Mr Yap Ong Heng, Director General,
Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore
Mr Mohamed Elamiri, Deputy Director (Safety Management and Monitoring),
Air Navigation Bureau, ICAO
Ladies and gentlemen,
1. Good morning. I am pleased to join you for the opening of the first ever ICAO TRAINAIR PLUS Global Symposium, hosted by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and the Singapore Aviation Academy (SAA).
2. First and foremost, let me extend a warm welcome to all speakers and delegates, especially those who have come from afar. I am told that there are some 400 leaders and professionals from over 60 countries here today, representing civil aviation authorities, aviation training institutions, air navigation service providers, airports, airlines, aerospace companies and other aviation stakeholders.
3. The strong participation reflects the keen interest and commitment of the aviation community in human resource development. The conference theme “Preparing tomorrow’s aviation workforce with today’s training tools”, is most timely. Aviation human capital development requires a collective response, even as each State or party steps up individually to meet the challenges.
Challenges in Aviation Human Resource Development
4. Singapore sees three key challenges in aviation human resource development.
5. First, the sheer magnitude of additional manpower required by the industry. This is needed to offset retiring professionals from the baby boomer generation, as well as to support the growing industry, given growing air travel. ICAO projects that by 2026, more than 350,000 new pilots and close to half a million new aircraft technicians will be needed worldwide. Boeing predicts that the Asia Pacific alone must train more than 185,000 new pilots over the next 20 years. In tandem, many more new air traffic controllers, cabin and ground crew, engineers, inspectors and other professionals will be required by the aviation community.
6. The second challenge lies in the difficulty of recruiting and retaining aviation talent and professionals. The aviation community has to compete for scarce human resources with other growing industries and sectors. Many countries, including Singapore, are facing a slowdown in population growth, and hence in their available pool of manpower. Further, career opportunities for capable young people today, are much more varied, including in exciting growth areas such as info-communications.
7. A third challenge is shortfall in training capacity. For example, while some 70,000 new aircraft maintenance personnel are needed worldwide annually, ICAO estimates that there is a global training capacity shortage of 18,000. The aviation community thus needs to find more creative, efficient and effective ways of training individuals in order to achieve higher throughput at a high and consistent standard.
TRAINAIR PLUS – a Key Response
8. In this regard, a key response is the TRAINAIR PLUS initiative, launched by ICAO in 2010. An enhancement of the TRAINAIR programme, TRAINAIR PLUS will contribute to improving the safety and efficiency of air transport by establishing and maintaining high standards of training of aviation personnel worldwide. By embracing a competency-based approach and facilitating the development and sharing of cost-effective Standardised Training Packages (or STPs) across an international network of member training organisations, TRAINAIR PLUS promotes quality teaching and learning.
9. The Singapore Aviation Academy (SAA) is privileged to be a full-fledged TRAINAIR PLUS member. It recently completed its first STP – a competency-based training package for aeronautical search and rescue personnel that shortens the traditional training duration by more than half. The SAA has since shared it with the global TRAINAIR PLUS community. Also, by being a TRAINAIR PLUS member, the SAA is able to tap on TRAINAIR PLUS’ range of STPs to offer a greater variety of specialised aviation training programmes. I am confident that with TRAINAIR PLUS accreditation, the SAA will contribute even more to ICAO’s work to advance aviation human resource development.
SAA and Singapore are Committed to Contributing to Global Aviation HRD
10. The SAA has provided training not only for the Singapore aviation sector, but also for the larger global aviation community. The SAA has also been a focal point for the sharing of aviation knowledge. In our early years, we benefitted greatly from knowledge sharing and training provided by our friends, and in turn, we now try to give back by sharing our own experiences and knowledge with our partners.
11. The SAA has provided training to some 67,000 personnel from more than 200 countries and territories. Many international participants attend SAA programmes as recipients of training fellowships, including through schemes in partnership with ICAO.
12. More than 100 programmes annually in various disciplines of civil aviation are offered by the SAA. The SAA’s four schools – School of Aviation Management, School of Aviation Safety and Security, School of Air Traffic Services and School of Airport Emergency Services provide training to help States and aviation organizations meet ICAO’s regulatory, operational and safety mandates, and also on aviation leadership and management matters. On the latter, the SAA has been developing higher-level programmes, including those with academic accreditation, in partnership with leading global aviation centres of learning, such as the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University of the United States and Cranfield University of the United Kingdom.
13. The SAA is a key pillar in Singapore’s aim to be a global centre of excellence for aviation human resource development. Our vision is for local and international education and training institutions to take root, grow and collaborate here. This will see Singapore developing as an aviation knowledge, education and training hub, contributing to the grooming of the next generation of aviation professionals for both the Singapore and wider global aviation community.
14. Indeed, locally, the SAA and CAAS have been playing a leading role to help Singapore gear up to meet the challenge of attracting, retaining and training the large number of personnel needed to support the rapid growth of our own aviation industry. In recent years, CAAS has made significant strides under an aviation manpower development strategy in line with ICAO’s Next Generation of Aviation Professionals effort.
15. CAAS has worked with stakeholders to make training and certification for aviation technical professions more seamless. For example, it worked with Singapore tertiary institutions and maintenance, repair and overhaul (or MRO) organisations to recognise practical training received in school as counting towards mandatory training hours for Licenced Aircraft Engineer (LAE) apprenticeship. This has reduced the apprenticeship period by more than a year, making the LAE a more attractive career choice.
16. In partnership with industry, CAAS has also stepped up the promotion of aviation as a career to youth in Singapore. Aviation open houses, aviation learning journeys and other youth outreach programmes aim to raise understanding of the aviation industry among the young and develop a passion in aviation. Under CAAS’ Aviation Manpower Programme, scholarships and other incentives have also been provided to attract the young to join the sector.
Conclusion
17. I applaud the joint effort by ICAO, CAAS and the SAA to hold this inaugural TRAINAIR PLUS Global Symposium. The sharing and exchanges over the next few days will focus on the latest trends, tools and best practices in aviation training. But more than this, I am confident that the Symposium will lead to greater understanding, and more ideas and initiatives, towards advancing quality aviation training and effective aviation human resource development worldwide.
18. I wish you all a successful conference. Thank you.