The importance of training

Aviation was after all the industry that created the idea of a global village.

Aviation on a rural airfield conducts itself against a global backdrop. A pilot accustomed to the largest airports in the world would instantly recognise the signs, safety apparatus, standard operating procedures and even the colour of the paints used on that small airfield.

This means that training and education must be considered in a global context, regardless of the size of the port. Laws and regulations in Australia are made to a significant extent in accordance with global norms, such as those put forward by ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization).

The AAA has recently partnered with the Online Learning Centre (operated in partnership with the Airports Council International) to bring a range of internationally-recognised and standardised material to local airports. These will span many topics as diverse as management skills, to dealing with the airport environment. It will also give those connected to airports the opportunity to gain global best practice in a wide array of competencies from day one.

The AAA has also identified a need in the Pacific region to raise the profile of the Airport Management Professional Accreditation Program (AMPAP) and the need to provide the face-to-face portions of that program in locations that would make it possible for airports in the region to participate in the most cost-effective way possible.

The AAA believes it can raise the profile of the AMPAP by not only generating interest with our members, but actively working with ICAO and the ACI to facilitate the uptake of this global benchmark.

Regardless of these initiatives and others, more can be done to assist airports and those that work on them (either directly employed or providing services on-airport) to understand the environment and their place within better. Aviation was after all the industry that created the idea of a global village. Although the industry is blessed with those that have many years experience airside, an ever-larger number of contractors, temporary workers and first day on the job candidates make it onto airfields every day.

These individuals may be staying for varying amounts of time, some as little as a few hours performing once-off tasks. These workers are presented with the same issues, risks and dangers that those who will stay much longer will face. It is therefore critical that certain minimum information is assimilated by everyone prior to accessing the airfield.

These include the basic working of an airport, where the no-go areas are and what the emergency procedures are. Identification, such as Aviation Security IdentificationCards or Visitor Identification Cards are crucial on modern aviation facilities. Workers must know regulations regarding drugs and alcohol as well as issues such as foreign object damage not only for their own protection, but also those around them.

The AAA has made this basic guidance available in the form of education templates that can easily be changed by members to suit their particular needs in terms of their airport. Incident reporting, safety and security as well as exclusion zones feature very prominently in these basic coverage templates.

Soon a number of new initiatives will be rolled out assisting members of all airport sizes even further, not to mention the return of the award-winning Certificate 3 in Airport Operations – or more commonly known as the ARO and WSO course – being rolled out across Australia with grant assistance in partnership with the Transport and Logistics Industry Skills Council.

These initiatives, coupled with the Coalition aviation policy inclusion of an aviation workforce development survey, will take some time to deliver tangible benefits. The long-term nature of the effort invested should not discourage us. Regardless of the training need, or the level of the skill required, the AAA is in the process of creating training and education options for not only its members, but airports throughout the region.