carriers gives insight into the best ways to leverage UPRT for maximum benefits. Next Gen flight schools like United Aviate Academy, for example, integrate robust on-aircraft and simulator-based UPRT that map directly into major air carriers’ Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs), call outs, and UPRT methods and strategies to leverage the central Laws of Learning; Primacy, Intensity, and Exercise. The resultant graduate is resilient, aware, and standardized as a new airline pilot entering the airlines with increased awareness, manual handling competency, and manual flight operations experience.

Harald Schween is part of Lufthansa Technical Training’s management team and is responsible for the companies’ global customer affairs as the Head of Sales & Marketing.

He has a holistic expertise of the aviation and the MRO industry and has focused over the last years on developing new markets and customer solutions for the qualification of aviation technical staff. Within his area of responsibility, he is overseeing all customer and market relevant activities of the company including the market rollout of new training products, such as online and digital learning solutions for the aviation training industry.

He joined the Lufthansa Group in 1994 and during his career, he has been holding several expert and management positions in the group. Before joining Lufthansa Technical Training in 2016, Harald was responsible for the product management at Lufthansa Flight Training’s simulator training division.

Harald is currently living in the Frankfurt area. He graduated from the Universities of Applies Sciences in Darmstadt and Mainz, Germany, and holds university degrees in mechanical and industrial engineering. He started his professional career as an aircraft maintenance technician.

Maintenance Conference
Day 1 – Tuesday 29th August 2023 – Session 2

Aircraft Maintenance Training for the Next Generation

Do we need a new approach for a highly skilled and versatile future generation of aircraft technicians?

Airlines and MROs are constantly faced with the challenge to maintain a sufficient level of suitably qualified technicians to secure a flawless operation. During the last decades qualifying and training of technical employees focused on providing technical knowledge rather on developing competency and problem solving skills. Teaching and learning methods mainly followed the traditional “frontal teaching” layout, where collaborative learning and interactive methods have been underutilized in learning concepts.

Today’s and upcoming generations are more digitally connected and committed to personal improvement. Digital natives are used to sharing knowledge and data via social media platforms and are more familiar with the world of virtual and augmented reality. On top, learning content available at our fingertips has shifted the approach to a “want to know now” rather than a “have to learn then” philosophy.

At the same time, airlines and MROs need to balance the regulatory requirements to deliver a compliant training and the learning objectives while developing training concepts that will be well perceived by the young generations. More than ever, the question of developing modern effective and efficient training programs at reasonable cost has become a priority.

The presentation will scrutinize the question on how to approach the digital generation with modern training concepts and will provide best practice examples on blended and collaborative learning methods, micro-learning as well as applying digital technology such as VR/AR and mixed reality in aircraft maintenance training.

I have been in aviation for more than 35 years

• Tour-guide / Cabin crew for a charter operator in Denmark for 10 years.
• Pilot for various airlines in Denmark for 10 years, i.e., SAS flying the MD80
• ATPL ground instructor for 15 years
• CRM instructor since 2004
• Approved Training Manager for our Part 147 Maintenance Training Organisation.
• MCCI simulator Instructor for Multi Crew Coordination courses
• Member of the Danish Flight Safety Council since 2010 dealing with human factors.

I have been involved in training for 20 years and is always looking for new ways to enhance the
learning experience.

Maintenance Conference
Day 1 – Tuesday 29th August 2023 – Session 3

Introducing Scenario-Based Training into the Maintenance Environment

We believe in ACTIVE LEARNING.

We need to facilitate the training in a way, that gives us the greatest learning effect.

By introducing scenario-based training, we create a link between classroom theoretical training and practical training to the operational environment. By engaging the participants in relevant training scenarios, we increase the motivation and the skills of the trainees as well as of the instructors.

Furthermore, we are given the opportunity to evaluate and assess the competencies in the training environment. By incorporating ICAO Competencies for Aircraft Maintenance Personnel in the training, we are able to provide relevant and better feedback to the engineers. We can then transfer this knowledge to the operational environment in the workshops, the hangar and around the aircraft and compare the performance in both environments.

It is also of utmost importance that the assessment itself is valid and that the instructors have the competency to assess competencies, so there is a general line in the assessment within the company. We have been assessing technical skills for many years and that is not new to the engineers. However, when it comes to assessment of non-technical skills, there is still a challenge in evaluating the performance, since we are looking at so many different parameter and behaviours.

Therefore, the assessment must focus on observable behaviour and not the task and furthermore, should contain an element of and a possibility to exercise self-assessment.

Introducing active learning and scenario-based training into the training environment is one way of obtaining a high level of learning and at the same time being able to assess competencies of the maintenance staff and as well as enhancing the knowledge and skills of the instructors.

Tony Shen started his pilot career in 1998 with Gulfstream International Airlines, which is now Silver Airways headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He then was hired by China Eastern Airlines based in Shanghai. He became an Airbus 320 & 330 captain as well as the training manager during his 11 years with China Eastern. In 2011, he made a career shift and went to Duke University to get his MBA. He was hired by American Airlines as the financial analyst after graduating from Duke. In 2017, Tony joined Wayman Aviation Academy as the President and grew the academy significantly, which now offers both ab-initio training and AS college programs.

Pilot Conference
Day 1 – Tuesday 29th August 2023 – Session 2

Flight School CBTA/EBT Implementation 

Flight schools nowadays face challenges in flight instructor training, including profound competency variance of new hires and training effectiveness within their relatively short tenure. Our previous standardization and recurrent trainings simply focused on knowledge, flying skills and procedures; however, they were not able to cover all safety topics and ensure full evaluation of CFI competency. Training and developing new hires to the ideal level remains a time-consuming process and is lacking quantifiable data for continuous improvements. Things have improved significantly since CBTA/EBT were implemented in our new-hire standardization, annual recurrent training and newly-implemented simulator-based recurrent training every 6 months. The new scenario-based training/assessment encompassing complete flight phases with 25-30 different scenarios per session allow well-trained evaluators to grade trainees on 9 pilot competencies based on well-defined observable behaviors. Follow-up sessions are required to address the weaknesses discovered in the previous sessions until the requirements are met. CBTA/EBT data, including evidences from stage checks, checkrides and SMS reports, are used for continuous improvements in CFI training and development including standardization and recurrent trainings as well as mandatory monthly trainings and quarterly workshops. Furthermore, CBTA/EBT enables individualization in training, which not only enhances training effectiveness, but also help increase confidence of trainees. Our next step is to consider the possibility of incorporating CBTA/EBT into airline cadet programs to provide complete pilot competency profile from ab-initio training for future employers.

Hello, I’m Elizabeth Simmons, an aviation professional with nearly 20 years of experience in Australia. My journey in the industry began as cabin crew, and over time, I progressed to the roles of cabin manager and cabin crew development manager before departing the role in late 2021 to pursue research on cabin crew. Throughout my career, I’ve been dedicated to ensuring passenger safety and satisfaction while refining my leadership skills.

I hold a Master of Aviation Management (Distinction) from Griffith University, Australia. Currently, I’m pursuing my PhD at Griffith University, and my thesis examines Australian cabin crew wellbeing. I am a PhD Candidate member of the Griffith Institute for Tourism.

Cabin Crew Conference
Day 2 – Wednesday 30th August 2023 – Session 5

Selecting and Training Effective Cabin Crew Managers/Pursers

With the dynamic and ever-challenging aviation industry, the selection and training of effective cabin crew leaders hold a vital role in ensuring strong operational performance as well as team and passenger satisfaction. The global COVID-19 pandemic brought with it unprecedented challenges, including a significant departure of experienced cabin crew, resulting in the loss of invaluable skills and expertise. Our industry anticipates remarkable projected growth and change presented by technological advancements over the next 15 years. As such, the need for effective cabin crew leadership becomes more critical than ever to maintain high standards and support and embrace growth and change. This presentation examines the critical role of effective leadership in the cabin crew profession and discusses the nurturing of existing resources to support existing and emergent leaders as well as the crucial role of an air operator’s leadership to foster the most effective possible cabin crew leadership. In prioritizing the identification and development of competent leaders, airlines can navigate challenges, inspire their teams, and maintain a high standard of safety and service for passengers.

After a lifetime in the aviation industry, Chris now dedicates much of his time to working with companies, organisations, and individuals on matters of leadership and mental health, with a particular focus on staff engagement and manager – staff relations, as well as lecturing, counselling, and writing his book, ‘Tell Me About You’, due for release in mid-2023.

His signature presentations include:

• ‘Staff On Side – Where Management, Engagement and Mental Health Intersect’
• ‘Emotional Intelligence at Work’,
• ‘Unspoken Man, Unheard Woman’, and
• ‘Tell Me About You. I Really Want to Know’

He has held numerous senior managerial positions including Flight Operations Manager and Chief Pilot, Head of Standards, Flying Operations Development Manager, and Wellness Manager, spent 20 years in airline Check Captain roles, has test flown and introduced airline and business aircraft types to Australia and PNG, founded his own aviation consultancy, and works extensively with international corporations across multiple industries.

He has established and operates peer support programs in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore and Vietnam, and consults in Ireland and Germany.

He is a regular corporate speaker on the psychology, mental health, safety, and legal and aviation conference circuit in Australia and overseas (Singapore, Japan, France, USA).

He presents on radio and is a contributing writer on mental health matters for the Sunday Mail Newspaper.

He currently holds an Ambassadorial Role for the ‘Trust’ Peer Support Program across Australia and Asia.

In 2012, he was awarded the Master Air Pilot Certificate by the Guild of Air Pilots and Navigators, London, for services to the aviation industry.

He holds a Master’s Degree in Aviation Management, a Diploma of Counselling and has PhD research conducted with the University of Southern Queensland, where he presently lectures.

He lives in Brisbane, Australia.

Cabin Crew Conference
Day 1 – Tuesday 29th August 2023 – Session 4

Maintenance Conference
Day 2 – Wednesday 30th August 2023 – Session 5

Pilot Conference
Day 2 – Wednesday 30th August 2023 – Session 7

Aviation Mental Health: How to Embed a New ‘Situational Awareness’ into our Aviation Culture

Our need is rising. Our knowledge is slowly increasing. Our implementation is low.

We know that mental health is an issue for pilots just as it is for all of society. We don’t need any more proof. We also largely know the issues that pilots face. I’ll tell you what they are.

We also know a lot about the mental health issue itself … but we’re nowhere near where we need to be in terms of implementation and embedding it into the way we do business.

We’re making headway, but not enough. The issue is accelerating away from us.

We’re missing too many people, in fact most. I’ll introduce you to some we’re missing. I think you’ll know them. They’re right beside us. Is it you?

If we consider the development of Human Factors in the 1980s, it was quite fundamental. In the 1990s the we started to build that knowledge into the way we work – the way we do business, operationally.

In terms of mental health and building mental health considerations into the way we do business, we’re about where Human Factors was in the 1990s.

There are ways we can do this. We must. Peer Support is good, but not enough. True cultural change is required now.

We are at a turning point. This will be seen as our ‘sliding doors’ moment. Let’s choose the right door.

Christopher (Jason) Stanelle is an Associate Technical Fellow and Chief of Design for Boeing Commercial Maintenance Training, responsible for leading the evolution of instructional design in the commercial aerospace maintenance space.

Jason has over 25 years of experience in aerospace maintenance and training, fulfilling roles such as line & base mechanic, maintenance instructor, and instructional designer. Jason joined Boeing in 2008 as an avionics instructor focusing on 737 and 777 programs.

Prior to Boeing, Jason served in the U.S. Air Force as an avionics craftsman and master instructor, with experience maintaining C-130E and C-17A aircraft.

Jason is active with the European Aviation Maintenance Training Committee (EAMTC) and subcommittee for competency-based training and assessment.

Maintenance Conference
Day 1 – Tuesday 29th August 2023 – Session 2

Approach to Integration of CBTA Principles in Maintenance

Traditional training in aerospace maintenance is focused on the airplane/system/task and evaluates the outcome of the maintainer’s performance based on their application of knowledge, skills and attitudes. In contrast, Competency-Based Training and Assessment (CBTA) evaluates maintainers on the behaviors they exhibit while applying knowledge, skills, and attitudes. CBTA paints a more holistic picture of human performance by assessing the demonstrated behaviors of maintainers in practical learning experiences, linking the success of the outcome of the maintenance scenario to the decisions made by the maintainer along the way.

Three key challenges result in fewer opportunities for maintainers to learn by experience: pace of change in aerospace technology; aircraft reliability reducing learning opportunities; and loss of maintenance experience throughout the industry means fewer mentoring opportunities. The traditional model of training does little to overcome these challenges.

We believe that consistent deployment of CBTA learning experiences more successfully develops the competence and confidence necessary to be resilient to the threats that exist within today’s maintenance ecosystems. We also believe learners will demonstrate greater levels of performance, and be better prepared to operate and maintain aircraft safety, thus providing greater value to their organization.

We will discuss our perspective on CBTA and the value it provides to maintenance organizations, and explore a few of the efforts we are engaging in to advance a shift towards training for competence, confidence and resilience.

Shane was accepted into the Qantas Cadet training program straight out of high school and completed commenced his training on the Boeing 767 at age 19 with Qantas. He flew the B767 as a Second Officer, obtained a First Officer position on the B767 at age 24.

He took a Leave of Absence from Qantas to fly for Air Japan, a subsidiary of All Nippon Airways (ANA). Based in Tokyo for 6 years, Shane obtained his command on the B767, before returning to Qantas in 2018.

Shane is a Type Rating Instructor and Check Pilot on the B787 and is currently one of only a handful of First Officers to hold CASA Check and Training accreditations and is the B787 UPRT Subject Matter Expert and lead trainer on the type.

In addition to airline flying, Shane has held a number of positions in the aviation industry.

Some of the positions he has held include:

• Committee Chair of the Aircraft Design and Operations (ADO) committee for the Australian Airline Pilots Association (AusALPA)
• Vice Chair of the ADO Committee for the International Federation of Airline Pilots’ Associations (IFALPA)
• IFALPA representative to the ICAO Instrument Flight Procedures Panel, where he was a member of the 4-member group tasked to rewrite PANS-OPS Vol 1, and the Aerodrome Obstacle Limitations Surface Task Force

Shane has instructed in a wide variety of fields, levels and organisations including aerobatics, formation and warbirds. He is one of Australia’s leading on-aircraft UPRT instructors, and has instructed within General Aviation and on B787, B767 and B737 simulators.

Pilot Conference
Day 2 – Wednesday 30th August 2023 – Session 5

Reflexive Responses in High Threat Scenarios

Lieberman has proposed a taxonomy of human response; that mental process can essentially be broken down into two types of responses: the Reflexive (X-system) and the Reflective (C-system) responses.

The X-system response is automatic, non-conscious, and occurs without forethought. This response can be instinctual, such as the fight, flight, freeze response. It can otherwise be learned, such as tying shoe laces, but this learned response must then be embedded through repetition.

Contrarily, C-system responses require intention and effortful mental processing. While the C-system allows flexible, rational decision making, it is not resilient to stress and threat. As such, under times of high stress, mental processes will revert to the X-system. Certain inflight events present a high level of threat whether actual, potential or even perceived, such as an aircraft upset or an unidentifiable problem. If the appropriate initial response is not embedded in a pilot’s X-system, the situation may escalate unnecessarily.

Current training in the UPRT space may not adequately incorporate the human factors behind the X-system responses. Thus, embedding a safe initial behavioural response in a startle situation will require initial immersion and intensity in training. Continual revisitation must follow to ensure that the X-system responses are appropriate in an impending, potential or actual aircraft upset.

These initial reactions can be transferred easily to other areas of flight training. This will ensure that initial responses are measured, appropriate, and deescalate the situation. UPRT requires a solid foundational understanding of instinctual reactions. Supporting pilots with tools to analyse and amend their X-system response will assist in embedding a safe initial response to startle and surprise in an unexpected event, thereby improving UPRT training outcomes.

Dr. Mizuki Urano is an experienced specialist in the aviation industry, serving in different roles both in the airlines and training provider. She is dedicated to ensuring that high quality of cabin safety is upheld in her current role as a Regional Manager Asia-Pacific at Inflight Institute / Inflight Innovations Inc. Dr. Mizuki Urano is a passionate advocate on a mission to improve cabin crew competencies in Asia-Pacific.

During her days at Japan Airlines as a cabin safety officer/cabin crew, she worked as a delegate member of ICAO Cabin Safety Working Group, AAPA (Association of Asia Pacific Airlines) and ATEC (Association of Air Transport Engineering and Research). Based on her experience of developing the 2nd edition of ICAO Doc 10002, she adapted her knowledge and skills to create Japan Airlines’ original competency-based training and assessment methods. With the strong efforts of promoting its concept by developing education program, the number of incidents in cabin has drastically decreased and the positive safety culture where each cabin crew actively shares best practices has been fostered.

She has been passionate about the “empowerment” in her research on Human Security at the University of Tokyo and received a doctor’s degree in 2022. While working in Cabin Safety Department at Japan Airlines, she realized that the “empowerment” in the aviation industry is to promote positive safety culture for both customers and cabin/flight crew, and competency-based approach is the best way to achieve that. Although transitioning from the traditional task-based approach to the competency-based one is challenging with cultural backgrounds in Asia, she believes that this will definitely contribute to aviation safety.

She is now invested in mentoring the next generation of cabin crew while providing pre-qualification programs of Inflight Institute in Asia-Pacific. In addition, she has been discussing with CAAs and airlines to find solutions for safer and more efficiency operations based on Inflight Innovations Inc’s experiences in Europe and North America.

She especially aspires to open up a new world by establishing high quality and efficient training and certificate program such as integrated learning cycle in Asia-Pacific region which is a very expected potential market with a mixture of full-service carriers and emerging LCCs.

Cabin Crew Conference
Day 2 – Wednesday 30th August 2023 – Session 6

Applying CBTA for Cabin Crew and the Next Generation

Since ICAO issued the 2nd edition of ICAO Doc 10002 “Cabin Crew Safety Training Manual” in 2020, airlines have been struggling to integrate competencies in their training and assessments. This presentation is to discuss how some elements of CBTA might help to improve Cabin Safety.

What is competency-based training and assessments? The goal of competency-based training and assessment is to provide focused training for a competent workforce. It is a systematic method based on three principles: First, identification of the key competencies and skills to be achieved; secondly, determination of the most effective way of achieving these competencies; thirdly, establishment of tools for valid and reliable assessment measurement. In this presentation, the speaker will primarily focus on the TOOLS for valid and reliable assessment measures and explain how airlines and authorities in Europe and North America implement CBTA in ICAO Doc 10002. She will the provide Asia-Pacific with specific examples of training and assessments in order to improve the quality of cabin safety.

One solution for fostering cabin crew competencies is to empower students before entering the industry with pre-qualification programs and track their competencies throughout their entire cabin crew life. This concept will also address the shortage of skilled cabin crew after the Covid-19 pandemic. During the presentation, the speaker will also explain how airlines and authorities in Europe and North America utilize the pre-qualification programs to recruit and maintain skilled and motivated cabin crew based on the concept of CBTA.

As we move forward, into this new method of training and assessments we strive to deliver improved safety and enhanced training to better support our industry.

Michael has an extensive background as a pilot, instructor, examiner, and manager working in many sectors of the aviation industry. His career began in the Royal Air Force, followed by time as an airline pilot as commander on the Boeing 757/767. He worked for the UK CAA in operations and training oversight. He held management roles with Boeing (Alteon) and then Airbus in Toulouse. In his Airbus role of Senior Director Training Development Michae formed the idea which became the Evidence-based Training Project, leading the International IATA/ICAO/IFALPA EBT Working Group from 2007 until 2013, leading to the publication of ICAO Doc 9995. Michael worked in the development of FSTD’s, and his team have guided many airlines in the implementation of EBT and competency-based training programs.

Pilot Conference
Day 1 – Tuesday 29th August 2023 – Session 3

Development of Competency – The Total Systems Approach

ICAO’s new approach to Competency Based Training and Assessment provides the opportunity to move away from classical Instructional Systems Design through complex Training Needs Analysis, offering the opportunity to create a new paradigm for pilot training. This presentation will consider a roadmap to creating a competent airline pilot. How are competencies developed? When are they developed, and what do we expect in the final result? It is only by considering how individuals develop from novices towards becoming experts that we can understand what, how, when, and where underpinning non-technical and interpersonal competencies are best developed and consistently reinforced to achieve the level of expertise in flight operations that we seek.

Matt Wheatley is the founder and CEO of Sigma, one of Australia’s most progressive companies in aviation. Sigma Aerospace operates under 3 pillars. They are educating tomorrow’s aviation experts through the Sigma College; they place the right people into the best aviation companies in the world through their recruitment and placement capabilities whilst keeping aircraft in the air with their on-the-ground world-class MRO operations and component maintenance facilities.