Multicultural Aviation

 

One of the biggest concerns in today's global aviation is, undoubtedly, the presence of multiculturalism on our flights. More and more opportunities are opened in faraway places, and as result, we find pilots and crews of all nationalities as part of major international airlines. A clear example are the airlines from the Middle East, where we found a variety often surprising.

 

The point is then how we can do to achieve these multiple cultures coexist without causing a threat to our operations. There have been few events where a crew has been involved in an accident or incident due to cultural differences, and this is because we often assume that in aviation we just need to follow our SOPs to understand each other.

 

Psychology tells us that the way we conduct our processes of perception, information processing and decision making are influenced by our cultural baggage. We may assume then that under certain circumstances this cultural base can play a role against safety because of the mental constructs of each individual, assumptions or conventions that are not shared by the other members of the crew.

 

This is where the Human Factors training should shine in every organization, allowing a balanced and uniform transition for each new member to the culture of the operator. This process can be done through CRM courses or workshops, but also could be enhanced with induction programs or processes that allow the candidate seamless adaptation to the mode of operation of the airline.

 

Once this initial stage is archieved, it should be complemented with an IOE instruction oriented to multiculturalism, which besides playing relevant flight technical aspects, should be aimed at the cultural integration of the candidate. Instructors should then be able to observe attitudes or behaviors that may lead to differences with other members of the crew, or that without creating a potential conflict, could jeopardize flight safety.

 

To achieve this seamless integration of cultures is then necessary to design a plan of action that will not only focus on proper integration to the line, but also take the time to establish guidelines and procedures for the coexistence of different cultures without affecting the operational safety level.

Happy Flights!