Ventana Aviation takes off with e-learning course for cabin crew

Citation

(2007), "Ventana Aviation takes off with e-learning course for cabin crew", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 39 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ict.2007.03739bab.004

Ventana Aviation takes off with e-learning course for cabin crew

Ventana Aviation, a UK-based airline-consulting company, has launched a two-week cabin-crew e-learning course, packaged into eight hours of interactive e-learning. The aim is to offer airlines a tool to reduce recruitment and training costs while raising the standards of the cabin crew they recruit.

The course is available over the internet and the learners’ progress is continuously monitored through a tracking system.

Daniel Welinder, Ventana Aviation business-development manager, said: “The aviation industry is, in many ways, highly traditional. This course is a first step in introducing new ways of thinking into the industry. Some airlines already use e-learning but few have embraced the full benefits of this technology. Not only is it a cost-saver, but there are also real benefits in improving training standards, which in today’s market are more important than ever.”

The course was developed in conjunction with e-learning producer Tata Interactive Systems (TIS), with the specific aim of being fun and helping students to learn and remember more over a shorter period of time. Daniel Welinder said: “Working with TIS, we are looking at introducing the latest e-learning technology and developing this concept across a number of markets and aviation applications.”

Ventana Aviation is distributing the course in partnership with ITEG, a provider of aviation training, based in Crawley. ITEG’s managing director, Donahue Cortes, said: “Cabin Crew Academy makes an excellent addition to the classroom training we already provide. There are huge opportunities to develop this concept and I can see that, within a couple of years, this form of training will become an industry standard.”

According to Ventana Aviation’s managing director, Andrew Cowen, who was formerly finance and strategy director of Go Fly: “The travel industry is growing faster than ever and airlines are increasing their fleet sizes to meet the demand for more seats. We have seen first hand the huge strain on airlines to find and train cabin crew. There is no shortage of candidates but we are helping to raise standards and to get them one step closer to landing the job of their dreams.”

Meanwhile, ground-support-equipment maintenance company VT Airside Solutions is investing heavily in training with the launch of its ground-support apprentice program, Fly.

VT Airside is partnering the East Berkshire College to run the program. Together they are training 25 students – 18 based at Heathrow and the other seven at Gatwick airport – to NVQ Level 3 standards. The students are also working towards technical certificates, with additional IMI quality-assurance awards in hydraulics and pneumatics. Dave Perry, VT Airside technical-training manager, said: “Technology at airports is constantly changing, and it is important that we keep ahead of the game. British Airways is investing heavily in new equipment and our team needs to know how to deal with the advanced electronics and computers that are now an integral part of all support equipment. This is particularly important given the development at Heathrow’s terminal 5.”

Dave Perry said: “We have opted for an apprentice scheme as we want to encourage young people to consider joining the industry at this time of massive development and change. To date, the apprentice program has been so successful that we have introduced an Apprentice of the Year initiative.”

Apprentices and staff work closely with the manufacturers of new equipment, and all relevant people attend manufacturer-based training courses. Dave Perry said that VT Airside’s aim was to deliver an average of four training days a year to technical staff.

During recent years, the company has invested heavily in employee-training programs, with the main emphasis on engineers. Employees received more than 6,700 training hours during last year. Individual training needs, linked to the overall needs of the business, are identified through employee appraisals and one-to-one review with immediate supervisors.

Last year saw much of the early groundwork being established for formal staff training and development programs for the future. VT has established performance controls for new starters, has implemented the company-standard annual review and appraisal systems, and is working towards a new format of shopfloor-review and skill-assessment systems.