HOME  CONTACT  i-NEWSLETTER  LMS LOGIN  LPT LOGIN  FACEBOOK  TWITTER
 
 
 

i-NEWSLETTER

NEWS
Subscribe
Unsubscribe
Archive

NEWS

2004-11-15 09:58:33
A Rising Star is born - The ERA ACADEMY, a strong Partner of infoWERK
Predicted air traffic growth and stringent quality standards set by the JAA and EASA will demand that all airlines and related industries increase training. On the other hand the training departments are hampered by the market-generated pressure to minimize costs without sacrificing quality.

Some hard facts are:

·          Ground damage costs the industry at least $2 billion annually, according to a recent study by Robert Matthews in the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Accident Investigation.

·         The last two accident reports of well known carriers in Europe published last year showed that “lack of training” were contributing factors to the accidents.  

 

While technology continues to assure the dependability of flight machinery, the problem appears to lie in the method used in instructional training. This paves the way for new and innovative training solutions. The ERA Academy which was inaugurated at the ERA General Assembly last week in Vienna will deliver those solutions.

 

The strategic goal of the Academy is to satisfy the basic need for training not only in the EU member states but also in areas like for example Africa, Eastern European Countries and China. Advocating the creation of an African single aviation market, Giovanni Bisignani, IATA Director General and CEO recently emphasized the urgent need to keep on improving Africa’s aviation safety record. He noted: "The IATA initiative is targeting a drop of the African accident rate of 50% by 2010, thus bringing it to the level of the world’s best standards."

ERA Director General, Mike Ambrose, who has a great interest to create additional value for the members of his association said: “Cutting costs without compromising on quality and therefore safety is an essential requirement for the training of personnel within the airline industry, and particularly for today’s new business models. The ERA Academy embraces new technology and provides essential flexibility with minimal investment. ERA is proud to be associated with the ERA Academy which has developed a training system that meets these needs.”

The courses offered will cover all aviation related subjects and will include technical and operational training, management and regulatory related training as well as quality, safety and security training. Key customers will include airlines, airports, manufacturers and regulators.

The learning tools developed and distributed by the ERA Academy will consist primarily of state-of-the-art multimedia internet-based teaching software. They:

·         are exceptionally easy to use

·         allow customization and control of the learning environment

·         are in compliance with international AICC and SCORM standards

 

The philosophy of teaching differs significantly from other training environments. The ERA Academy considers the "human factor" the key to quality aviation personnel education. In this regard, primary emphasis is placed not only upon the knowledge skills but the thinking skills of the students. The regulatory authority will provide guidelines for development of certified and approved training systems.

Course content will be developed under the direction of highly experienced subject matter experts recruited from within the industry (they are “partners” in the project). This assures that the courses offered are not academic but they are developed by tutors who work in the environment they teach. The courses will be created together with infoWERK, a software developer with extensive experience in the development of aviation-related teaching software. The goal, defined by the founders of the academy is “individual achievement in aviation training excellence”, the approach is wholly unique and totally consistent with the formally stated high quality philosophy of teaching. A few courses are already available today.

The ERA Academy enjoys and maintains a close working relationship with the IT Insitute of the University of Innsbruck (headed by Prof. Dr. Ruth Breu), which underlines the importance to adhere to and support popular IT industry standards.

The benefits to the users of the ERA Academy CBT courses are defined by

·         individually timed learning processes, which give a greater flexibility to the company and the individual student

·         considerable cost savings

·         updated learning material, which keeps its value and can be used as a data base

 

Roland H.J. Wondolleck, Managing Director of Rotterdam Airport and long standing member of the ERA Board comments the efforts of the two founders of the ERA Academy, Olaf Dlugi of OD Consulting and Hansjörg Lotter of infoWERK as follows: “The ERA Academy certainly offers what our industry – as we are always striving to improve our professionalism and effectiveness – has been longing for since a long time. Education at the highest possible standard in the most effective and efficient way is now available for everyone working in our dynamic industry. For airports and airlines, who are still non-ERA member, the Academy gives another strong reason to “join the club”.


For more information on the ERA Academy contact info@era-academy.net or check the new ERA Academy website at www.era-academy.net.

[ Top ]  [ Back ]  [ Home ]