IATA publishes research on aviation training requirements post-pandemic

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released research on the training requirements for the aviation workforce as the industry starts to recover from the COVID-19 crisis.

According to a global survey of some 800 human resources (HR) leaders in the aviation industry who are responsible for learning and development, right-skilling existing workers and ensuring that new hires from outside of the industry can quickly acquire the necessary skills will be key to successfully building the post-pandemic aviation workforce.

To achieve this, training programmes will need to be adapted, with around half of the HR respondents stating that their top priority is to assess available workforce skills and map these against their organisation’s competency requirements. This will form the basis for the required training curriculums.

The pandemic had already forced many airlines and other companies in the value chain, like ground service providers, to assess what overall skills their employees possessed to adapt to new operational requirements. A case in point was the need to load cargo into cabins of passenger aircraft that were repurposed to carry cargo only. 

As demand for air travel recovers, companies will be bringing back employees from various furlough schemes, but will also be hiring from outside of the industry. Results from the survey show that the topics of safety, operations, security and economic disciplines have been identified as the main areas where training will be required to master the current situation. Safety was highlighted as particularly critical for airlines, ground service providers and airports.

“IATA has been providing training for aviation professionals for nearly 50 years. The technical nature of our industry, coupled with stringent requirements defined by the regulators, drive the necessity for standardised training across the sector. Given the fact that the COVID-19 crisis forced many companies to either completely halt or drastically scale down training, we will continue to adapt our portfolio to ensure that we can contribute to the industry’s restart,” said Frédéric Leger, Interim Senior Vice President of Commercial Products and Services at IATA and the President of Cargo Network Services (CNS). 

For training delivery, the focus will shift to digital methods as opposed to conventional classroom training:

• 36 per cent of respondents have already moved their focus to distance/ e-learning
• 85 per cent of the respondents said that online learning, including virtual classrooms, will play an important role in the recovery.

Digital learning options already played a key role in some of the initiatives that IATA offered in supporting the industry during the pandemic, such as:

• A special online training course for former cabin crew to help them to realise their potential outside of the industry
• Virtual classroom training for temperature-controlled cargo operations to support the vaccine transport
• An eLearning module for the transport of pharma products and vaccines by air
• Training on Ground Support Equipment (GSE) to support ground handlers in managing their supply during the pandemic and enabling maintenance of vital equipment
• Transforming critical training courses – such as dangerous goods – into a virtual format to enable attendance in the face of travel restrictions.

As aviation rebuilds, topics such as sustainability and digitalisation will gain in importance. IATA is already working with several academic partners to design courses on sustainability to attract new talent and to help to shape the future of aviation. Furthermore, a new cross-functional Aeronautical Skills IATA Working Group will ensure that the future training requirements are in line with the needs brought about by the digital transformation of the industry.

“IATA continues to be ready to support the training needs of the aviation value chain. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have shown that we can quickly adapt to changing requirements. With the groundwork done on sustainability and digitalisation, we are preparing to satisfy the needs of tomorrow’s aviation workforce,” said Leger.