CBTA – AVIATION VOICES

By Christine Zylawski and Dr. Maggie Ma

The workforce shortage in aviation maintenance has been described as a “talent crisis.” AMT programs are struggling to hire and retain qualified faculty to train students. To add to the challenge, the Aviation Technician Education Council (ATEC) estimates that 30% of those who finish an aviation maintenance training course end up accepting employment in another industry.

The aviation industry is at the forefront of new technological developments, requiring personnel involved in aircraft maintenance to adapt to new methods, processes, knowledge and skills to build up the necessary competencies. These depend on new developments in training and information dissemination and should be constantly updated to the latest technology. The CBTA approach may improve training by better capturing the changing technology requirements. The CBTA programs will allow AMTs to be trained and evaluated against competency standards, with records as evidence. Such records may make it easier for maintenance organizations to employ personnel from other organizations and countries, which consequently facilitates harmonization.

First introduced at Air France Industries (AFI) in 2021, Competency-Based Training applied to Aircraft Maintenance operations (CBTAM) is an assessment and training method that focuses on developing specific knowledge and skills necessary for job performance. In fact, assessment takes place before training.

A Historical Instructional Design Perspective

By Doug Farrow & KD VanDrie

Competency-Based Training and Assessment (CBTA) is a broad umbrella vocational training concept that has spread across numerous training domains / industries within the US over the last half century. It is referenced by several labels, including but not limited to competency-based, performance-based, proficiency-based and outcomes-based.

Within the domain of pilot training, it draws from the competency tradition embodied in Evidence-Based Training (EBT) as well as the performance- or proficiency-based tradition embodied in the Advanced Qualification Program (AQP). While AQP focuses more on the training and assessment of the narrow individual competencies that are the components of flight tasks, EBT focuses more on the broad, high-level competencies those flight tasks represent. In the end however, both approaches may be considered hybrid programs.

This paper reviews the history of these traditions, the primary reason why the US has, to date, preferred to maintain the proficiency tradition embodied in AQP, and more detailed guidance regarding the use of competencies within the AQP framework.

Tag: CBTA

CBTA as a Solution to the MTX Talent Crisis

Clearing the Confusion About AQP, CBTA, and EBT