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With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

12/10/2015 by Aviation Times

The repeated news about the leaping Asian Pacific region in terms of aviation does not surprise us anymore. Not only has the index of market growth in forecast stays in positive positions it also constantly gets higher and higher. According to the last Boeing Market Outlook (2015 – 2034) the forecast for upcoming 20 years is even more promising than it was last year. The predicted number of new airplanes in Asia Pacific region has grown from 13 900 up to 14 330 since 2014 forecast. In one year the demand for pilots grew from 216 000 up to the 226 000 and new technicians from 224 000 up to 226 000 and these numbers are predicted just for Asia Pacific region. Cheaper oil, boosting low cost carriers (LCC), doubled number of jets in Asian airlines’ fleet made Asia region one of the biggest aviation markets in the world.

The predicted numbers should shoot young generation expectations for career possibilities to the moon. And it’s true – this is the best time to choose aviation for your future. However, with such fast growth the concerns regarding the aviation safety in the region picked up the speed too. Latest fatal crashes in Asia not mentioning a long list of Asian airlines that are being banned from flying in the EASA region – shows, that there is definitely where to improve in Asian aviation safety. The only question is whether the region will manage to keep up the safety standards along with the turbulence of the market growth?

Cultural differences play a part too

While working as an aviation training provider for almost 20 years, BAA Training had students of very different cultural profile. For the past few years more and more students from Asia Pacific region are conducting their training here, at EASA standards based training academy. According to the instructors, trainee experience is very different. Some students’ performance during the training is excellent, however others lack even the basic knowledge. “There are indeed a lot of great young pilots, and there is no doubt in the choice of their profession. However we do meet pilots, who lack required personal skills. And it is very sad, that idea of the profit in the industry sometime overcomes the suitability and safety questions”, comments BAA Training Type Rating Training Instructor. In addition to that, students from Asia still have a very clear hierarchy, which tends to be very unhealthy in the cockpit environment. However training experts emphasise, that with the right amount of attention to the problem, and additional courses the problem can be solved.

It’s all about the approach to business

Let’s get one thing straight right away – there a lot of operators in the region that are excellent in terms of safety performance and standards. However, as the region grows, a lot of smaller or new companies arise in order to meet the demand. And we have to be honest, aviation as every other business has a goal to earn money. However the experience while working in the region shows that some airlines put money questions before the safety.

“We have been working in Asia Pacific region for over 3 years now. As the EASA standard training provider we have noticed some tendency to save expenses on crews training. Such thing is very concerning not only where there is already a gap in training in terms of training hours compared to the EASA standards, but there is a great threat that with the growing demand for airlines that gap will become even wider”, comments Egle Vaitkeviciute CEO at BAA Training.

As an example, most European airlines not only meet the requirement for the amount of Recurrent Training hours, but usually even extend it, while some Asian airlines seek the bare minimum. After all, during the Recurrent pilot training pilots renew their most essential knowledge – managing the emergency situations.

In general aviation safety is a very complex thing made from little, yet very important parts. One of those important parts is instructors. In order to ensure high pilot performance, the attention should be brought back to the beginning – were the instructors qualified enough to prepare suitable professionals? Have they emphasized safety rather than focus on the internal company policies, which sometime puts safety to the background? “Safety and quality is not something you can add easily, it must become the mindset of the business, appearing in every step of operating processes and daily operators’ work. And yes, it means that airlines will have to give up some profits in order to avoid mistakes and loose even more”, adds Egle Vaitkevicute.

Source: BAA Training