AIR NZ TRAINING MANAGEMENT POSITIONS by Arthur Gatland

Arthur’s not done with us yet!

It is kind of a given that someone with the expertise in flying and risk management such as Arthur has, should end up in management with Air New Zealand.

Today, Arthur takes us though the role of Training Manager at Air New Zealand. We get a sneak peak into the back room operations to keep aircraft and their crew flying safely and efficiently.

Let rip, Arthur!

In 1997 I was invited to apply for a Training Management position, and after due thought I decided to throw my hat into the ring.  I was successful and became the Chief Training Captain (International) in charge of pilot training on the B747 and B767. It was a steep learning curve and I relied a lot on my instincts with at times some great advice from senior Captains and some astute First Officers.

About one year later Air NZ purchased Ansett Australia in what proved to be an expensive and in fact almost catastrophic venture.  After the “merger” I was appointed Manager Flight Standards for the combined airlines, and at the same time Senior Manager for Training and Flight Standards for all Air NZ pilots and cabin crew. 

Ansett was full of some very good people, but sadly Ansett was financially more of a basket-case than the due diligence had apparently revealed, and despite a large weekly cash investment from Air NZ it collapsed and would have dragged Air NZ down with it if had not been for an NZ Government financial investment. I genuinely thought we would all be out of a job over one particular weekend, but Air NZ recovered well and has never looked back.

Ansett BAe 146 - ‘fondly’ called the cockroach. Picture credit - Mike Ijsseldijk

Manager Flight Standards role:

As Air NZ regrouped after the Ansett collapse, I was confirmed as the Manager of Flight Standards and Training (Manager Flight Standards for a shorter title) and I remained in that role for approximately 10 years (while still flying of course!)

It was very interesting and rewarding, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, but it was a 24/7 responsibility. There were several highlights during my tenure, including overseeing the introduction of the Airbus A320 and initially the Boeing B777, introducing new routes (the Hong Kong to London route, and introducing the B777 to the Los Angeles to London route.) We also set up the training for new cabin crew bases in Shanghai and London.

As Manager Flight Standards, I did a few reviews of our training aims. One change I implemented was to put more training emphasis on the importance of the support pilot, or Pilot Monitoring (PM).

Whether it was the Captain, First Officer or Second Officer who is the flying pilot (PF) for any particular flight, the pilot in the other flying seat acts as support. They have a huge responsibility including making all Air Traffic Control radio calls, ensuring the PF follows ATC instructions correctly, operating all checklists, making most of the changes to the navigation computer etc.

Understanding the importance to flight safety of the PM, we wanted to train and assess the PM role as a critical part of the overall crew outcome. We also put more emphasis on human factors training to ensure good communication and workload management within a crew. Surprising as it sounds now, the PM role was not assessed 25 years ago.

Air New Zealand B747-400 performing at Oshkosh 1998

Photo credit: Jim Weeden

Air NZ Oshkosh B747 appearance:

During my time in Management, it was decided that an Air NZ Boeing 747-400 would fly a charter to Oshkosh, Wisconsin for the famous annual Fly-in and Air Show, followed by a short flying display before departing back to NZ.

I felt that such an unusual flying task required careful risk assessment and training. I ensured that we flew a series of flight simulator practice displays, where I introduced several possible threats and contingencies for these, such as a light aircraft with no radio infringing the display area, or a passing thunderstorm with sudden strong wind changes typical of the area.

We also discussed human factors relating to air displays, which are significant and important. The crew found the extra training worthwhile, and the charter flight and display went off without a hitch, and we got great feedback from the international aviation fraternity.  

A brief summary of management initiatives and oversight:

·        I developed a new Standards Pilot Selection Procedure (SSP) which aimed to objectively assess applicants for pilot training roles in six areas – Technical Knowledge, Operational Standards, basic Instructional Ability, Interpersonal Skills, previous Training Experience, and a final interview – and appointments were made purely on the resulting score.  It was an innovative process, particularly using feedback questionnaires about the applicants. It proved to be an accurate process and well received by the pilot fraternity.   

Standards Pilot Selection (SSP) assessment form examples

·      The SSP was written into the ALPA pilot contract as a required process, thus removing any perception of “grace and favour” by training or operations management. I believe it is well accepted even today, and a big improvement on what we had before. One indicator was that the number of applicants for pilot training positions increased dramatically after the SSP was introduced.

·      I was invited to speak about the SSP at WATS (World Airline Training Symposium) Conference, and as a result I visited and sold the SSP to 8 other airlines, including Falcon Air in Sweden, Austrian Airlines in Vienna, Jet Blue in New York, China Air and EVA in Taipei and others.

·      I introduced Threat and Error Management training into Air NZ, with considerable help from two human factors gurus. The TEM course trained pilots to recognise situations which introduced a Threat that increased the likelihood of an Error occurring. Additionally, it trained pilots on how to capture errors and to deal with any undesirable situation that ensued. These techniques are now an integral part of Air NZ’s normal procedures and flight briefings. I was invited to deliver a TEM presentation in Newcastle, Australia at a Human Factors Symposium, and also at WATS that year in Montreal, and I had great endorsement on our TEM course from a few recognised world leaders in human factors. 

·      I was invited again to talk about our TEM course at the next WATS Conference in Dallas, Texas. This conference was attended by a group of NASA astronauts and flight operations specialists. They requested a meeting to discuss TEM, and it was very interesting for both parties to compare operating procedures and human factors between airline and NASA operations.

·     By request, I delivered TEM presentations to Medical Conferences in NZ annually for a few years. I also wrote a series of articles on TEM for gliding, and I had requests from several overseas gliding fraternities to translate the series for their own national gliding magazines.

·      In one WATS conference – I think it was Dallas as well – I arrived armed with a box full of video CDs. Air NZ had had an incident at Apia, Western Samoa, where a Boeing 767 was carrying out an ILS (instrument landing system) approach but the glideslope – which gives the descent profile – was transmitting incorrect information. The crew realised eventually and carried out a go-around and landed safely using another approach. A thorough investigation located the cause, and Air NZ made a video to publicise this possible anomaly for information of other airlines. I presented the video at the WATS conference, and we sold 50 copies on the spot (at cost only) with another 70 orders to arrange when I arrived back in Auckland.

·    As I mentioned in my F27 blog, I considered it important that we introduced a simulator training programme to practise recovering from unusual attitudes, and I put together a training module. Unusual attitudes are rare but can be catastrophic. They can result from airspeed errors, severe weather, inappropriate flight modes etc. As we were just about to introduce this training, the main aircraft manufacturers (Airbus and Boeing) announced that they had developed a combined unusual attitude recovery training programme. I felt it was prudent to use their programme as it would certainly have credibility with our pilots and NZCAA. Unusual Attitude Recovery is now an integral part of Air NZ type rating courses and recurrent training.

AIRBUS A320 introduction:

In 2003 Air NZ introduced the A320 into service to replace the older B737s. The A320 Fleet Manager and Training Manager and our initial designated instructors all did the A320 course in Toulouse, France, and having purchased a procedures trainer and a flight simulator earlier, we immediately started delivering our own training courses in Auckland.

I attended several Airbus operator meetings in Toulouse and in Seville, Spain. Air NZ was already using a ZFT (zero-flight time) simulator and could issue a type rating without doing any aircraft training at all, but we were the first Airbus operators to do this. Airbus asked me to speak about this at the Seville Conference, and a few airlines asked questions about how we used the simulator such as “Do you actually fail the engine, or pull it back to idle?” Seriously? That’s the obvious advantage of a flight simulator.

Training Management continued:

As the Manager in charge of crew training and standards, one of my goals had always been that the Air NZ Board and CEO should have flexibility to operate new or increased flight schedules whenever the market opportunities occurred, and it was our job to ensure we supplied sufficient numbers of trained competent crew to do it.

On one occasion I was about to drive home after a flight, when I received a phone call from the Manager of Operations at Air NZ. “This is confidential at this point – but if we wanted to start operating the Boeing 777 on the Los Angeles-London route (instead of the B747) starting in three weeks’ time, could you train sufficient crews in time?” My mind did a quick analysis. Up to that point, B747 crews were given 2-sectors of line training flying the route, but we had already discussed providing a detailed computer-based training package instead. Would we have enough time to develop the new CBT and updated Route Guide information, and train approximately 200 pilots within three weeks?

“Yes, we can do that” was my response, leading to a flurry of activity, but we achieved the goal without undue stress at all, facilitated by pilots who were supportive and completed the newly-developed CBT package in quick time.

Arthur outside the B787 Simulator

Other specific training projects included:

·     operations by the B747-400 on the Hong Kong to London route, flying over North-west China, the high terrain north of the Himalayas, over Kazakhstan, Russia and Eastern Europe. It was an interesting route with spectacular scenery but required appropriate training to cover contingencies in the event of an engine failure or other unexpected events.

·   setting up new Cabin Crew bases in London and Shanghai, with resulting emergency procedures training in mock-ups and on line, as well as the customer service training.

·   Occasionally I had to remind Cabin Crew Managers of the importance of the Regulatory requirements for cabin crew, including correct rostering of senior cabin crew as well as supervising the delivery of safety training.

·    I mandated that pilots and cabin crew should do safety training together, which ensured interaction and better mutual understanding of each other’s roles and enhanced safety.

After about 10 years as Senior Manager for Training and Flight Standards, I decided to return to the role of Flight and Simulator Trainer/Examiner, and get someone else into the senior role with fresh ideas. (Melissa here- Arthur is still in this role)

I had continued my sports (gliding, basketball and windsurfing including competing in the World Champs in the latter), but I decided to return to fencing after a 20-year break – and surprised myself (and others) by becoming NZ National Champion in 2010 at the age of 60. The next oldest competitor in the top 10 was just 24. But that’s another story….

Arthur Gatland

This is Arthur’s machine of expertise now. The B787 Simulator. An extraordinary piece of kit!