“There are no shortcuts to any place worth going”-  Beverly Sills.

The famous quote suits well with the training requirements in the aviation sector as this is one of those sectors which requires only skilled manpower. Even for fresher’s every organization provides them required training as mandated by the regulatory authorities to make them perfect and job-oriented. Dr. (Prof) Dewakar Goel, a seasoned aviation expert through this article dwells upon all the jobs that aviation sector provides and their training parameters in details which will be of great help to the entire new age aviation enthusiast who are looking forward to make their career in this field.

We have witnessed 23 Per cent increase in the passenger movement per year in India during last years and it is anticipated that same trend will continue for another ten years making India number one in domestic sector and among first five in International sector. The association of International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Policy framework of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in the field of training is considered as a boon which helped aviation industry to grow in India tremendously. The role and responsibility shouldered by training institutions of airport operators, airlines and other agencies needs to be given the credit for enhancing the performance level of aviation personnel which gave rise to this growth. Having said so, we need to appreciate the importance of training and its impact on aviation growth.

When we talk about training, it signifies imparting knowledge and skills to the employees so as to perform the task as per requirement of the job. The job of a trainer is like that of a civil engineer who maintains the pavements for filling up of the manholes. The engineer looks for the material and the techniques to fill these holes. He/she also identifies the causes and while filling the manholes, he takes care that there should not be any water retention on it because as per his/her findings, the potholes occurred due to water retention. Similarly, a trainer needs to identify the knowledge gaps of the trainees so as to fill up them with required knowledge and skills. Training can be of technical nature, non-technical nature, and soft-skills which also relates to personal development of employees. Every avocation has got the requirement of training whether it is in the manufacturing, marketing, finance, HR, logistics, and every technological field. Organizations prepare training modules as required for their working.

During last two decades, we have seen that training has become an important area for enhancing the performance level of the employees and it has become essential systematic activity. Pre-training analyses are done and training modules are designed accordingly. Concept of on-the-job training has gained considerable importance and post training feedback is undertaken as a process of evaluation so as to know whether the desired outcome has reflected in the performance level that gives rise to the concept of train and re-train.

TRAINING IN AVIATION

Now, let us talk about training in aviation, which is quite different from the training in other sectors. Why it is different since aviation is a unique field where you do not get the manpower readily available. We create foundation of competencies keeping in view of organizational objectives. The manpower planning is done for short-term and long-term and jobs are created as per industry’s requirements. Job specifications and descriptions are discussed with the line managers to induct right kind of manpower. The next step comes in generating expertise from amongst the manpower inducted so as to assign the roles. We can get qualified experienced people for every industry except Aviation as the roles and responsibilities are different. Technical or non-technical graduates or post-graduates in management cannot be utilized straight away in aviation sector because the nature of job is unique.

Let us come to the micro-level in understanding the training aspects of aviation industry. We can take the example of airport manager who is responsible for managing various activities of terminal management with the focus on passenger facilitation. It requires communication, co-ordination and control. The surveys are done by Airport Council International (ACI) for giving Airport Service Quality (ASQ) ratings on 5-point scale for all International airports of the world, classifying them as per flight and passenger movement. Here also, basis of grading is feedback from the passengers. The airport manager has got great responsibility of meeting the needs of all stakeholders. May it be, immigration, customs, police, CISF, Airlines, taxi operators, parking contractors, security agencies, various travel requisites shops, housekeeping staffs, Airport Operation Control Centre (AOCC), air worthiness and his own staff deputed for terminal management looking after facilitation. The job is multi-dimensional. He/she needs to have knowledge of air side management also whether it is for apron, air-traffic control, fire section, parking bays, runways, hangers, and all areas because if a customer comes with a query as to why his relative has not come out though the flight has landed 30 minutes before, the knowledge of air side management becomes handy when he/she knows time spent by the aircraft on taxi way and location of parking bay. Also, about the time consumed in arrival of unaccompanied baggage on the conveyor belt. See, how different is the profile of airport manager in comparison to the profile of hotel manager.

Though, Now-a-days, we are hiring management post-graduates for both these jobs. The hotel industry prefers diploma/degree in Hotel Management as compared to MBA.

If we look back three decades down the memory lane, the non-graduate unemployed commercial pilots were being inducted as airport managers and the experience showed that they were far more effective as excellent performers as airport manager as compared to present day MBAs mainly due to the strong base of air side operations  knowledge and other aspects of aviation. The aviation training is multi-dimensional. We talked about airport manager whose performance is before the public. Let us talk about air traffic controller who is responsible for proper separation of aircrafts to avoid collusion and safe landing and take-off of aircrafts as per flight plan. They work on radar whether it is on radar for area control, reporting and approach or fundamental on tower. We cannot get air traffic controller in the market. We have to make him/her. Because the basic knowledge of Physics, Mathematics, or electronics and theoretical knowledge of radars may be available in the markets but how to function as an air traffic controller is a different task. It takes 3 to 5 years by imparting knowledge by training, that includes theoretical knowledge by way of classroom teaching and on simulators followed by on-the-job training. They need to acquire various ratings before allowing them to act as air traffic controllers.

Training is the most important aspect of aviation industry. Take the example of pilot. It takes years to obtain commercial pilot license with multi-engine aircraft rating and flying hours for inducting by the airlines. But here also, they don’t become the pilot unless they are imparted on-the-job training after successful completion of various parameters. The concept of trainee pilot is relevant to be quoted here.

Now comes the question of technical training for Aviation personnel which may find similarity to other industries when it comes to the field of civil, electrical, electronics, and automobile industry because we cannot maintain the airports unless the building and runways are maintained to the world standards. Our runways are flexible pavements with traditional bitumen and other materials. Engineers working in aviation use modern equipment for testing the friction level. Again, there is scientific process of rubber removal in order to maintain required friction level. Now, training becomes an essential requirement for engineers to undertake this task. It is a unique activity specific to aviation industry.

Fire and Rescue operation is another important area where we maintain water levels depending upon aircraft movements. Various categories like, 7, 8 and so on are specified as per International standards. City fire station and fire station inside airports are different. The crash fire tenders (CFT) are also different. At the airport, we don’t look for equipment to reach to the high-rise buildings. Here, the requirement is the speed of the vehicle. It may attain over 100km/hr within few seconds. The aircraft fire is mainly due to air turbine fuel. Therefore, we have equipment for foam forming besides water, spray guns with very high velocity. The training to the fire personnel working for rescue operation is entirely different because they need to carry the injured passenger on their shoulders within shortest possible time to casualty centre at the fire station. They cannot afford to waste time for calling stretchers. Various training courses are designed such as, basic fire training to specialized refresher course.

Now we come to Cargo operations. Across the world, around 7 per cent cargo movement is done by air. Rest is through sea via ships. If we think in financial terms then this 7 per cent constitutes a major share. Let us see what is different in aviation cargo training and other supply chain management. Dangerous goods regulation is an important area for training. It is mandatory for every cargo personnel to successfully complete the courses relating to DGR. Various other fields are there which requires expertise to be acquired by training. Perishable cargo needs special care with different kind of supply chain management. We need to train the people for maintaining dwell time. Now, we are aiming for 8 hours dwell time from air to truck. It cannot happen without on-the-job training.

Aviation training is not only unique and different from requirement point of view but it is quite different in practice also. There is no hit and trial. The rules and regulations are laid down and the norms are fixed by way of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Anex. 1 to 19 which takes care in 360 -degree form covering all areas of Aviation, training and management. Safety and security are on the top priority list in the aviation sector across the world. The threat perception is very high which requires pro-active management. Successful completion of Aviation security course is mandatory for all aviation personnel. Specialized courses are designed for inspectors, who are exposed to periodical training to keep them abreast with latest techniques. Bomb detection and disposal squads (BDDS) function as a separate unit for all airports where the need is to train the sniffer dogs  and this training is specific to Aviation.

Manpower is costly affair after air turbine fuel. How to reduce cost ? Aviation training comes very handy in reducing the manpower. One-way artificial intelligence works and on the other side, we train the people with multi-skilling. You may find an air traffic controller at Agatti airport in Lakshadweep Islands performing the job of airport manager undertaking the task related to commercial, finance, HR and public relations. Multi-tasking can only come by way of imparting knowledge relating to multi-discipline. For performance, you don’t require only knowledge and skills but abilities are major factor.

There are roughly 25 areas of operations in Aviation industry if I take into account the jobs of all the stakeholders. It is impossible to discuss training needs of all disciplines but one aspect is common for all which speaks about on-the-job training periodically.

The growth in the Aviation industry is tremendous and its continuance is undoubtedly dependent on training. For that we need to have pre-training needs analysis and post training needs analysis periodically for all disciplines.

The author is:

Chairman, Aero Academy of Aviation Science & Management

Executive Director (HR); Airports AuthorityIndia (former)

Director, Indian Aviation Academy (former)

HR Consultant, ICAO, Montreal, Canada

Human Performance Technologist, IATA, Geneva, Switzerland

ICAO and IATA Certified Training Instructor ACI Standing Committee

Member Asia Pacific Hong Kong;

Advocate, Supreme Court of India