Technical Review

A Study on Airline Cabin Crew Safety Training Programs and Managers

Yun-mi Park*, Min-jung Lee**
Author Information & Copyright
*Professor, Department of Aviation Service, Cheongju University
**Professor, Department of Airline Services Management, Semyung University
Corresponding Author E-mail : ympark@cju.ac.kr, Corresponding Author Address : Department of Aviation Service, Cheongju University, Chungcheongbuk-do, 28503, Korea

© Copyright 2023 The Korean Society for Aviation and Aeronautics. This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Received: Jan 30, 2023; Revised: Jun 15, 2023; Accepted: Jun 26, 2023

Published Online: Jun 30, 2023

ABSTRACT

As our whole society has become increasingly aware of safety and emphasizes the importance of preventing safety accidents, the airline cabin service sector is also facing a strong demand to improve practical system for aviation safety education. In this regard, the development of appropriate safety education programs and the getting of human resources who can develop and operate such programs are becoming key issues. This study aims to provide academic and practical implications for safety education and training in airline cabins by reconfirming the importance and direction of safety education in the context of airline cabin services, and by specifying and establishing qualification requirements for personnel who develop and operate such safety programs. To this end, we review the content that should be included in safety training programs, the qualifications required of developers, managers, instructors, and examiners who develop or operate such programs, and how safety training programs can be continually improved as relevant conditions change in the future. In addition, we have also suggested ways to train appropriate managers, instructors, and examiners, including improving the compensation system for them, and how to effectively manage trainees. In order to secure a higher level of aviation safety in the future, it will be necessary to continue research on the development of more diverse and high-quality aviation safety education programs and the training of related personnel.

Keywords: Cabin Crew(항공사승무원); Aircraft Cabin Safety(항공기기내안전); Training Program(교육프로그램); Training Programme Developer(교육프로그램개발자); Training Programme Managers (교육프로그램관리자)

I. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

The term "cabin crew" means those who board an aircraft and perform duties for the safety of passengers, such as emergency aircraft evacuation (IATA, 2006). In any case, since the damage from an aircraft accident is likely to be very serious, safety in air transport needs to be given special emphasis (Kim, 2020). Due to various accidents that have occurred recently, safety issues have become a national concern. Based on experiences in various accident cases, problems and improvement plans of the current safety system as well as the importance of safety education and training are presented in various ways (Seo, 2016). All airlines around the world conduct regular aviation safety training every year for their cabin crew in accordance with the regulations set by ICAO, and through this training, they are developing their ability to cope with aircraft accidents (Guldenmund, 2010). ICAO Doc. 9868 also recommends developing a training program based on the competence of airline cabin crew (Kim et al., 2022).

1.2 Purpose

Completion of cabin crew safety education or training is not a simple education or training procedure, but a prerequisite for maintaining qualifications as a cabin crew member. The airlines emphasizes the importance of safety education and strives to nurture competent cabin crews who can faithfully manage safety issues through the development of effective education or training programs and the relevant training managers (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, 2018).

Safety education managers, who play the most important role in airline cabin related to safety issues, must have a good understanding for not only the contents of education but also the influence of education to human behavior, and must continuously conduct high-quality safety education or training programs. In this study, the importance of cabin safety education or training for airlines was reconfirmed once again, the establishment of specific qualification for key personnel who develop and implement cabin crew safety programs and the establishment of a system for continuous improvement of training programs were reviewed.

II. BODY

2.1 Cabin Crew Safety Training Manager

Each airline should appoint a safety training manager for cabin crews, and the appointment must be approved by the supervisory authority. Cabin crew safety training managers must have sufficient knowledge and understanding for their duty and responsibility relating to their job. In addition, cabin crew safety managers must be appointed through a strict verification process in accordance with relevant laws and regulations. The following advice can be considered:

(1) In order to be a good cabin crew safety training managers, safety basic experience and knowledge as a cabin crew is necessary. Experience and knowledge for cabin crew safety education and training is also necessary. In addition, familiarization with the relevant procedures and regulations of the airline is required.

(2) Cabin crew safety training managers should check in advance whether the current cabin crew safety training program and related equipments and facilities are built in accordance with relevant laws and regulations. In addition, they should have an experience to attribute to the development and announcement of emergency safety program to ensure safety of aircraft. They also have to check that appropriate safety instructions are provided to cabin crews. In addition, they must be aware of the delegated responsibilities assigned by the management of airline.

(3) Finally, cabin crew safety training managers should be able to conduct a cabin crew education in accordance with an education program approved by the airline in advance, and should keep training records. In addition, It also needs for cabin crew safety training managers to coordinate with other departments and stay in touch with regulatory authorities to share information to achieve safety goals for airline cabins. In addition, other qualified personnel should be secured in case of absence, and responsibilities should be delegated. Considering these issues, cabin crew safety training managers will have to make an constant efforts for and pay attention to proper management and communication (ICAO, 2014; Steven et al., 2008).

2.2 Cabin Crew Instructor

According to relevant laws and regulations, airlines must assign appropriately qualified personnel to cabin crew instructor’s and examiner’s position so that they can perform their respective roles well. Since there is a significant gap between the competency required to perform the duties of an instructor and the competency required to perform the duties of an examiner, more attention must be paid to securing fairness when an instructor substitutes the role of an examiner.

Relevant candidates who wish to become cabin crew instructors must first be qualified as cabin crew and prove that they have the qualifications as instructors. Instructors who have been granted relevant qualifications through a reasonable verification process should be assigned roles related to their duties as instructors.

More specifically, before assigning relevant tasks to an instructor, the airline must proceed with the instructor selection process by evaluating whether the instructor has relevant knowledge, ability, and experience. In the selection process, the instructor's teaching ability must also be verified.

Meanwhile, the instructor training program should be implemented with items such as safety management during training, preparation and inspection of the educational environment, management and support of trainees, execution of training, and evaluation of trainees. In addition, all candidates for instructor must pass all evaluations for practical training items before receiving instructor qualifications. Even after becoming instructors, they must undergo regular maintenance training and be re-evaluated by the airline or other training organizations (Chenet et al., 2021).

2.3 Cabin Crew Examiner

Candidates who wish to become cabin crew examiners must have the relevant qualifications. Appropriately qualified examiners can judge achievements in conducting safety training. Examiners must conduct reviews on the subject of assessment within a proficiency-based training environment approved by the relevant authority.

Prior to being granted examiner qualifications, all candidates must successfully complete a formal proficiency assessment during the conduct of practical training. Even after becoming examiners, they must undergo regular maintenance training and be re-evaluated by the airline or other training organizations (Liouet al., 2008; Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, 2018).

2.4 Training Programme Developer & Delivery Methods

The training program developer is responsible for ensuring that the cabin crew training program meets all applicable regulatory requirements. When developing a training program, the following factors should be considered: defining training goals, designing practical assessments, designing training modules, determining training strategies, selecting training media, producing proficiency-based teaching and assessment materials, and developing training and assessment materials, test, safety audit, trainee feedback, airline's voluntary reporting system, etc.

Proficiency-based training should aim at acquiring both knowledge and skills, and should include a variety of training methods such as learning, practice, and simulated training. In addition, airlines must balance learning and training to ensure fair training.

Trainers should take into account the trainee's age, culture and language skills, and should utilize a variety of means, as follows: All remote training should include technical support, and learning technologies should be developed to facilitate communication between educators and learners. When conducting computer-based remote training, a learning management system that records learning outcomes and confirms that learning has been effective must be provided, and practice and mock training using simulated training devices must also be conducted (ICAO, 2018).

2.5 Training Programme Examiner Reliability

Examiners should strive to secure the reliability of evaluation. The evaluation made by one examiner and the evaluation given by other examiners for the performance of the same task at different times must be consistent, and the process of reconfirming the adequacy of the evaluation must be accompanied. If the evaluation method is a multi-choice type question, all kinds of training for the examiner is required to secure reliability. If the examiner has to judge differently from the standard, more reliability training is needed (Zoharet, 2000).

2.6 Continuous Improvement of the Training Programme

For continuous improvement of the training program, the airline must constantly evaluate training instructors and training materials. Instructors must evaluate the process by utilizing trainees' feedback and performance results, and must also conduct regular evaluations on the effectiveness of the training system. In addition, for continuous improvement of the program, each instructor should periodically review the contents of the training and check the proficiency and performance of the trainees. Each instructor also must separately evaluate his or her effectiveness and always pursue personal development.

When evaluating training, evaluation should be conducted including the validity of proficiency-based training data and results, achievement of performance evaluation aviation goals, achievement of institution.

Finally, airlines must manage the adequacy of instructors and examiners by inspecting their training records, work records, training-related classes, tests, observation flight documents, checks performed by examiners, licenses and certificates, etc. Airlines must have and maintain an effective system for managing and controlling these training records, and must ensure that the contents and records relating to the training comply with relevant laws and regulations (Seo, 2016; ICAO, 2015).

III. CONCLUSION

Due to recent frequent aviation safety accidents, the issue of safety has become a social or national concern. Accordingly, the importance, problems, and improvement plans of in-flight safety education and training are being actively discussed. In this study, the qualification requirements for key personnel who develop and implement a cabin crew safety program were reviewed, and through this, a direction for improvement of the training program was suggested, and the following implications were derived.

(1) In addition to the improvement of the existing offline programs, the development and distribution of online training programs should be strengthened to secure the diversity of aviation safety training programs and improve the effectiveness of training programs.

(2) In order to effectively nurture managers of aviation safety training programs, attention should be paid to improving the treatment of relevant managers. Training program development, conduct of training, and education tasks are very difficult and important, so improving the treatment of managers is important to motivate them.

(3) It is very important to raise the safety awareness of education trainees. It is necessary to strengthen guidance and investment for this. Even with good programs and managers, it is important to ensure that trainees receive an effective education or training outcome in the end. Therefore, it is necessary to constantly check the performance of trainees.

Through this study, we looked into the details of aviation safety program development and manager training. Additional research will continue to be needed on cabin crew safety training program or managers in order to ensure aviation safety more reliably by raising the level of aviation safety training and education.

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