- 36% of survey respondents have already moved their focus to distance / e-learning.
- 85% of survey respondents said that online learning including virtual classrooms will play an important role in the recovery.
- As aviation rebuilds, topics such as sustainability and digitalization will gain in importance.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) 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 responsible for learning and development, right-skilling existing workers and ensuring that new hires from outside aviation can quickly acquire the necessary skills will be key to successfully building the post-pandemic workforce.
To achieve this, training programs will need to be adapted, with around half the HR respondents stating that their top priority is to assess available workforce skills and map these against their organization’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 in cabins of passenger aircraft repurposed to carry cargo only.
As demand for air travel recovers, companies will be bringing back employees but will also be hiring from outside 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 standardized 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, Commercial Products and Services at IATA & Cargo Network Services (CNS) President.
