Airbus is transforming the journey on how pilots and mechanics learn, by moving away from a traditional task-based philosophy toward an adaptable, data-driven and competency-based future.
This transformation is built on three distinct pillars:
• Competency-Based Training and Assessment (CBTA)
• The increasing use of disruptive technology such as Virtual Reality (VR)
• A new suite of upskilling and ‘train the trainer’ courses designed to help airlines navigate this new terrain
Methodological shift: How has training shifted from tasks to competencies?
Let's focus on pilot training. Traditionally, pilot training can be boiled down into a checklist of manoeuvres or tasks. A typical example is landing with a certain amount of crosswind, managing an engine failure at take off or handling smoke in the cabin. Whenever the trainees ‘tick those boxes’, then it's a wrap!.
However, as modern aircraft become more automated and reliable, accidents and other aviation safety shortfalls are becoming less the result of a single mechanical failure, but rather more due to a breakdown in human decision-making, communication or situational awareness. This realisation in the industry has led to the rise of CBTA for Type Rating initial training and command courses, and Evidence-Based Training (EBT) which is the application of CBTA to Recurrent Training & Checking. (....)