Train-the-Trainer by DataHomeLab

A4.1.2 General Principles

The aim of an EBT programme is to identify, develop, and assess the competencies required by pilots in order to operate safely, effectively, and efficiently in a commercial air transport environment, by managing the most relevant threats and errors, based on evidence collected in operations and training.

Unpacking the aim statement

The single-sentence aim statement carries the entire EBT logic in compressed form. Read in pieces:

  • Identify, develop, and assess competencies. The programme has three operational verbs in order. Identify the competencies a pilot needs in this fleet, this operation, this regulatory environment. Develop those competencies through targeted training. Assess whether the trainee has reached the required level. The three verbs are not sequential phases of a single session; they describe the lifecycle of a competency-based programme. The core-competency set is the deliverable of the identify step.
  • Required by pilots in order to operate. The competencies are derived from what the operation requires, not from a fixed historical event list. The required competency set may evolve as the operation evolves (new aircraft generation, new route structure, new regulatory environment); the programme accommodates that evolution because it is anchored to operational requirements rather than to a static event catalogue.
  • Safely, effectively, and efficiently. Three success criteria, in priority order. Safety is the floor; effectiveness is the operational outcome (the flight is delivered as planned); efficiency is the production criterion (resource use is reasonable). A programme that achieves the first two but fails the third still has a problem, but a programme that fails the first cannot be said to have succeeded on the second or third.
  • Commercial air transport environment. The frame is line operations under a commercial AOC, not general flight training. The competencies and their development pathway assume the trainee is or will be a line pilot.
  • Managing the most relevant threats and errors. The TEM frame. The competencies are operationalised against the threats and errors the operation actually encounters, prioritised by relevance (frequency, severity, recency).
  • Based on evidence collected in operations and training. The evidence base is internal to aviation operations: line operations data, training results, safety reports. The evidence argument is developed in A4.1.3 Evidence.

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