Made not born

The key issue at stake is genuine skills development so that prospective Chief Pilots are given more tools to feel comfortable and competent in their new job. The course will of course also be available to existing Chief Pilots interested in maintaining their professional development, building their supporting network of mentors and also offering insights into the realities of being a Chief Pilot.

In addition to covering the legal responsibilities of a Chief Pilot raised by the CASA regulations – including a sound knowledge of the relevant regulations – the course will also deliver ‘soft’ skills that are critical – such as managing yourself and managing other people.

Many Chief Pilots find themselves put up for the job with no real understanding of the responsibilities that come with it, or with the complete suite of skills required to be able to project themselves across operations. The AAAA course will deliver these skills in an engaging format that will cover a wide range of learning styles and interactive opportunities to learn from more experienced Chief Pilots.

The course will also deliver critical ‘soft’ skills.

A key driver behind AAAA’s renewed push in this area is the lack of relevance and uncertainty of CASA assessments of Chief Pilots for aerial application companies.

Recent examples include CASA demands for flight planning exercises for a charter operation – even though the operator didn’t have charter on their AOC – or the insistence on a flight test in an aircraft that is simply incapable of aerial application, and on a flight that cannot be conducted below 500’ as the CASA officer didn’t have approvals to go that low.

If CASA wants to be taken seriously, it should explore with industry ways of actually delivering knowledge and skills to people – rather than sitting in judgement of competencies and knowledge that it simply does not possess.

That is not to say that CASA has no role in approving Chief Pilots- it clearly should. But that role should be to encourage highly specialised sectors – such as aerial application – to develop training specific to that environment. CASA’s job should then be to support the development of the training, assist in ensuring its relevance both to safety and to the regulations, and then to recognise completion of such a course as a superior process to existing Chief Pilot interviews and subjective judgements by non-expert personnel.

Not only would this process fit more comfortably within the national training framework, it would serve to standardise and lift the quality of people taking up Chief Pilot positions, especially for the first time.

The AAAA course is to be preceded by successful completion of 10 pre-reading tasks and assessments covering the regulations, fatigue management, people management skills, leadership and related issues. The course itself is planned to run for three days and feature a range of problem solving and scenario-based exercises to build skills in essential areas. AAAA will be making use of guest presenters and facilitators in addition to its own staff.

In addition to recognising the AAAA Chief Pilots course, CASA should also be close to finalising its recognition of the AAAA AIMS program that delivers an SMS for aerial application companies in addition to a range of systems related to WHS, environmental protection, QA and continuous improvement. The CASA report supporting recognition has been sitting on someone’s desk for 18 months. The program is already independently audited and sits very comfortably with Recommendation 27 of the Forsyth Report.

As a means of embracing its allegedly new way of doing things, CASA could do a lot worse than looking to work more closely with organisations such as AAAA who have the expertise, the drive and the program depth to improve the processes CASA currently uses.

Combining such a commitment with a revised classification of operations and breathing new life into the stalled Sector Risk Profile approach which promised so much, CASA could make significant inroads into supporting improved safety in GA and aerial work, rather than trying to dictate it.

Regardless of CASA’s ability or willingness to get on board, AAAA will be finalising development of the course over coming months with the first course planned to be delivered before the end of the year.