PROFESSIONAL AVIATION BOARD OF CERTIFICATION
a former air carrier captain, a Ph.D. hu
man factors scientist, an FAA Designat
ed Pilot Examiner and an A&P mechan
ic with inspector authorization, Kochan
has industryspanning insight. In the
past, she says, new pilots often exhibited
skills learned in previous jobs, but now,
with lessseasoned pilots arriving at em
ployers’ doorsteps, this is not always
the case. More and more employers re
port that unsuspecting applicants ar
rive without an adequate combination of
training and life/work experience to be
successful either in class or on the line.
So the pilot shortage, as Wolfe ex
plains it, is a much deeper issue than
the quantity of applicants. It is a short
age of well-qualified applicants. He calls
this shortfall, the disparities between
pilot knowledge and the needs of the in
dustry, the pilot preparedness gap. This
is the problem that PABC was created
to address.
More and more employers report that
unsuspecting applicants arrive without an adequate
combination of training and life/work experience
to be successful either in class or on the line.
how to use them.” And pilots, she says,
are rarely given much guidance regard
ing automation management. “We say
‘do this,’ but we don’t say how to do it or
when to do it.”
Once defined, these global standards
will be available free of charge to pilots,
pilot trainers and educational institu
tions. “The standards will provide the
foundation for professional prep cours
es and training programs,” says Wolfe.
“We see them enhancing the qual
ity, scope and depth of pilot training.
The standards will also serve as a ca
reerplanning tool—particularly in the
U.S. where pilots have so many options
and really need guidance in making in
formed decisions about training provid
ers.” Access to the training standards
will also support independent study in
preparation for a new, industrydefined
professional certification exam.
“The ultimate goal of certification is
to offer all pilots credible proof of their
competence to meet industry expecta
tions, regardless of where or how they
received their training,” Wolfe explains.
PHO TO B Y MICHAEL OVERBE Y
between pilot licensure and the prepa
ration needed to meet current industry
demands.
NON-PROFIT OBJECTIVITY
As an independent, nonprofit organiza
tion, the Professional Aviation Board of
Certification is uniquely positioned for
its stated mission: to ensure the preem
ployment preparedness of pilots who
wish to pursue professional flying ca
reers. Unencumbered by profit motives
or hidden corporate agendas, PABC has
attracted the interest and cooperation
of many industry stakeholders—pilots,
employers, educators, gov
ernment agencies, aviation
insurance underwriters,
manufacturers and service
providers, and the public.
Wolfe and his colleagues
have confronted what they
see as a systemic problem
in the pilot training sys
tem—inadequate standards,
excessive costs (training
may range from $40,000 to
$120,000 today!) and insuf
ficient production to meet
the challenges ahead. PABC
believes that global, indus
trydefined training stan
dards will close the gap
GENERIC STANDARDS FIRST,
CERTIFICATION TO FOLLOW
Wolfe sees the new Multicrew Pilot Li
cense (MPL), now being introduced in
other countries, as a huge step in the di
rection of such a global standard. Using
the MPL standards as a baseline, work
ing with experienced pilots as subject
matter experts (SMEs), PABC is now
generating uniform standards for pilots
who come through all other, nonMPL
training paths. “We are talking about
universal, generic aviation principles,”
says Wolfe, “the concepts that provide
the basis for further study of the sys
tems, equipment, practices and proce
dures of specific operators.”
Kochan adds that such generic skills
will filter into specific flying skills. Us
ing checklists as an example, she stress
es the need to teach the basic concepts
behind them—“how and why checklists
are constructed the way they are, and
Attendees and lecturer at the PABC briefing to the Women in Aviation Space City Chapter in
Houston, Texas, last spring. Left to right: Margaret Watson, WAISCC President; Walter Proskeroe;
Stephanie Hide; Pete Wolfe, PABC Executive Director; Rosemary Coe; David Coe and Adele Luta.
