On Sep. 8, Boeing Commercial Airplanes Training & Flight Services Vice President, Sherry Carbary, urged the industry to stand together through the current economic challenges by lowering training costs, increasing efficiency and embracing competency-based training programs.

Speaking at the Asia Pacific Aviation Training Symposium (APATS) in Hong Kong, Carbary emphasized that every step of the value chain needs to simplify operations and better utilize resources, and advocated the migration of training from full flight simulators to fixed training devices.

"Given the technology that exists today and that which will be available tomorrow, airlines need to rethink what training should be done by simulator and what can be done more efficiently by fixed training devices and Web-based learning systems," she said.

Carbary talked about how Boeing Training & Flight Services is developing courseware that can increase operating efficiencies to reduce fuel consumption, emissions and other operational costs.

"In our drive to help airlines through today's economic turbulence, we have developed a course that focuses on fuel efficiency that we believe can save airlines as much as 1 percent of their annual fuel bill," said Carbary.

Carbary also noted that the company's Multi-crew Pilot License (MPL) beta test completed last year has shown that cadet pilots with no prior flight experience can become first officers by developing their skills, knowledge and competencies needed to perform as airline crew members. The shift in focus from accumulation of flight hours to a demonstrated competency-based approach will provide jet-ready, airline-qualified pilots to support airlines as they grow their fleet over the next 20 years.

Boeing Training & Flight Services provides innovative training products and services to more than 400 customers around the world. Its training and services programs are accepted by more than 100 regulatory agencies worldwide. The customer support team provides 24-hour support to more than 12,000 in-service airplanes. Boeing Training & Flight Services has a global network supporting customer needs with a variety of solutions including the new world-class 787 Dreamliner training suites.