South African airline Airlink has partnered with African non-profit aviation safety promotion organisation, the AviAssist Foundation, to present a Human Factors in Aviation course. The course is being sponsored by the Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, and airframers Airbus, Boeing and ATR.

The course is designed to advance and improve safety performance and practices, and embraces airlines, other aircraft operators, air navigation service providers, airports, ground handlers and aviation safety agencies. It will run for two days, September 19 and September 20, purposely timed to be straight after the African Aerospace and Defence 2024 show, for the convenience of delegates from other African countries. The course will cover human factors in teamwork, the management of stress and workloads, risk management, the making of errors, human performance, communication, and safety culture.

“Safety and the wellbeing of customers and colleagues together with the integrity and reliability of aircraft and other equipment, is fundamental to running a successful airline,” highlighted Airlink CEO and MD Rodger Foster. “However, to stay safe it is vital to address the human elements because people represent the safety chain links most vulnerable to influences that could adversely affect judgment and performance.”

“AviAssist is always looking for fresh channels of distribution for its safety promotion services to benefit the African aviation industry,” explained Foundation director Tom Kok. “Working with a partner [Airlink] with such a comprehensive network to more than 45 destinations in 15 African countries throughout Southern Africa and operating a Training Centre of Excellence provides a unique opportunity to us to do just that.”

The course will be presented at Airlink’s Training Centre of Excellence, located in Bonaero Park, in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, alongside Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport. This facility has well-equipped lecture rooms and classrooms, as well as briefing facilities. It also possesses procedural trainers and two full-flight Level D simulators (for Embraer E-Jets and regional jets), as well as a complete Embraer fuselage, with cabin, used for training flight attendants in emergency procedures. The Centre provides training for both Airlink air crews and maintainers, as well as those of third-party airlines.

“Safety is something that affects the entire industry and is an area where we collaborate and share knowledge and learnings instead of competing,” pointed out Foster. “Airlink had no hesitation in agreeing to facilitate this course by AviAssist, a widely acknowledged leader promoting aviation safety in Africa.”