Sharing the burden of flight deck automation training

Flight deck automation has generated new training requirements, most of whi ch have been absorbed by in-house airline training, in particular, aircraft transition training. This leaves little room for learning about how human roles have shifted in automated cockpits or how the distinction between tec hnical and nontechnical skills has become blurred when managing the flight path of an automated aircraft. This article explores how overall pilot trai ning quality, efficiency, and effectiveness would benefit from pulling auto mation training forward into the pilot training curriculum, reducing the bu rden carried mainly by transition training today. This article examines var ious stages of pilot training (including ab initio, multicrew cooperation, and crew resource management training) and lays out the opportunities and o bstacles they contain for the integration of flight deck automation. In con clusion, airlines themselves can play a constructive role by specifying wha t kinds of automation learning requirements earlier pilot training stages s hould cover, and by sharing their automation philosophies and actively taki ng part in the design of the preairline training. Such participation from a n airline can help achieve appropriate knowledge and attitudes toward autom ation among its future pilots.