iata/iatf report on african airlinesâ€™ training needs

IATA/IATF Report onAfrican Airlines’ TrainingNeeds

September 2003

I n t e r n a t i o n a l A i r T r a n s p o r t A s s o c i a t i o n

IATA/IATF Report on African Airlines’ Training Needs

September

2003

A Survey Conducted by:

DISCLAIMER

The information contained in this document reflects information known at the time of publication. Although every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, neither the International Air Transport Association (IATA) nor the International Airline Training Fund (IATF), or their subsidiaries, members, employees or officers, shall be held responsible for loss or damage caused by errors, omissions, misprints or misinterpretation of the contents hereof.

Furthermore, IATA and IATF expressly disclaim all and any liability to any person, in respect of anything done or omitted, by any such person in reliance on the contents of this publication.

Copyright ©2003 By the International Air Transport Association (IATA) IATA Centre 33, route de l’Aéroport 1215 Geneva 15 Airport Switzerland Published by IATA in collaboration with the International Airline Training Fund (IATF) All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of IATA.

Contents

Foreword 7 Executive Summary 9 Part One 11 Chapter 1. Background to the Survey 13

1.1 International Airline Training Fund 13 1.2 Training Needs Survey 13

Chapter 2. Methodology of the Survey 14

2.1 Definition and Role of Training Needs Analysis 14 2.2 Design of the Survey 14 2.3 Framework of the Questionnaire 15 2.4 Schedule of Visits 17

Chapter 3. Strategic Issues and Staff Related Obstacles 18

3.1 Strategic Issues 18 3.2 Staff Related Obstacles to Strategic Goals 20 3.3 Role of Training in Solving H.R. Problems 20 3.4 Problems with Access to Training 21

Chapter 4. Survey Results 23

4.1 Leadership and Management Skills 23 4.2 Professional Skills 25 4.3 Basic Skills 30 4.4 Levels of Demand 31 4.5 Demand Tables 32 4.6 Implications of Analyses of Need and Demand 33 4.7 Recommendations on Training 33 4.8 Level of Training Capability in Airlines Surveyed 34 4.9 Current and Future Use of Training Methods 35

Chapter 5. Summary 36

5.1 Need for Training Support 36 Part Two 37 Chapter 6. Response Options 39

6.1 Available Options 39 6.2 Application – Disbursements Model 39 6.3 Resource Co-ordination Model 40

Chapter 7. Recommendations 42

7.1 Training Deficit 42 7.2 Recommendations 42

8. Conclusion 44

Appendices Appendix 1 Survey Questionnaire 45 Appendix 2 Leadership – Management Model 67 Appendix 3 Summary of Staff Related Issues 69 Appendix 4 Estimated Level of Demand for Training by Function 71

Index of Tables

Table 1: Ranking of Strategic Issues 19 Table 2: Ranking of Leadership and Management Skill Categories 24 Table 3: Ranking of Leadership and Management Skill Categories for Larger Airlines 25 Table 4: Ranking of Leadership and Management Skill Categories for Smaller Airlines 25 Table 5: Overall Ranking of Professional Skill Categories 26 Table 6: Ranking of Professional Skill Categories for Larger Airlines 26 Table 7: Ranking of Professional Skill Categories for Smaller Airlines 26 Table 8: Ranking of Legal Topics 27 Table 9: Ranking of Finance Topics 27 Table 10: Ranking of Technical Topics 28 Table 11: Ranking of Flight Operations Topics 28 Table 12: Ranking of Information Technology Topics 29 Table 13: Ranking of Government & International Affairs Topics 29 Table 14: Ranking of Instructor Training Topics 29 Table 15: Ranking of Sales & Marketing Topics 29 Table 16: Ranking of Other Topics 30 Table 17: Overall Ranking of Highest Rated Topics 30 Table 18: Ranking of Basic Skills by Perceived Training Need 31 Table 19: Numbers to be Trained in Leadership & Management Skills 32 Table 20: Numbers to be Trained in Professional Skills 32 Table 21: Numbers to be Trained in Basic Skills 33 Table 22: In-house Training Capability in Airlines Surveyed 35

Index of Figures

Figure 1: Expected Change in Use of Training Methods 35 Figure 2: Application-Disbursements Model 40 Figure 3: Resource Co-ordination Model 41

Report on African Airlines’ Training Needs

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Foreword

All parties, directly or indirectly involved in African air transport are required to address the urgent training needs – it’s about survival in a fast changing, global competitive environment. Acknowledgements IATA wishes to gratefully acknowledge the work of Dominic Coleman, from whom this survey and report were commissioned. IATA wishes also to thank all the airlines that participated in the survey and the respective airline associations; their ongoing support allowed IATA and the IATF to successfully complete this survey within a short period of time. We would also like to acknowledge and express our thanks to the IATF Council Members, Ferrucio Pavolini, Rolf Kressig and Gert van der Veer for their advice and guidance. Finally, sincere thanks to the IATF team who produced this comprehensive survey.

Giovanni Bisignani Dr. Herbert Bammer

Director General and CEO, IATA President, IATF

The airline industry relies on the skills and leadership of our people. IATA plays animportant role in this area by providing a wide range of training opportunities to airlinesand the broader aviation community. Since 1985 this training activity has been reinforced by the International AirlinesTraining Fund. The IATF has financed training for more than 3500 airline staff fromairlines in the developing world. The industry is changing fast, and the IATF has launched a programme to ensure that itsfund allocation is aligned with today’s training needs. The starting point: Africa. The report on African Airlines’ Training Needs presents a comprehensive picture of thechallenges ahead. At a strategic level, African airline CEOs have outlined their prioritiesover the next five years. Against this background, this survey identifies and quantifiesthe leadership, professional and other areas where training is required. The scope is far bigger than anticipated. A new dimension is required, not only toaddress the urgent need for training but also in delivering and financing a sustainabletraining mechanism so that African airlines can survive in the global aviation industry.


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Executive Summary

1. The International Airline Training Fund (IATF) undertook a survey aimed at identifying training needs of airlines in developing nations as means to better align fund allocation with needs.

2. The starting point is Africa, where seventeen out of 40 IATA Member airlines were surveyed, using a mixture of questionnaire and on-site visits.

3. The survey focussed on the leadership, management, professional and basic airline skills. Participating carriers assessed these skills in terms of their priority for the achievement of strategic goals and the current and required level of competence in the airline (“gap analysis”).

4. The survey also asked airlines to rank their strategic goals and the major staff-related obstacles to the achievement of these goals in order to understand the context for future training.

5. The major strategic issues identified by the CEOs related to the need for improved commercial performance, cost reduction, service standards and safety and security.

No. of Airlines Ranking the Issue as:

Strategic Issue

High Medium Low

Improved commercial performance

15 1 1

Cost management 15 1 0

Service standards 14 2 0

Safety and security 13 3 0

Route development 12 4 1

Operational reliability 10 5 1

Aircraft acquisition 9 7 1

Code sharing/alliances 7 8 1

E-commerce 7 7 1

Privatisation 6 3 6

6. Many of the main staff-related obstacles to the achievement of strategic goals can be either directly or indirectly addressed by skill enhancement of airline personnel, particularly management.

7. Overall, the survey revealed that African airlines perceive a significant and urgent need for additional training. Many smaller carriers do only essential basic training because of financial constraints.

8. The airlines perceived a strong need for leadership and management training with Staff Development & Motivation and Planning & Budgeting ranking highest.

9. In the professional skills category, financial and sales & marketing skills were ranked highest with technical and instructor training next highest.

10. The greatest need in the basic skills category was perceived to be sales skills with schedule co-ordination and fraud prevention also highly ranked.

11. Extrapolating from the numbers supplied by the airlines surveyed suggests that over 2500 executives, managers and supervisors, more than 1000 professionals and over 1350 other staff require early training in the highest priority skills, in addition to training already being undertaken in individual airlines.

12. It is beyond the capability of many African carriers to meet this need from their own resources because of lack of expertise and finance. Priority should be given to the training of Training Managers and Instructors and to the upper executive levels.

13. A new model of support for sustainable training delivery needs to be devised and financed if the training deficit is to be remedied so that African carriers can survive in the global aviation industry. This report proposes such a model in Chapter 6.

14. A minority of African airlines have developed valuable training capability, which should be


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harnessed in any initiative aimed at redressing the training deficit.

15. The airline industry is developing new business models and new global alliances in response to customer demands and cost pressures. The industry changes are fast; there is a danger that African carriers will be unable to keep pace with adverse consequences unless an upgrading of staff skills across a wide range of levels and functions is initiated.

16. The African airline industry faces critical infrastructure and geopolitical issues outside the remit of the airlines, which require government action. The lack of an "open sky" environment and the subsequent reliance on bilateral arrangements for the foreseeable future severely impacts African airlines’ development. The inability for airlines to operate according to commercial criteria and as such accessing the international capital markets severely fragments African air transport and prevents economy of scale.


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Part One


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CHAPTER 1

Background to the Survey

1.1 International Airline Training Fund

The International Airline Training Fund was set up by IATA in 1985 with the objective of assisting in the transfer of management and technical skills to airlines in developing nations.

The Fund is resourced through contributions from IATA member airlines and through donations from major suppliers to the airline industry.

The main modus operandi of the Fund is to support the training of personnel from developing nations airlines through the provision of scholarships to individuals, through funding on-site training and through funding distance learning. Funding is approved following consideration of applications from qualified airlines. There are limits on the number of applications that will be considered and approved from any one airline. Training is provided mainly by the IATA’s Aviation Training and Development Institute (ATDI), headquartered in Montreal.

1.2 Training Needs Survey

The IATF strongly believes that improvement in the performance of developing nation airlines is heavily dependent on upgrading their management and technical capabilities. Based on this belief the IATF decided that the time was opportune to review the training needs of the airlines it was set up to serve in order to ensure that the funds it was allocating were focussed on the areas of highest need and in order to review the adequacy of its resources to address the problems being faced by airlines in developing economies. IATF decided to focus initially on Africa, which is generally perceived as the area of greatest need.


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CHAPTER 2

Methodology of the Survey

2.1 Definition and Role of Training Needs Analysis

Typically an analysis of training needs attempts to identify the gap that exists between the required level of performance for the achievement of strategic goals and current performance on the job. A typical definition of training needs would be “Training needs refers to …any shortfall between current knowledge, skills, attitudes etc. and the level required now or in the future.”1

Failure to carry out a training needs analysis, and failure to identify and remedy skills shortfalls may cause a breakdown in performance in the short-term, waste of money on poorly focused training and/or, in the longer term, an inability to develop the business. While these consequences may be serious for organisations in developed economies, they may be disastrous for organisations in developing economies with meagre resources and poor powers of recovery.

An analysis of training needs must attempt to identify:

- The skills and other competences that are required for satisfactory performance of current and future goals

- The current level of performance in each skill/competence

- The required level of performance

- The priority attached to the closing of this performance gap.

1Gunnigle, P, Hearty, N & Morely, M (1997) “Personnel and Human Resource Management” Dublin: Gill & Macmillan

This information must be placed in context in order to be more fully understood. It is therefore necessary to understand the strategic goals that give rise to these requirements and the obstacles that exist to the achievement of these goals.

Ideally training needs are identified job-by-job with reference to specific objectives and performance criteria.2 Time and other resources clearly made such an approach impractical and an alternative methodology had to be devised.

2.2 Design of the Survey

There are 40 IATA member airlines in Africa. In addition there are non-IATA member airlines but there is no reason to believe that their concerns would be different from those of IATA Members.

Of the 40 IATA carriers, 27 use English as their business language and 13 use French. There is a wide discrepancy in size between the largest, employing 12000 staff and the smallest employing 150. Fifteen of the airlines in the survey (2 did not supply staff numbers) employ 30,566 staff, or approximately 32% out of a total employment of 91,340 in the continent as a whole in 20013. The same airlines provide almost 60% of the Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs) delivered by African carriers as a whole4. Although the sample of

2 For example see Robinson &Robinson (1995) “Performance Consulting” San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler 3 AFRAA Secretary General’s report to the Annual General Assembly, Harare, 2003 4 Source: OAG, April 03


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airlines was not constructed on a statistical basis it can be claimed that the survey reasonably represents the diversity of African carriers.

It was decided that the data gathering for the survey should be by way of a questionnaire followed by a visit to discuss the data more fully. Follow-up visits were considered important as the questionnaire was unavoidably complex. This proved to be a wise decision as the information gathered during visits was extremely valuable in providing a fuller understanding of the many factors that impinge on the ability of carriers to survive and develop.

For reasons of time and cost it was not practicable to visit all 40 airlines. The airlines chosen for the survey needed to be reasonably representative of the Continent as a whole in terms of geographic spread, size and language. It was also important that communication with the chosen airlines should be relatively easy with a high probability of getting their agreement to make the time investment required. For these reasons it was decided that the airlines represented on the Executive Committee of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) would be a suitable mix of carriers and the support of AFRAA and the Airlines Association of Southern Africa (AASA) which had been consulted on the planned survey would facilitate its completion.

A small number of carriers, not represented on the AFRAA Executive Committee but located in the same territories as Executive members were included in the survey to make maximum use of visits to these locations.

The following airlines participated in the survey:

Air Senegal* Kenya Airways* Ethiopian Airlines* Air Gabon* Air Mauritius*# South African Airways*# Air Botswana# Air Tanzania Tassili Airlines Comair#

Air Zimbabwe*# Safair# Air Namibia*# Cameroon Airlines SA Airlink# Royal Air Maroc Air Malawi# Egyptair* Tunisair

* AFRAA EXCOM # AASA

For reasons related to itinerary planning and availability of senior airline management, it was not possible to include Libyan Arab Airlines, Nigeria Airways and Sudan Airways in the survey. Two airlines were visited but did not complete, or submitted late, a questionnaire. Contributions were also received from AFRAA and AASA.

Other participating airlines were Comair, Safair, Air Malawi, Tassili Airlines, Royal Air Maroc, SA Airlink, Air Tanzania, Cameroon Airlines and Air Botswana.

2.3 Framework of the Questionnaire

The questionnaire used in the survey can be found at Appendix 1.

The questionnaire has three parts. Part 1 was intended to be completed by the Chief Executive and dealt with the strategic goals, staff related obstacles to their achievement and the leadership and management skills necessary for their attainment.

Part 2 dealt mainly with the professional skill requirements of the airline and Part 3 with the basic skills. In addition, information was sought on the airline’s staff numbers, in-house training capability and current and planned use of different training methods.

The division of the skills/competences into these three areas is consistent with the characteristics of organisations such as airlines. Airlines broadly correspond to the structure of what is termed a machine bureaucracy.5 This type of organisation consists of a Strategic Apex, corresponding to Senior Executives, Middle Line Managers and an Operating Core.

This central spine of the organisation is supplemented by a Technostructure, to analyse and standardise work processes and Support Staff who provide necessary services to the rest of the organisation.

5 Mintzberg, H. (1979) The Structuring of Organizations, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.; Prentice Hall


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The relationship of the skill categories chosen for this survey and the organisation structure of airlines may be depicted as follows:

Organisation Skill Category in Survey

Strategic Apex

Middle Line Management

Leadership and Management Skills

Technostructure Support Staff

Professional Skills

Operating Core Basic Skills


In order to track the skill/competence requirements of senior, middle and supervisory management levels, a method was needed that was more than simply a list of training topics or course names. The latter approach would produce a choice on the basis of what was available rather than what was needed. The framework chosen differentiates between leadership and management skills, both of which are necessary for the effective running of an organisation.6

This model defines leadership as encompassing the skills necessary to produce needed change in an organisation due, for example, to environmental instability, competitive pressures etc. In contrast management involves coping with complexity due to size, technology, geographical dispersion, number of products and services, etc.

The leadership/management model is described more fully at Appendix 2.

The leadership and management dimensions were encapsulated in six elements of the questionnaire broadly corresponding to the key skills categories mentioned above. The six elements were translated

6 Kotter, J.P. (1990) A Force for Change: How Leadership Differs from Management; New York, The Free Press

into language that could be more immediately related to airline processes. Respondents were asked to identify the priority which each element had for the airline, the current and required level of competence and the number of people at senior executive, middle management and supervisory levels that needed training in that element in each of seven functional areas.

It needs to be emphasised that what airlines were asked to identify were skill/competence levels rather than topics for training. The conversion of these skill/competence requirements into learning experiences is the function of training design, which produces specific courses and exercises.

Professional Skills

The category of Professional Skills addressed mainly technostructural and support activities. Respondents were asked to identify and prioritise areas of competence under different skill headings and to estimate the skill gap and number of personnel requiring training.

The skill headings contained in the questionnaire were Legal, Financial, Technical, Flight Operations, Instructor Training, Information Technology, Government and International Affairs and Sales and Marketing. Respondents were asked to nominate the specific areas in which skill/competence needed to be increased.

Examples were given to aid completion of the questionnaire. In some cases airlines adhered to the examples given. In other cases they also identified additional skill areas.

Basic Skills

A list of basic skills was compiled with reference to core airline activities also taking into account the range of skills training offered by the IATA Aviation Training and Development Institute.


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Respondents were asked to prioritise each skill, to estimate the size of the skill gap and the approximate number of staff needing training.

2.4 Schedule of Visits

Visits to participating airlines were mostly carried out between 17th - 22nd March, 7th – 16th April and 4th – 28th June, 2003.

A small number of visits to individual airlines took place outside these dates and completed questionnaires were received from some carriers that were not visited.

The schedule of visits and the survey team involved were as follows:

Period Airlines Survey Team

17th – 22nd March 2003

Air Mauritius

South African Airways

SA Airlink

Air Botswana

Air Namibia

Air Zimbabwe

Juerg Staub, Secretary IATF

Peter Chikumba, Regional Director, Africa, IATA

Dominic Coleman, Consultant

7th – 16th April 2003

Air Gabon

Cameroon Airlines

Ethiopian Airlines

Kenya Airways

Juerg Staub

Peter Chikumba

Dominic Coleman

12 May 2003 Air Tanzania Peter Chikumba

24th – 28th June 2003

Air Senegal

Tunis Air

Tassili Airlines

Peter Chikumba

Questionnaires were also submitted by Safair, Comair and Royal Air Maroc although these airlines were not visited.

The questionnaire completed by Tunis Air was received too late to be included in the analysis. A questionnaire was also completed by the AFRAA Secretariat, which, although not included in the analysis, provided an interesting frame of reference in the process of interpretation. The approach adopted to

the completion of the questionnaire differed among the participating airlines. In some cases the airline completed the questionnaire before the visit, which was then used to discuss the contents. In other cases, the questionnaire was completed during the visit while in still more cases the questionnaire was submitted following visits. In a majority of cases the relevant parts of the questionnaire were discussed with executives from a spread of functions across the airline.


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CHAPTER 3

Strategic Issues and Staff-related Obstacles

3.1 Strategic Issues

The questionnaire asked respondents to identify the strategic importance of a range of issues. They were asked to designate them as being of high, medium or low priority. The significance of this question is that it helps to identify the context within which training activity takes place and it indicates the general areas of performance, which need to be improved.

It is clear that training alone cannot solve many of the problems facing airlines in Africa. There are serious infrastructural and geopolitical issues that can be addressed only at a governmental level.

During visits a number of such issues recurred in discussions:

- Problems of scale. Many airlines serve small home markets resulting in a heavy reliance on foreign markets which means competing with large international carriers. Many of these airlines are ill-equipped for this competition.

- Lack of an ‘open-skies’ environment. The recognition that this issue was a serious obstacle to the development of African commercial aviation lead to an inter-governmental agreement to liberalise the industry. The resulting ‘Yamoussoukro Decision’ has become the basis on which it is hoped to base a more liberal and commercially viable industry. In discussion with airlines visited it was learned that while some countries had followed through on the Yamoussoukro

Decision as envisaged, others had done little. Some carriers were highly sceptical about the willingness of some governments to implement the Decision and foresaw a continuing reliance on bilateral arrangements for the foreseeable future.

- Lack of freedom to operate according to commercial criteria. The dominant model in use in Africa is that of the government owned, full-service carrier. The airline is viewed as an essential arm of economic policy in ensuring access to foreign markets and in underpinning the travel and tourism sectors. For some carriers it goes further. The airline is treated as virtually an in-house facility of government and it has to provide transportation on its own services and off-line, for government and public service personnel. Sometimes payment for this transportation is delayed for years. Thus the government is the airline’s biggest customer and biggest debtor.

The solution to these problems lies outside the remit of the airlines. Government action is required to deal with them. If the issues were resolved, particularly the first two items, the result would probably be a significant realignment of the industry.

There would be major strategic implications for many airlines. It would be important that those at executive level be equipped to cope with the resulting situation.


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Ranking of Issues The airlines were asked to rate the significance for them of a list of strategic issues provided. The following pattern of responses emerged:

No. of Airlines Ranking the Issue as:

Strategic Issue

High Medium Low

Improved commercial performance

15 1 1

Cost management 15 1 0

Service standards 14 2 0

Safety and security 13 3 0

Route development 12 4 1

Operational reliability

10 5 1

Aircraft acquisition 9 7 1

Code sharing/alliances

7 8 1

E-commerce 7 7 1

Privatisation 6 3 6

Table 1: Ranking of Strategic Issues

Respondents were also invited to add to the list of issues provided should they so wish. Four airlines exercised this option. The issues added were:

High Priority

• Agility (in order to react to rapid changes in the industry and general environment)

• Internal capacity development and the need for efficiency improvement

• Perfecting the basics

Medium Priority

• Financial restructuring

The most obvious conclusion from the table above is that the issues in the questionnaire were responded to as accurately reflecting the strategic concerns of the airlines surveyed. The items on the list are not all conceptually discrete. A number of them are closely related and overlap to a degree. For example Cost Management, Service Standards and Operational Reliability can be viewed as means to the attainment of Improved Commercial Performance. However the list shows how different airlines conceptualise their priorities in strategic terms.

The items most frequently accorded a high priority rating - Improved Commercial Performance and Cost Management – can be viewed as complimentary to one another. The implication here is that the respondents predominantly see the management of cost as the prime means of improving the commercial performance of the company with improved service standards also having an important contribution to make.

Operational reliability, although relatively highly rated, was not accorded the same importance as these other factors.

In order to verify the pattern of priorities, the airlines visited were asked to nominate their top three strategic issues in order of priority. The resulting choices confirm the conclusions outlined in the previous paragraph. The item most frequently chosen as top priority was Improved Commercial Performance with Cost management, Operational Reliability, Service Standards and Route Development most frequently nominated as second and third priorities.

Safety and security was recognised by respondents as a highly important issue. This acknowledgement recognises the poor safety record of African aviation. Though many important factors affecting safety are outside the direct control of airlines,


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training has a significant role to play in bringing improvement about.7

E-Commerce was relatively lowly rated, possibly because the communications infrastructure in most of Africa does not yet support it. Privatisation was also of less importance for respondents who either did not see private ownership as an agenda item for their governments or who had already, or were in the course of acquiring, private shareholding.

3.2 Staff Related Obstacles to Strategic Goals

Participating airlines were asked to identify the staff related obstacles that could affect the achievement of their strategic goals. This question called for a free-form answer and the airlines were not presented with a list from which to choose. Their answers were discussed with them during the visits.

A study of the issues identified shows that they can be categorised under three headings – Training issues, Issues that require organisation development or structural intervention and Issues that relate to the recruitment and retention of staff. A breakdown of the issues identified under these three headings is set out in Appendix 3.

It can be seen from this breakdown that training issues are identified as significant inhibitors of goal attainment. There is a definite perception that lack of skills at management and operational levels is an obstacle. In addition affordability of training is seen as a problem and this issue will be elaborated on in Section 3.4 of this report.

It is also evident that issues categorised as requiring an organisational development (OD) or structural solution outnumber those directly referring to training almost by two to one. The solution to OD/structural issues is an important responsibility of executive management. Although, in some cases, help may be required from outside the airline, the onus is on management to deal with these problems. The ability to deal with such issues is a function of the skill and competence, as well as the 7 See “Africa Leads in Hull Losses” Aviation Week and Space Technology; New York, April 2002

motivation, of management. The skills and competences needed to solve these problems are mainly those covered under the Leadership component of the Training Needs Analysis Questionnaire. It is clear therefore that the great majority of the human resource obstacles identified by participating airlines are directly or indirectly related to the need for training.

3.3 Role of Training in Solving H.R. Problems

The analysis of staff-related obstacles to the attainment of strategic goals illustrates the important role that training has in the resolution of these problems. However the spread of problems indicates that training on its own cannot solve all of the problems. Training must be seen as one line of attack but must be complemented by activity on a number of other fronts.

Reference has already been made to the need for organisational development and structural approaches to the resolution of some problems. In order to pursue such approaches managers must be trained to diagnose the underlying causes of organisational problems and to implement the process of improving organisational performance.

Another category of problem relates to the availability of suitable staff and the problem of retaining them. There are a number of causes for this dilemma. Pay is the most obvious of these. The fact that airlines cannot afford levels of pay available to employees of say, multi-national enterprises means that they cannot always compete in the employment market for the best qualified personnel and they are also vulnerable to losing trained staff to such companies.

At the recruitment stage, airlines in developing countries may have to resign themselves to being uncompetitive in the recruitment market for certain skilled jobs. This is not to deny that a job in an airline may be attractive for other than pay reasons – job security for example. While airlines may have no alternative but to match top salaries for a small number of key personnel, in the main, unlike airlines in more developed economies, they will not be able to compete for a wide range of qualified staff.


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This situation implies that they will have to recruit relatively less qualified staff and train them to the required standard. In so doing they would be adhering to one of the fundamental HR policies of one of the industry’s major low cost carriers – “Hire for attitude and train for skill.” In other words, in employing less skilled but affordable personnel and subsequently training them, they would be adhering to a sound and tested policy for a service-oriented, tightly managed airline.

African airlines would benefit from adopting an approach that has been used by airlines elsewhere which involves recruiting school-leavers and putting them through an ‘apprenticeship’ in basic airline skills.

However such a policy would presuppose that airlines in developing economies can afford to train, which they mostly cannot. Thus there is an anomaly in that the airlines that most need to invest in training can least afford to do so. This situation makes the provision of financial support for training in such airlines absolutely vital. Otherwise there is little hope that these carriers will be able to improve their performance, operationally or financially, and compete in the global marketplace.

The argument may be made that investment in training by airlines in developing economies will result in qualified staff being poached by more prosperous companies such as multi-nationals. Inevitably this will happen to some extent. However there are many airline jobs the skills for which are less transferable to other enterprises. Thus much of the training investment will continue to give a return to the airline. Even in cases where qualified staff are lost to other employers, there is an appreciable gain to the economy as a whole if such trained staff are retained within the country. There is ample evidence that an airline, being a relatively advanced enterprise technologically, can act as an incubator for skilled management and professionals to the benefit of the wider economy. Even in such cases investment in training gives a valuable return.

3.4 Problems with Access to Training

A recurrent theme in discussions with participating airlines, which is also reflected in the strategic obstacles outlined in Appendix 3 was the difficulty that some African airlines have in accessing training provided for airline personnel.

The following are the main sources of training available to African airlines:

- in-house training provided by their own instructors

- in-house training provided by external instructors

- external training provided by local training providers

- training provided by other airlines

- training provided by IATA and other external providers.

In-house Training

Some of the larger carriers have quite sophisticated and established in-house training capability. Some already provide training on a commercial basis to other airlines. However some of the smaller carriers have little in the way of training capability. Since this is probably the most cost-effective way of meeting training needs for large groups, any solution to the problem of training provision should aim to strengthen in-house capability.

Use of External Instructors

The use of external instructors sourced from external training providers, including IATA, is mainly availed of by the larger carriers. This is also a relatively economic way of organising training since the cost per head for tuition is spread and there are unlikely to be meal and accommodation expenses. This approach also has a part to play in the provision of cost-effective training for African carriers.


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Use of Local Training Providers

This approach is adopted by a minority of carriers in the case of management and supervisory training. It has a part to play in the overall scheme of training provision, particularly for specialist subjects such as certain finance qualifications and for general rather than industry-specific training in information technology subjects such as programming, systems analysis, network management and network maintenance.

Other Airlines

Training provided by other airlines has particular value as it is specific to the industry and perhaps to the region, and is usually more cost-effective when provided by carriers that are geographically close. Some of the larger carriers already provide such facilities and more use could be made of this approach. The use of other airlines’ training is widely availed of for flight crew and technician training but not for other types of training. This may be due to a lack of information about what is available and lack of a mechanism to facilitate participation.

IATA and Other External Providers

The main source of training services under this heading is the IATA Aviation Training and Development Institute (ATDI) headquartered in Montreal. In the main the airlines in the survey were appreciative of the quality and relevance of the training provided by the ATDI. However a number of problems were widely raised about the cost of this training. Tuition fees were regarded as expensive beyond the budgets of most African carriers.

ATDI mainly locates its training efforts in Montreal, Geneva and Singapore. (More recently courses have been run in Johannesburg although

there did not seem to be much awareness of this among the airlines interviewed.) These locations are viewed as remote and expensive. In addition to the high cost of meals and accommodation, travel to these locations is time consuming and an employee going to a course in one of these cities may be lost to the airline for an additional week. A recent development is the organisation of a limited range of courses in African locations, by the Training Committee of AFRAA.

A further concern voiced by North and West African carriers was the lack of courses in the French language. This was viewed as a further impediment to participation in IATA training courses.

Summary

In summary, the problems that African carriers appear to have in availing of existing training facilities are affordability and accessibility. Proposals to address the training needs of these airlines must cater for these issues.


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CHAPTER 4

Survey Results

4.1 Leadership and Management Skills

The training needs of senior executives, middle managers and supervisors were explored using a categorisation of leadership and management skills.

As outlined previously, leadership skills address the identification and introduction of needed change. Management skills are directed at the need to plan,

allocate resources and direct and monitor performance in order to cope with the complexities of modern business organisations.

The skill categories and definitions proposed to the participating airlines were:

LEADERSHIP MANAGEMENT

Skill/Competence Definition Skill/Competence Definition

Strategy Development

Having the knowledge and skills to develop a vision and a business model that fits with the circumstances and demands being made on the airline.

Planning and Budgeting

Having the knowledge and skills to identify the resources (aircraft, equipment, staff, finance, etc.) necessary to implement the strategy and how to combine all elements in a series of yearly plans with targets and accountabilities.

Persuading and Influencing

Having the knowledge and skills to explain the strategic business issues to relevant individuals and groups inside and outside the airline and to win their support.

Organisation Implementation

Having the knowledge and skills to design an organisation and to allocate people and other resources (such as aircraft), so as to ensure implementation of the airline’s plans in a reliable and predictable way.

Staff Development and Motivation

Having the knowledge and skills to motivate and develop staff and to reward them appropriately.

Developing Standard Operating Procedures

Having the knowledge and skills to devise standard procedures for key operations, set targets, monitor performance and take corrective action.


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The airlines visited made it clear that they regard these skill categories as highly relevant to the task of managing an airline.

The categories also provide a very useful check-list against which to assess the content of courses aimed at senior, middle management and supervisors.

While these skills may be taught as subjects in their own right they may also, in a more contextualised way, form part of training offered to functional managers e.g. Maintenance & Engineer Managers, Flight Operations Managers, etc.

The relative importance attached by respondents to the different skill categories can be assessed by referring to the priority which they assigned to each skill and the gap between their assessment of their current skill level and the level they wished to attain.

Multiplying the priority level by the skill gap produces a number which is referred to here as the Perceived Need Indicator (PNI).

In order to ensure that due weight is assigned to the items of high priority, these are allocated a score of 4.

Medium priority items are allocated a score of 2 and low priority items a score of 1. Thus an item identified by a respondent as:

Priority: High

Current Level of Competence: 4

Required level of Competence: 8

would be assigned a PNI of 16.

Using this convention, the ranking of leadership and management skills assigned by the responding airlines is as follows (all numbers rounded to the nearest whole number):


Skill Category Average PNI*


14

Planning and Budgeting 14

Organisation Implementation 12

Strategy Development 12

Persuading and Influencing 12


10

*Perceived Need Indicator – see above for definition

Table 2: Ranking of Leadership and Management Skill Categories

The average PNI for the Leadership and for the Management factors was 13. There was an equal need for skills relating to the development of strategy and creation of change as there was for skills relating to ‘harder’ management aspects.

There was a wide discrepancy in size between the participating airlines. The spread of number of people employed was from 138 to 11,402. This spread raises the question of whether the expressed needs of the larger and smaller airlines coincide.

The surveyed airlines fall naturally into two groups. Five of the participants have more than 2000 employees. The remaining 12 have approximately 1200 or fewer.

Using this split, the ranking of items is as follows:


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Airlines with more than 2000 Employees

Skill Category Average PNI



12





6

Table 3: Ranking of Leadership and Management Skill Categories for Larger Airlines

The relative average levels of leadership and management skills needs in this case are 11 and 10 respectively. This suggests that the larger carriers perceive a slightly greater need to upgrade their skills in developing and implementing change.

The larger airlines overall have lower PNI scores than the general pattern which suggests that they see themselves as having a lower level of need than their smaller counterparts.

They also place Organisation Implementation at the top of their needs list. This may imply that they have fewer problems with obtaining resources but are more concerned with how to utilise those resources for maximum value.

The lower ranking they accord Staff Development and Motivation may be a reflection of the fact that they have established training and other HR capability and thus see themselves as more self sufficient in this regard than do smaller airlines. Nevertheless this item is still in joint second place on the list.

Airlines with 1200 or Fewer Employees

Skill Category Average PNI



16





12

Table 4: Ranking of Leadership and Management Skill Categories for Smaller Airlines

Both the leadership and the management factors average 14 indicating an equally felt need for both sets of skills. The strong level of need for staff development and motivation underlines the dilemma that these smaller airlines find themselves in. Their need in this area is greater than that of larger carriers but they have far fewer resources to meet this need. This suggests that a methodology to enable the smaller carriers avail of the training resources and capability possessed by the larger airlines could make a valuable contribution.

4.2 Professional Skills

Professional skills as dealt with in this survey cover mainly the technical and support activities that surround the executive and core functions of the airline. Airlines were invited to identify their training needs in the following areas:

• Legal • Instructor Training

• Financial • Information Technology

• Technical • Marketing and Sales

• Flight Operations

• Government and International Affairs


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However it must be emphasised that it is not valid to compare the resulting indicator with the indicator used in 4.1. This is because it is neither possible nor desirable in a survey such as this to weigh the relative importance of skill requirements in different segments of the airline. In addition, the data were supplied by different people in the airline in many cases and some airlines did not provide data under all of the subject headings. The PNI used here are relevant only to the Professional Skills section.

The Perceived Need Indicators (PNI) set out below reflect the priority, skills gap and the number of skills identified under each subject heading. For calculation purposes, an airline indicating zero need is counted but where no data was supplied the airline is omitted. The overall ranking of skills needs is set out below:

Overall Ranking of Skills

Subject Area Average PNI

No. of Airlines

Financial 47 17

Sales & Marketing 46 15

Technical 42 16

Instructor Training 41 16

Legal 38 17

Flight Operations 33 16

Inform. Technology 33 12

Govt. & Intl. Affairs 11 13

Table 5: Overall Ranking of Professional Skill Categories

Applying the same distinction used earlier between the larger and smaller airlines results in the following rankings:

Airlines with more than 2000 Employees


No. of Airlines

Financial 52 5


Legal 42 5



Technical 23 5

Information Technology

14 5


Table 6: Ranking of Professional Skill categories for Larger Airlines

Airlines with 1200 or Fewer Employees


No. of Airlines

Technical 51 11

Inform. Technology 46 7

Financial 45 12



Legal 36 11



Table 7: Ranking of Professional Skill Categories for Smaller Airlines

These tables seem to indicate that the larger carriers see a higher need for training in the business aspects


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of running an airline while the smaller carriers focus more on technology.

Within each subject area airlines nominated a wide range of topics. Some topics featured consistently. Others were proposed by only one or two carriers. A review of the topic areas indicates those in which airlines demonstrated most interest and indicated a high need for training.

The following tables set out the topic areas identified under each subject heading and shows the aggregate level of perceived need (Priority x Gap) the participating airlines indicated for each topic:

LEGAL

Topic PNI*

Contract Law 152

Aircraft Purchase 136

International Air Law 132

Operating Lease 128

Aviation Law for Managers 40

Finance Law 26

* Aggregate

Table 8: Ranking of Legal Topics

The perceived need for training in legal topics is relatively high compared to other subject areas. There is no evident reason why this should be so but the fact that a number of the more highly rated topics refer to contractual and lease/purchase arrangements may indicate that some African airlines perceive themselves to be at a disadvantage when it comes to dealing with international vendors.

FINANCE

Topic PNI*

Risk Management 154

Financial Accounting 150

Cost Accounting 124

Fleet Finance 112

Treasury Management 48

Revenue Accounting 44

Route Profitability Analysis 26

Fraud Prevention 26

* Aggregate

Table 9: Ranking of Finance Topics

Other finance topics that were mentioned once by individual airlines were Management Accounting, Management Information Systems, Financial Modelling, Statistics, BSP and Aviation Fuel Management.

Finance was the subject area of greatest need , that was felt overall, particularly for the larger airlines. Lack of competence in this area may be partly responsible for the fact that only 13 out of the 42 members of AFRAA reported financial results for the year 2001.8

The need for professional accounting qualifications is not one that can readily be addressed through a programme of training courses such as those provided under the auspices of IATA.

The problem for African carriers appears to be that they cannot easily recruit and retain professionally qualified personnel because of salary constraints. Any industry-supported training programme can at best attempt to compensate for the lack of professional qualification.

8 AFRAA Secretary General’s report to the Annual General Assembly, Harare, 2003


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Programmes in financial topics would appear to lend themselves to distance learning and ATDI offer such programmes. However the relatively low level of use of distance learning suggested by answers to Question 10 (Appendix 1) indicates that more work needs to be done to make distance learning a standard method among African airlines.

The fact that Cost Accounting received such a high rating is consistent with the importance accorded to cost management as a strategic issue.

Training providers need to consider how best to supply financial accounting and cost accounting skills to African carriers to compensate for their evident lack of professional qualifications.

In this regard the fact that different accounting conventions apply in countries that have a French or U.K. colonial background needs to be considered as well.

TECHNICAL

Topic PNI*

Procurement & Inventory Management

162

Production Planning & Control

132

Quality Audit/Quality Assurance

116

Aircraft Engineering 108

Aircraft Maintenance 84

Human Factors 60

Licences (JAR66) 44

* Aggregate

Table 10: Ranking of Technical Topics

Other topics mentioned were Contract Negotiations and Stores Management.

Overall the smaller carriers nominated technical skills as their area of greatest need. The high rating accorded Procurement and Inventory Management fits with the concerns expressed about cost management as a strategic issue. It could also be seen as fitting with the importance indicated for contract-related legal issues.

FLIGHT OPERATIONS

Topic PNI

Flight Dispatch 162

Crew Scheduling 76

Operations Control 60

CRM 60

Fuel Management 48

* Aggregate

Table 11: Ranking of Flight Operations Topics

Other topics receiving individual mention included Quality Management, Airline Security, Professional Skills for Cabin Crew, Flight Supervisors and Pilot Selection.

The training of Flight Dispatchers seems to be a problem for a large number of African airlines. Overall, the training of dispatchers was ranked joint highest.

Eleven of the surveyed respondents identified it as an issue and it was a high priority item for nine of them. Sourcing such training presents difficulties for these airlines and the fact that it has to be carried out abroad adds to costs. This is an area that merits early attention.


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INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Topic PNI*

I.T. Security 68

Computer/Communications maintenance

64

Project Management 52

Systems Analysis 48

Programming 48

I.S. Strategic Planning 32

* Aggregate

Table 12: Ranking of Information Technology Topics

Training in Information Technology was of much greater concern to the smaller carriers than to the larger ones. Topics such as computer programming, systems analysis and computer and communications maintenance are usually taught in a vocational training setting and are less easily handled in an industry training environment. Smaller airlines in particular may need help to organise local training in these topics.

However, Project Management and IT Security could be dealt within an airline context.

GOVT. & INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

Topic PNI*

Govt. & International Affairs 97

Bi-Laterals 24

* Aggregate

Table 13: Ranking of Government & International Affairs Topics

Topics mentioned by individual airlines included Corporate Governance, Regulatory Affairs, International Negotiating Skills and Environment.

INSTRUCTOR TRAINING

Topic PNI*

Cabin Crew 108

Professional Skills for Instructors and Training Managers

90

Technical/M&E 86

Pilots 84

Commercial 84

Ground Operations 72

Management 68

* Aggregate

Table 14: Ranking of Instructor Training Topics

Overall Instructor Training was given a mid-table rating. Despite this, upgrading internal training capability has to be given a high priority in any programme aimed at improving the performance of African airlines.

SALES AND MARKETING

Topic PNI*

Sales & Marketing (including marketing strategy)

140

Yield Management 130

PR/Publicity/Promotions 80

E-Business 48

Pricing and Tariffs 42

Cargo Marketing 36

Managing Alliances 36

Market Analysis 24

* Aggregate

Table 15. Ranking of Sales and Marketing Topics


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Also receiving mention by individual airlines were Customer Relationship Management, Cargo Yield Management and Direct Marketing.

The questionnaire invited airlines to indicate areas of professional skills not previously covered. Two topics received mention which were included by others under Technical or Flight Operations -Airline Safety & Security Management and Quality Management. If these topics were aggregated with their earlier ratings (included in previous tables) the level of perceived training need would be as follows:

OTHER SUBJECT AREAS

Topic PNI*

Airline Safety & Security Management

192

Quality Management (including Quality Assurance and Quality Control)

166

* Aggregate

Table 16: Ranking of Other Topics

Although not comparable to the PNI ratings listed earlier, these numbers indicate the importance which many airlines place on safety and security and on quality issues. This suggests that these topics should permeate training offered to airline management and professional personnel which should promote safety and security and quality consciousness.

Other topics receiving individual mention were Catering Management, Food Safety and Passenger Health, Recruitment, HR Management, Career Management.

TEN TOPICS OF GREATEST

PERCEIVED NEED

Topic PNI*

Flight Dispatch 162

Procurement & Inventory 162

Risk Management 154

Contract Law 152


Sales & Marketing 140

Production Planning & Control 132

Operating Lease (Legal aspects) 130

Cost Accounting 124


* Aggregate

Table 17: Overall Ranking of Highest Rated Topics

4.3 Basic Skills

Basic skills training needs were assessed by asking respondents to rate a list of 25 skills according to the level of priority, the current and required level of competence and the number requiring training.

Airlines were invited to add to the list of skills if appropriate.

The skill items are ranked by multiplying the level of priority by the skill gap to produce the following list in order of Perceived Need Indicator:


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BASIC SKILL TRAINING NEEDS

Topic PNI*

Sales Skills 224

Schedule Co-ordination Skills 178

Fraud Prevention 178

Electronic Ticketing 144

Interline Accounting and Control 142

Passenger Tariffs 136

Sales Accounting and Control 126

Live Animal Regulations 126

Cargo Proration 120

Cargo Interline Accounting & Control

120

Security 114

Customer Service 110

Airside Safety/Ramp Safety 108

Passenger Proration 105

GDS/CRS 101

Air Cargo Rating 98

Global Navigation Satellite Systems

88

Airport Passenger Services 83

Load control, Weight & Balance 76

Airline Reservations 72

Cargo Skills and Procedures 69

Dangerous Goods Regulations 54

In-flight Service 38

Passenger Fares and Ticketing 32

* Aggregate

Table 18: Ranking of Basic Skills by Perceived Training Need

4.4 Levels of Demand

Participating airlines were asked to estimate the number of employees requiring training in the various skill categories contained in the questionnaire. They were asked to break down those numbers by function for leadership/management skills.

The professional and basic skills are readily identifiable with various functions. Appendix 4 sets out an estimated demand level for the different skill categories by function.

The demand level is calculated on the basis that the airlines surveyed represent approximately 40% of total employment on the Continent. Based on reported figures by AFRAA (March 2003), numbers employed in the industry had fallen from 95,563 in 2000 to 91,340 in 2001 largely due to the demise of Air Afrique.

It is likely that there has been a further significant fall in employment since 2001 because of the downturn in the global economy and the impact of September 11.

A conservative figure of 75,000 has been used as the level of current employment. Employment in the carriers included in the survey totals 30,566.

Accordingly numbers requiring training in the participating airlines have been multiplied by 2.5 to produce total estimated demand for training in the Continent as a whole. The likelihood is that this understates the real level of demand.

The numbers used in the report are purely indicative and are included for the purpose of constructing an outline work programme.

The numbers should be treated with caution because:


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not all respondents provided numbers for every skill;

where an airline stated that it catered for a training need in-house or where, on the basis of its description of its in-house capability it could reasonably be inferred that it did so, their numbers have been excluded;

where an individual airline indicated that it required training for large numbers (generally in the range 100-400) for a particular skill, these have been omitted on the basis that such training should be catered for on an in-company basis and consequently should be addressed by instructor training and investment in in-company training facilities. To include them as part of the across-the-board training requirement could distort the overall picture.

Conservative assumptions about numbers have been made so it is likely that the numbers actually requiring training are greater than shown.

However, taking account of the fact that in practice fewer people are likely to be released for training than actually require it, a conservative approach is justified.

4.5 Demand Tables

The estimated level of demand for the various categories of training covered in the report is set out in the following tables.

Only numbers for skill categories rated as high priority are counted:

Leadership and Management Skills*

Leadership & Management Category

Potential No. Requiring Training

Senior Executives 300

Middle managers 1090

Supervisors 1050

* Numbers are based on the skill category for which the highest training requirement is indicated, on the assumption that the same individuals are nominated for training in each case of the six skill (Table 2) categories.

Table 19: Numbers to be Trained in Leadership and Management Skills

Professional Skills*

Skill Category Potential No. Requiring Training

Flight Dispatch 110

Procurement& Inventory 100

Risk Management 110

Contract Law 70


Sales & Marketing 190

Operating Lease 40

Cost Accounting 70


Production Planning & Control

40

* Skill categories are in order of highest perceived need as per Table 17

Table 20: Numbers to be Trained in Professional Skills

Note: Tables 19, 20 & 21 only reflect the highest-perceived need. Estimated total demand for trainingis reflected in Appendix 4.


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Basic Skills*

Skill Category Potential No. Requiring Training

Sales skills 330

Schedule Co-ordination Skills 40

Fraud Prevention 70

Electronic Ticketing 30

Interline Accounting and Control

100

Passenger Tariffs 70

Sales Accounting and Control 70

Live Animal Regulations 80

Cargo Proration 100

Cargo Interline Accounting and Control

40

Security 130

Customer Service 200

Airside Safety/Ramp Safety 90

*Skill categories are the top half of Table 18. The list is arbitrarily extended to include Airside/Ramp Safety because of its importance.

Table 21: Numbers to be Trained in Basic Skills

4.6 Implications of Analyses of Need and Demand

The data gathered from the airlines participating in the survey make it clear that there is major work to be undertaken in order to bring the skill level of many African airlines up towards best international standards. The airlines themselves do not have the finance or resources to complete this task. The present arrangements for training delivery do not seem to meet the requirements and particular circumstances of African carriers.

The patterns revealed by the survey provide two dimensions for consideration:

The needs analysis indicates the relative importance and the skill deficiency attached to various skill categories. This ranking indicates the types of training that should be tackled in the immediate future.

The demand levels indicate the volume of training that would have to be offered in order to cater for the numbers requiring training. The level of demand also raises considerations about the most suitable way of delivering the training e.g. public course, in-company or distance learning.

4.7 Recommendations on Training

Arising from the needs analysis and the pattern of demand indicated by the numbers in Appendix 4, it is suggested that the training deficit among African airlines be tackled according to following guidelines:

A sustained programme of training be organised specifically geared to address the strategic priorities and skill needs of African carriers.

This training should take place in African locations that are accessible to and affordable by African airlines.

An appropriate balance of training in English and French should be offered.

Tuition fees should be at a level that ensures strong participation in the training programmes.

Programme recommendations

The following recommendations are aimed at addressing the situation revealed in the survey results:


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Priority should be given to organising training for Training Managers and Instructors even though this was not an area of high priority for some airlines. In-company training has a major contribution to make to the elimination of the training deficit and is probably the most cost effective way of meeting training needs. Building in-company capability is also the best way of ensuring the sustainability of the training initiative.

Consideration should be given to organising seminars specifically for Chief Executives. This approach would allow a fuller and higher level discussion on issues of mutual strategic interest and would also lay the groundwork for subsequent seminars for other senior executives. These seminars should be staffed by personnel of international standing with a good understanding of the strategic position of African aviation.

Seminars focussing on strategic analysis, strategy development and strategy implementation should be offered to senior executives. These seminars should be placed in an African context and should deal with the real-world issues that the senior echelons in African carriers have to deal with. They should aim to equip participants with the ability to analyse changing environments and to help their airlines adapt to new circumstances.

Seminars for senior executives should pay particular attention to the human dimensions of change and performance and should emphasise the primary responsibility of senior executives for human resource management.

Training for middle-managers and supervisors should take place in functional groupings e.g. Marketing, Finance etc. Training should cover change management and performance management in their functional context. Particular emphasis

should be placed on cost management. This training should be resourced from a body such as ATDI. The question of whether such events should take place in-company or in mixed airline groups needs to be considered.

Training courses should be organised to address the priorities revealed in the analysis of Professional Skill and Basic Skill needs e.g. Flight Dispatch, Procurement & Inventory, Risk Management, Contract Law, Sales & Marketing, Schedule Co-ordination Skills, Fraud Prevention, etc. Particular attention should be paid to the safety and security aspects of airline operations. This training should be commissioned from qualified African carriers or from outside training providers such as ATDI.

• Training development schemes should be established in cooperation with airline CEOs and top management to ensure that airline staff undergoing training provided outside the airline, are not isolated and that knowledge transfer takes place within the organisation.

4.8 Level of Training Capability in Airlines Surveyed

Participating airlines were asked to identify the areas in which they provided in-house training under the headings of Leadership and Management Skills, Professional skills and basic skills.

The information supplied in response to this question and discussion with the airlines visited showed that some carriers had well established and quite sophisticated in-house training capability. All airlines relied on external training resources for at least some of their requirements.

Some of the airlines, more developed in training matters, also offer training to other carriers on a commercial basis. However there was a wide gap between the training capability of these airlines and the norm.


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The information gathered under this heading is incomplete but an indication of the in-house capability can be gleaned from the following table:

In-house Training Capability

Skill Area No. of Airlines with In-house

Capability

Pilots/Flight Operations 8

Cabin Crew/In-flight Service 8

Technical 7

Safety/Security 7

Commercial 7

Management 4

Table 22: In-house Training Capability in Airlines Surveyed

According to the responses the number of instructors, full-time and part-time, engaged in in-house training is of the order of 300.

While the above table is incomplete it does point to the fact that there is capability in Africa which if further developed, harnessed and directed towards areas of greatest need could make a very valuable and cost-effective contribution to the reduction of the training deficit.

4.9 Current and Future Use of Training Methods

Respondents were asked to indicate their current and anticipated future use of internal classroom, external classroom and distance learning training methods. The results from those who completed this question are shown in the following graph.

A positive value indicates that the airline envisages greater use, while a negative value indicates less use of the particular method. A zero value indicates that no change is anticipated. Five airlines supplied no data under this heading.

The graph suggests that in the main, airlines would wish to increase their in-house training capability. For some this would involve a trade-off with external training while others would wish to see the level of external training remain the same or increase. The majority of airlines would like to see a significant increase in the use of distance learning.

More information is needed to understand what the current obstacles are to greater use of distance learning approaches so that more could be made of this cost-effective method for certain subjects.

Figure 1 : Expected Change in Use of Training Methods


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CHAPTER 5

Summary

5.1 Need for Training Support

The survey demonstrates that there is a great felt need for training and development among the participating airlines. There is no reason to suppose that the same level of need is not resident in African airlines as a whole.

The skills and competences of managers, professionals and airline specialists at all levels is fundamental to the survival and development of an airline, irrespective of the particular environmental conditions under which they operate. The airline industry is developing new business models and new global alliances in response to customer demands

and cost pressures. As the industry as a whole moves on, there is a danger that African carriers will be unable to keep pace with adverse consequences for the economies of many countries. An upskilling of staff across a wide range of levels and functions is required to equip many African airlines to become viable.

It is evident that African carriers do not have the resources to carry out such a programme of skill enhancement without help. Given the precarious financial situation in which many of them find themselves, there is a danger that essential investment of time and money in skill development will be neglected. Outside help is needed.


37


Part Two


38


39

CHAPTER 6

Response Options

6.1 Available Options

The options available to IATA to respond to the situation depicted in this survey are:

(a) to continue with the present programme of scholarships and other training support through the International Airline Training Fund or

(b) to devise a different model more directly focussed on African needs and priorities.

6.2 Application - Disbursements Model

The existing modus operandi of the IATF can be described as an Application-Disbursements model. The fund is created by contributions from IATA member airlines and by donations from major suppliers to the airline industry.

This fund is invested and the yield from these investments used to provide scholarships to individual applicants. In addition the Fund finances extensive in-company training for airlines in developing economies.

Applications for individual scholarships are assessed by the Scholarship Committee which operates to the following guidelines :

A maximum of 10 applications may be submitted per airline per year;

Up to four scholarships may be granted per airline per year;

A maximum of one scholarship may be granted per year per employee.

Since the Fund was set up in 1985 it has provided scholarships to 3500 individuals from developing nation airlines worldwide. In addition, the Fund finances regional in-company training and in the period from 1998 to 2002, 1650 trainees from 125 airlines participated in such programmes.

This is a very worthwhile contribution to the skills needs of developing nations’ airlines but as the numbers set out in Section 4.5 of this report indicates, it falls far short of the effort needed to bring skill levels in African carriers up to required standards.

The model to which the Fund works may be depicted as follows:


40

APPLICATION-DISBURSEMENTS MODEL

The IATF does extremely valuable work which is highly appreciated by the beneficiaries, airlines and individuals. However it is clear from the description of the way the Fund operates that it could not possibly address the training needs of African airlines on the scale necessary.

Even with additional funds the application-disbursements model does not provide the integrated and cohesive attack that is necessary to make an impact on the task of upgrading the skill levels in African airlines.

6.3 Resource Co-ordination Model

An alternative way of conceptualising the delivery of increased training opportunities to African airlines is to conceive of a mechanism that integrates current training needs with current African airline training capability.

Such a model would also take into account African and non-African airline training capability and focuses on areas of highest need.

What this would require would be a co-ordinating unit based in Africa that would knit together the airlines with needs and the training providers that could meet those needs.

Such a unit would liase with airlines, training providers from inside and outside the industry and would be accountable to the IATF.

The Training Co-ordination model can be depicted as follows:

Figure 2: Application-Disbursements Model

IATF Applicant Airline B

Applicant Airline C

Individual Scholarships

Regional In-field Programmes

Applicant Airline A

Distance Learning


41

RESOURCE CO-ORDINATION MODEL

A model of this sort, adequately funded, could make an impact on the training deficit that currently

exists in African airlines in a relatively short time frame.

Figure 3: Resource Co-ordination Model

Training Co-ordinator for

Africa African Airline training

requirements

African Airline training capability

Other Suppliers of Training services

Programme of Training Services for African

Airlines

IATF IATA (ATDI)

PROGRAMME OF TRAINING SERVICES

FOR AFRICAN AIRLINES


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CHAPTER 7

Recommendations

7.1 Training Deficit

The training deficit among African carriers needs to be urgently addressed. The reasons for this deficit are mainly airlines’ lack of money to spend on training because of their perilous financial situation. This situation is compounded by to the fact that the costs of availing of training opportunities are high because it is mostly carried out in distant, expensive locations with tuition costs that are not affordable by most African airlines. The fact that virtually all training is carried out in English presents a further barrier to French-speaking airlines.

7.2 Recommendations

The following action is recommended to tackle this problem:

1. That a co-ordinating unit be set up, under the direction of the IATA Regional Director for Africa and be accountable to a governance mechanism put in place by IATA/IATF with appropriate African representation.

2. That the unit be given a recognisable designation (such as the African Airline Training Foundation - AATF), which would enhance the prestige of courses run under its auspices and create an identifiable entity for funding. The AATF should not carry out any training activities itself but should commission training from providers.

3. That a Training Co-ordinator be appointed, using this report and recommendations as a starting point, have on-going liaison with African carriers and with bodies such as the Training Committee of AFRAA; AASA, to keep training priorities under review.

4. That the Training Co-ordinator make an inventory of training capabilities in African carriers, eventually putting in place a system of accreditation of courses so that individual carriers may become certified providers of different types of training.

5. That the Training Co-ordinator publish and promote a programme of courses commissioned from qualified African carriers which would be available to other African airlines.

6. That the Training Co-ordinator liase with ATDI and other external providers of training and agree that a programme of training to be provided on the African continent (hosted perhaps by various African airlines) and promote these opportunities with African carriers.

7. That a system of training certification, based on IATA’s (ATDI) training standards & quality assurance, be devised encompassing all training by whatever provider, carried out under the auspices of the AATF.


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8. That a policy be established with regard to allocation of funding that the AATF will provide for participants in training courses run under its auspices. (See Section 4.7)

9. That funding be sought from international donors to enable this programme to be put into effect.


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CHAPTER 8

Conclusion

Aviation has an important contribution to make to the economic well-being of African nations9. The African airline industry however faces many obstacles to its development and to its ability to compete in the global marketplace.

High on the list of inhibiting factors is the inability of African carriers to invest in the skill enhancement of their personnel at most levels. Many carriers are confronted by the dilemma that they need to upgrade their skill levels in order to become commercially viable but lack of finance prevents them from making the necessary investment in training. For many airlines only operationally essential training can be provided.

There is a strongly perceived need for substantially more training than can be currently sustained. Existing industry training provision, while valued in terms of its quality, is not affordable because of high tuition fees and high maintenance costs in the North American, European and Asian locations where this training is mainly provided.

Existing models of training delivery will not be capable of meeting the scale of additional training that is necessary. A larger scale, cohesive and co-ordinated programme is called for. This programme should aim at bringing together the training needs of African carriers and the potential providers of training to meet those needs. Such a programme should take advantage of the fact that a minority of African airlines have developed training 9 Air Transport Action Group (ATAG), The Contribution of Air Transport to Sustainable Development in Africa, October 2003.

capability over the years and could become valuable and cost efficient contributors to the solution of the African training deficit problem.

Central to the success of any programme to address the training deficit is the need to ensure that airlines can afford to participate. This fact means that training must be offered at a cost well below what is currently provided, which in turn means that it must be funded from a resource not currently available to African carriers. The creation of this additional funding is essential if African airlines are not to fall further behind the wider global industry.


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Appendix 1

IATA/IATF SURVEY OF AFRICAN AIRLINES TRAINING NEEDS - 2003

PART 1 – CEO INPUT

Please indicate the strategic importance of these issues for your airline over the next five years.

Please mark high, medium or low.

3. Strategic Obstacles: What are the main staff-related obstacles to the achievement of your strategic goals:

1. Airline 2. Strategic Goals:

Strategic Importance Strategic Importance

High Medium Low High Medium Low

Privatisation Improved commercial performance

Cost management Safety and Security

Aircraft acquisition E-commerce

Service standards Operational reliability

Route Development Code Sharing / Alliances

Other (Please specify):


46

4. ANALYSIS OF LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT TRAINING NEEDS In the following tables please select the skills in each area that you believe are relevant to the achievement of your airline’s goals over the next five years. In each case please mark:

A. The Priority

Indicate the priority for each selected item by marking the appropriate box as shown in the example:

high medium low

B. Current level of competence

On the scale 1 to 10, 1 indicates a very low level of competence in the skill and 10 indicates a very high level of expertise.

Please mark with an “X” the position on the scale that you believe represents the current skill level in the airline

Required level of competence


Please mark with an “X” the position on the scale that you believe represents the skill level that your airline needs to attain.

The number of staff to be trained by function

EXAMPLE Strategy Development Having the knowledge and skills to develop a vision and a business model that fits with the circumstances and the demands being made on the airline.

A. Priority High Medium Low

1= very low 10 = very high


1 2 3 X 5 6 7 8 9 10

C. Required level of competence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 X 9 10

D. Number of Managers to be Trained by Function

General Management Marketing Flight

Operations Ground

Operations Maintenance &

Engineering Human

Resources Finance Information Technology

Senior Executives 1 1 1 Middle Managers 5 2 3 1 3

Supervisors 20 4 4 5


47

LEADERSHIP/MANAGEMENT TRAINING NEEDS

4. 1 Strategy Development Having the knowledge and skills to develop a vision and a business model that fits with the circumstances and the demands being made on the airline.




1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

C. Required level of competence 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10



Operations Ground


Engineering Human


Senior Executives Middle Managers

Supervisors

4. 2 Planning and Budgeting Having the knowledge and skills to identify the resources (aircraft, equipment, staff and finance, etc.) necessary to implement the strategy and how to combine all elements in a series of yearly plans with targets and accountabilities.




1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10




Operations Ground


Engineering Human



Supervisors


48


4. 3 Persuading and Influencing Having the knowledge and skills to explain the strategic/business issues to relevant individuals and groups inside and outside the airline and to win their support..




1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10




Operations Ground


Engineering Human



Supervisors

4. 4 Organisation Implementation Having the knowledge and skills to design an organization, and to allocate people and other resources (such as aircraft), so as to ensure implementation of the airline’s plans in a reliable and predictable way.




1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10




Operations Ground


Engineering Human



Supervisors


49


4. 5 Staff Development and Motivation Having the knowledge and skills to motivate and develop staff and reward them appropriately.

A. Priority Short-term Medium-term Long-term



1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10




Operations Ground


Engineering Human



Supervisors

4. 6 Developing Standard Operating Procedures Having the knowledge and skills to devise standard procedures for key operations, set targets, monitor performance and take corrective action.




1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10




Operations Ground


Engineering Human



Supervisors


50


4. 7 Any Other Leadership/Management Training Needs




1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10




Operations Ground


Engineering Human



Supervisors Part 1 of this questionnaire was completed by: Name of CEO:

Telephone:

E-mail:

Signature: Date:


51

IATA/IATF SURVEY OF AFRICAN AIRLINES TRAINING NEEDS - 2003

PART 2 – PROFESSIONAL SKILLS TRAINING NEEDS

Senior Executives

Middle Managers

Supervisors Other Staff Total

General Management

Marketing

Flight Operations

Ground Operations

Maintenance & Engineering

Human Resources

Finance


Total

Notes:

1. The table is divided into frequently used airline functions so as to make it possible to combine numbers from all airlines

surveyed. Where the organisation structure of your airline does not correspond with the functions used above please be guided by the following:

1.1. General management is meant to cover all functions, reporting to the CEO, not covered by the other categories.

1.3. Include passenger and cargo marketing under ‘Marketing’.

1.3. Include cargo handling under Ground Operations.

1.4. Include Cabin Crew under Flight Operations.

2. Please use the same definitions for Senior Executive, Middle Manager and Supervisor as you used when completing the Training Needs Analysis questionnaire.

Airline

5. Number of Employees

6. Language through which Training is Required:

English French Other (Please specify)


52

7. ANALYSIS OF PROFESSIONAL SKILLS TRAINING NEEDS In the following tables please identify the skills in each area that you believe are relevant to the achievement of your airline’s goals over the next five years. In each case please mark:

A. The Priority

Indicate the priority for each selected item by marking the appropriate box as shown in the example:

high medium low

B. The required skill - list the skills for which training is required in each area C. The number of staff to be trained in each skill D. The current & required competence


Current skill/competency - please mark with an “X” the position on the scale that you believe represents the current skill level in the airline Required skill/competency - please mark with an “X” the skill level that the airline needs to achieve

EXAMPLE EXAMPLE


B. Skill C. Number requiring training

D. Skill/Competence 1= very low 10 = very high

Current 1 2 x 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

international air law 2 Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 x 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 x 6 7 8 9 10

contract law 4 Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 x 9 10


53

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS

7.1 LEGAL (e.g. international air law, contract law, finance law, aircraft purchase, operating lease, etc.)


B. Skill

C. Number requiring training


Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10


7.2 FINANCIAL (e.g. financial accounting, cost accounting, risk management, etc.)


B. Skill



Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10


Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10



54

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS

7.3 TECHNICAL (e.g. aircraft engineering, licenses, maintenance, procurement & inventory, etc.)


B. Skill



Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10


Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10


7.4 FLIGHT OPERATIONS (e.g. pilots , dispatchers, etc.)


B. Skill



Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10


Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10



55

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS

7.5 INSTRUCTOR TRAINING (e.g. engineering, pilot, cabin crew, management, commercial, etc.)


B. Skill



Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10


Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10


7.6 INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (e.g. systems analysis, programming, communications, etc.)


B. Skill



Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10


Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10



56

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS

7.7 GOVERNMENT AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS


B. Skill



Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10


Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10


7.8 SALES & MARKETING


B. Skill



Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10


Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10



57

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS

7.9 OTHER PROFESSIONAL SKILLS:


B. Skill



Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10


Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10


*********************************


58

8. ANALYSIS OF BASIC SKILLS TRAINING NEEDS In the following tables please identify the skills in each area that you believe are relevant to the achievement of your airline’s goals over the next five years. In each case please mark:

A. The Priority

Indicate the priority for each listed skill by marking the appropriate number as shown in the example: 1 = high 2 = medium 3 = low

B. The required skill - identify the skills for which training is required - other skills may be listed at the bottom of the table C. The number of staff to be trained in each skill D. The current & required competence


Current skill/competency - please mark with an “X” the position on the scale that you believe represents the current skill level in the airline Required skill/competency - please mark with an “X” the skill level that the airline needs to achieve

EXAMPLE

BASIC SKILLS TRAINING NEEDS

A. Priority 1=high

2=medium 3=low

B. Skill C.

Number requiring training


Current 1 2 x 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 x 3 Example Skill 55

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 x 9 10


59

BASIC SKILLS TRAINING

8. BASIC SKILLS TRAINING NEEDS

A. Priority 1=high

2=medium 3=low

B. Skill C.



Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 Passenger fares & ticketing

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 GDS & CRS

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 Airline reservations

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 Cargo skills & procedures

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 Dangerous goods regulations

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 Live animal regulations

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 Air cargo rating

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 Passenger proration

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 Cargo proration

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 Global navigation satellite

systems Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 Airport passenger services

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 Load control - weight & balance

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 Sales accounting & control

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 Interline accounting & control

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 Cargo interline accounting &

control Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 Fraud prevention

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 Airside safety - ramp safety

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

BASIC SKILLS TRAINING Q8 Continued…


60

8. BASIC SKILLS TRAINING NEEDS

A. Priority 1=high

2=medium 3=low

B. Skill C.



Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 Schedule coordination skills

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 Customer Service

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 Passenger tariffs

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 Electronic ticketing

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 Security

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 In-flight service

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 Sales skills

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 please specify others below

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Current 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3

Required 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10


61

9. Own Training Capability

Pease list the types of training you provide in-house for leadership/management, professional and

basic skills. For each type of training state the number of instructor and the airline’s own training

facilities.

LEADERSHIP/MANAGEMENT SKILLS

Type of in-house Training No. Instructors Facilities

PROFESSIONAL SKILLS


BASIC SKILLS



62

10. TRAINING METHODS: 10.1 HOW MUCH USE DOES YOUR AIRLINE MAKE OF THE FOLLOWING TRAINING METHODS?

In-house classroom training

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

none A great deal

External classroom training

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

none A great deal

E-learning (or distance learning)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

none A great deal

10.2 HOW MUCH USE DO YOU EXPECT TO MAKE OF THESE TRAINING METHODS IN THE FUTURE?

In-house classroom training

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

none A great deal

External classroom training

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

none A great deal

E-learning (or distance learning)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

none A great deal


63

11. OTHER Please identify any other training need which has not been included in this questionnaire:

Do you wish to make any comments about your training needs:

This questionnaire was completed by: Name:

Title:

Telephone/telex:

E-mail: Approved by CEO

Signature: Signature:

Date: Date:


64

IATA/IATF SURVEY OF AFRICAN AIRLINES TRAINING NEEDS – 2003

ANNEX 1 - BASIC AIRLINE INFORMATION

Name of Airline: ____________________________________________________________________ 1. Organisational Structure – please attach organisational chart, showing senior management, heads of

departments and total staff by each major functional area. 2. Ownership – please provide ownership details, including % of whether government-owned or

privately-owned.

3. Statistics (Passenger & Cargo) – please provide number of scheduled and non-scheduled passengers

and freight tones carried in 2001 and 2002. 2001

International 2001

Domestic 2002

International 2002

Domestic Scheduled Services – Number of Passengers Carried

Non-Scheduled Services – Number of Passengers Carried

Scheduled Services – Number of Freight Tonnes Carried

Non-Scheduled Services – Number of Freight Tonnes Carried

4. Fleet – please provide number of aircraft as follows:


65

Aircraft Type # In Service # On Order # On Option Total

5. Route Network – please supply diagram of network service and copy of current timetable. 6. Staff – please indicate current staff size and projected recruitment of new staff for the next five years.

Completed by:

Name:

Job Title:

Telephone: Fax:

E-mail:

Date: Signature:


66


67

Appendix 2 LEADERSHIP/MANAGEMENT MODEL

Airlines to-day are particularly subject to forces created by a rapidly changing environment, necessitating prompt responses, and by the organisational and technological complexity

inherent in running an airline. The chosen model is particularly appropriate in these circumstances.

Leadership and Management may be contrasted as follows:

KEY TASKS LEADERSHIP MANAGEMENT

Agenda Setting Setting a Direction:

- creating a vision

- determining changes needed to make the vision real

- developing strategies to produce those changes

Planning and Budgeting

- setting out detailed steps and timetables

- allocating the resources required to implement the plan

Network and Structure Building

Aligning People

- communicating the vision and strategy to all those inside and outside the organisation whose co-operation may be needed

- ensuring that the vision and strategy are understood and accepted as valid

Organising and Staffing

- creating a structure for implementing the plan

- staffing the structure

- delegating responsibility and authority -- devising policies and procedures

- creating methods and systems to monitor implementation

Implementation Motivating and Inspiring

- generating energy and commitment

- encouraging people to overcome major political, bureaucratic and resource barriers to change

- addressing important human needs of organisation members

Controlling and Problem Solving

- monitoring results vs plan

- identifying deviations

- taking action to solve these problems

Based on Kotter (1990)10

10 Kotter, J.P. (1990) A Force for Change: How Leadership Differs from Management; New York, The Free Press


68

The outcome of successful leadership is the production of useful change in, for example, corporate structure, product and services, and organisational functioning while the outcome of

successful management is a consistent ability to deliver key results demanded by customers such as safe, on-time and up-to-standard operations.


69

Appendix 3

SUMMARY OF STAFF RELATED ISSUES

Training Issues

• Level of airline skills due to lack of training • Aging workforce resulting in knowledge gap

• Lack of airline skills due to number of new staff

• Difficulty in releasing staff for training due to small staff numbers

• Lack of skill at middle management level • Lack of skills in specific airline sectors

• Cost of training and development • Lack of professional skills in airline management

• Lack of educational qualifications • No multi-skills capability

• Lack of trained staff • Strategic management/planning expertise is limited particularly among top echelons

• Level of technical expertise among disadvantaged groups

• Fragmented training from a management perspective and cost

• Management capability • Static traditional training not aligned to strategic objectives

• Lack of educational qualification

Availability and Retention of Staff

• Availability of qualified staff at competitive salaries

• Pilot turnover

• Turnover of highly qualified people • Low levels of pay

• Identifying and appointing suitable personnel • Pilot migration

• Lack of trained local middle management • Need for adequate succession at senior level

• High staff turnover due to poor pay • High turnover in top management as a result of government interference and uncompetitive remuneration and conditions of service


70

Organisation Development and Structural Issues

• Tradition of operating as a public utility • Need to remobilise the HR function

• Lack of industry service standards • Unionisation and level of understanding of business processes

• Lack of mutual support between salaries and culture

• Civil service bureaucratised mentality

• Human resource policies do not support change

• Poor customer service due to staff attitude

• Middle managers are not confident in taking action

• Industrial relations instability

• Lack of a culture of quality • Unionisation including share ownership

• Low productivity due to civil service mentality • Reluctance to change to match current industry environment

• Need for positively motivated attitudes towards work

• Affirmative action requirements

• Teamwork in pursuit of common objectives needs to be strengthened

• Difficulty in improving productivity

• Weak communication • Need for HR policy to motivate staff

• Imbalance of opportunities across the company

• Lack of “knowledge processes”

• Reluctance to change to match current industry environment

• Lack of motivation to excel


71

Appendix 4

ESTIMATED OVERALL LEVEL OF DEMAND FOR TRAINING BY FUNCTION

NOTES

1. The following tables group training topics by main organisational functions.

2. The numbers should be viewed as approximate and are intended mainly to indicate relative levels of potential demand for training.

3. Numbers supplied by airlines in the survey have been multiplied by a factor of 2.5 (as discussed in Section 4.4 of the report) and have been rounded to the nearest 10.

4. Training topics are listed in order of perceived need as described in Chapter 4 of the report.

5. Where a range is shown, the lower number represents the numbers indicated by airlines that rated the item as high priority. The higher number includes airlines that rated the item as medium priority. Where only one number is shown, there is no significant difference between high priority numbers and medium priority numbers.

6. In some cases one or more airlines did not supply a number requiring training and those items are indicated with a + sign. The requirement for training in these cases is likely to be higher than the numbers shown.

7. In some cases one or more airlines indicated a training requirement for a particularly high number of personnel, generally of the order of 100 to 400. Where this has arisen these numbers have been omitted because such a requirement should be met through an in-company programme and would be best and most economically addressed by training instructors. To include them would distort the overall numbers. Such cases are indicated by a * sign.

8. The ‘Demand Level for Planning Purposes’ in the case of Leadership and Management Skills is the highest number assigned to one of the six skill areas on the assumption that the same people are likely to be nominated for training in these skills.

9. In the case of Professional and Basic skills, the ‘Demand Level for Planning Purposes’ is the total nominated for training in each function on the assumption that different people would attend training in each skill area, even though it is accepted that that would not always be the case.


72


GENERAL MANAGEMENT

Leadership and Management Senior Executives Middle Managers Supervisors

Staff Developmt. & Motivation 60 330 140-150

Planning and Budgeting 45 220 100

Strategy Development 50-80 125-190 80

Organisation Implementation 30-60 165-200 100

Persuading & Influencing 30-60 150-190 80


10-20 20-150 10-110

Demand Level for Planning Purposes

60 330 140

Professional Skills

Contract Law 70-110+

Operating Lease 40-80+

International Air law 40-130

Aircraft Purchase 30-70+

Govt. & Intl. Affairs 20-160+

Aviation Law for Managers 60

Finance Law 10-20

Bi-laterals 20


290

Basic Skills

Security 130-250


130


73


MARKETING


Staff Developmt. & Motivation 20-30 100-110 120



Org. Implementation 20-50 50-150 60



10-20 20-90 40-120


30 120 130

Professional Skills

Sales & Marketing (incl. Marketing strategy)

190+

Yield Management 70+

PR/Publicity/Promotions 20

E-Business 30

Pricing/Tariffs 10

Cargo Marketing 10-40

Managing Alliances 60

Market Analysis 10-20 Demand Level for Planning Purposes

400

Basic Skills

Sales Skills 330-360+

Schedule Co-ordination 40-160+

Electronic Ticketing 30*-90*

Passenger Tariffs 70-130+

Customer Service 200*+

GDS/CRS 30*

Air cargo Rating 20*

Airline Reservations ?**

Passenger Fares & Ticketing ?** Demand Level for Planning Purposes

720

*Excludes high numbers from one airline, which should be catered for on an in-company basis. ** Airlines did not provide numbers requiring training although some demand exists. This training is more often done in-house


74


FLIGHT OPERATIONS


Staff Development & Motivation

20 110-120 160


Strategy Development 40-60 90-140* 90

Organisation Implementation 40-50 60-90 90-120

Persuading & Influencing 40-50 60-80* 90-130


20-40 40-110 60-130


50 120 160

Professional Skills

Flight Dispatch 110-200+

Crew Scheduling 20+

Operations Control 50

Crew Relationship Management

140*

Fuel Management 10+


330

Basic Skills

Global Navigation Satellite Systems

180-280*

In-flight Service 60-100*


240


75


GROUND OPERATIONS



20 110-120 100*


Strategy Development 20 70-80 100

Organisation Implementation 30 70-90 20-30

Persuading & Influencing 30 100 200


20-30 40-120 60-150


40 110 200

Professional Skills

Nil

Basic Skills

Live Animal Regulations 80-110*

Airside Safety/ Ramp Safety 90-180*

Airport Passenger Services 10-90*

Load Control/Weight & Balance

150-320*

Cargo Skills and Procedures 40-90*

Dangerous Goods Regulations 60-110*


430


76


MAINTENANCE & ENGINEERING



30 160 180






10-20 50-120 40-130


40 160 180

Professional Skills

Procurement & Inventory Management

100-110+

Production Planning and control

40-100+

Quality Audit/Quality Assurance

20-40

Aircraft Engineering 120-160

Aircraft Maintenance 80+

Human Factors 90


450

Basic Skills

Nil


77


HUMAN RESOURCES



20 90-100 90-100






10 20-60 30-70


20 90 90

Professional Skills – Instructor Training

Cabin Crew 90-120+

Professional Skills for Training Managers / Instructors

160-190

Pilots 80+

Commercial 40-100

Technical 40-50+

Ground Operations 50

Management 20


480

Basic Skills

Nil


78


FINANCE


Staff Developmt & Motivation 20-30 110-120 130



Org. Implementation 40-50 70-120 90



10 10-60 30-110


40 110 130

Professional Skills

Cost accounting 70-110+

Risk management 110-170+

Financial Accounting 140-310+

Fleet Finance 60+

Treasury 10-40

Revenue Accounting 20-60+

Route Profitability 10-30


420

Basic Skills

Fraud Prevention 70-170*

Interline Accounting & Control 100-210

Sales Accounting & Control 70-190

Cargo Proration 100-260

Cargo Interline Acctg & Control

40-120

Passenger Proration 380-440


760


79


INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY



10 30 10






10 20-30 20


20 50 20

Professional Skills

Project Management 40+

I.T. Security 40

Computer/Communications Maintenance

30+

Systems Analysis 40+

Programming 40+

I.S. Strategic Planning 30


220

Basic Skills

Nil


80

SUMMARY OF OVERALL ESTIMATED LEVEL OF DEMAND FOR TRAINING BY FUNCTION

Senior Executives Middle Managers Supervisors Others

General Management

Leadership & Mgmt 60 330 140

Professional Skills 290

Basic Skills 130


60 620 140 130

Marketing



Basic Skills 720


30 520 130 720

Flight Operations



Basic Skills 240


50 460 160 240

Ground Operations


Professional Skills

Basic Skills 430


40 110 200 430


81

SUMMARY OF OVERALL ESTIMATED LEVEL OF DEMAND FOR TRAINING BY FUNCTION

Senior Executives

Middle Managers

Supervisors Others

Maintenance & Engineering



Basic Skills Nil


40 610 180 Nil

Human Resources



Basic Skills Nil


20 570 90 Nil

Finance



Basic Skills 760


40 530 130 760




Basic Skills Nil


20 270 20 Nil

Average Demand Level for Planning Purposes

300 3680 1050 2280

Total: 7310

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iata/iatf report on african airlinesâ€™ training needs

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