Pilot and Maintenance Personnel Training & Licensing

As a leader of the CBTA principles development, IATA strongly encourages States and the industry to implement the Competency-Based Training and Assessment (CBTA) approach for all aviation personnel, throughout their entire career path, from selection, initial licensing training, recurrent and upgrade training.

In the context of the continuous increase in the complexity of the aviation system, it is IATA’s belief that CBTA supports the enhancement of operational safety and training efficiency. The pilot and maintenance personnel training and licensing portfolio provides guidance materials and best practices for an effective CBTA implementation in compliance with ICAO provisions.

Flight crew training

We rely on the operational training expertise of the IATA Pilot Training and Licensing Task Force - PTLTF (pdf) to:

• Provide solutions to the challenges related to pilot attraction and selection, licensing, and operator training
• Support globally harmonized CBTA implementation by providing guidance and best practices

Guidance for pilot selection, training, assessment

The following guidance materials have been developed with the support of the PTLTF:

Pilot Training & Licensing

• Competency-Based Training Assessment Library

Competency-Based Training and Assessment Expansion

• CBTA Expansion within the Aviation System - White Paper (pdf)
• Competency Assessment and Evaluation for Pilots, Instructors and Evaluators (pdf)

Evidence-Based Training (EBT)

• Evidence-Based Training Implementation Guide, Edition 2
• Data Report for Evidence-Based Training (pdf)

Multi-Crew Pilot License Training

• MPL Global Course Tracker (doc)

Distance Learning

• White Paper - Virtual Classroom Instruction (pdf)

Cross Crew Qualification

• Cross Crew Qualification - White Paper (pdf)

 

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Operators' Outreach Initiatives

Many operators are already experiencing a shortage of a qualified workforce. To secure the future pilot pipeline, operators around the world have implemented, or are in the process of implementing, innovative strategies to attract the younger generations and to facilitate the pathway to a career as a pilot.

Here are some best practices implemented by the members of the IATA Pilot Training and Licensing Task Force:

• Air France: Pilots Share their Experiences and Values
• Delta Air Lines Ltd.: Community Outreach
• Lufthansa: Lufthansa Group Careers 
• United Airlines: Pilot Positions

Engineering & maintenance

Competency-based training (CBT) for engineering and maintenance personnel engaged in aircraft and component maintenance activity is focused on building and supporting the workforce competent to perform, in the aviation specific ecosystem conditions, a defined set of maintenance tasks to defined standards.

In a traditional educational system, the training is strictly centered on subject matter content with delivery and assessment being instruction time-based and teacher-centered. In a Competency-Based Training and Assessment (CBTA) program, the delivery is based on learners’ training needs to perform defined categories of tasks, and it is student-centered.

To support the development and implementation of a competency-based training program for engineering and maintenance personnel, IATA developed the following guidance material:

• Guidance Material and Best Practices for the Implementation of Competency-Based Training in Maintenance