Regional Aviation Early Career Pilot Attributes Study

Abstract

Traditionally the military or general aviation have been the trainingground for early career regional airline pilots (Mitchell, n.d.a). With the reduction in military pilot training and the high cost of general aviation flying, universities and airlines are undertaking ab-initio training of potential airline pilots. While there are technical standards for specific pilot knowledge, skill and flight performance, there is only guidance material on non-technical skills. Nontechnical skills are defined as: the mental, social, and personal-management abilities that complement the technical skills of workers and contribute to safe and effective performance in complex work systems. They include competencies such as decision-making, workload management, team communication, situation awareness, and stress management. (CASA, 2011, p. 8) The use of non-technical behaviour markers to identify a unique set of interpersonal skills for flight crews was identified by the aviation industry as a key factor in improving safety (Flin, Martin, Goeters, Hormann, Amalberti, Valot, & Nijhuis, 2003). However, most non-technical skills development is done using other programs that are modelled on specific cultures that may or may not define the behaviours that fit within an organisation (Fletcher, Flin, McGeorge, Glavin,

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on current tertiary aviation education and future careers: Students’ perspective

“…Research into the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on industry sectors that directly recruit graduates is emerging. It is the General Aviation (GA) sector and associated community that provides the first employment opportunity for the aviation graduate, providing a platform for building work experience and nurturing professional culture ( Schreckengast and Drury, 2015 ). Tisdall and Zhang, 2020 considered the observed impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the GA community in Australia.…”