Training provider Salient has started work for Cathay-owned low-cost carrier HK Express Airways,  to support the mixed implementation of evidence-based training while working in collaboration with the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department.

Evidence-based training has been developed around a direct focus on ‘competencies’ which were defined through substantial subject matter expert opinion worldwide. The focus is on pilot and crew processes to manage complexity (threat management) in operations, rather than simply the assessment of outcomes. It shifts the emphasis towards a professional development learning experience that is making pilots more effective and safer, through the targeting of underlying areas of performance.

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Michael Varney, Chief Executive of Salient and leading the program, says that assessing technical skills alone does not support continuous learning: “Experienced pilots undergoing recurrent training can doubtless execute most of the rehearsed manoeuvres without difficulty,” he says.

“The predetermined descriptions of ‘perfection’ are rendered irrelevant in a very safe system where events are extremely rare. The only way forward to is to develop effective processes in the flight deck and improve resilience through exposure to unexpected threats in training.”

Salient has worked with more than 80 airlines and their Authorities worldwide since being launched in 2014 to deliver EBT and other training and consultancy services to the aviation industry.