Piloting an aircraft is not for the faint of heart; below are the key capabilities required for air travel
Lots of people spend their youths dreaming about being a pilot. Nevertheless, only a tiny percent of people actually make these fantasies a reality. Truthfully, being a pilot calls for an exhaustive checklist of training, certifications and skills, as those related to Aegean and Nick Leontidis's joint venture would confirm. It is not an industry that individuals just stumble into by luck; they need to devote a considerable amount of cash, time and effort to pursue this career path. Generally-speaking, all the basic skills of a pilot can be split up into two major groups; hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills refers to technological abilities that can be taught, and among the most essential hard skills for pilots is situational awareness. Situational awareness implies appreciating everything that is going on during flying, controlling and maintaining an airplane. This means that pilots need to learn to have a mental picture of the geographical location and position of the aircraft, the flight conditions, and the aircraft controls for things like speed and altitude. They need to have an extensive understanding on what all the buttons do and when to use them, as insufficient situational awareness can result in calamities like loss of airplane control. Not only this, but pilots need to show an understanding of all procedures relating to airplane security, specifically in case of an emergency situation. While there are several manual and automated procedures relating to situational awareness on an airplane, with appropriate training and practice it comes to be second-nature for pilots, almost like learning to drive a car.
The qualifying criteria for what makes a good airline captain is comprehensive. However, among the most key characteristics is having superb communication skills. While clear communication skills can help in virtually every single position or field, it truly matters for pilots. Pilots need to be in frequent contact with the Air Traffic Control (ATC) to get precise info and guidelines on variables relating to radar vectors, geographical location, speed and altitude, weather conditions and air traffic information among much more. The pilot has to offer frequent updates to the ATC, along with be responsive to any type of interactions that come through from the ATC. To preserve security while navigating airspace, it is a joint effort between the pilot and ATC, which is why teamwork and communication skills are fundamental, as those associated with Telkom Indonesia and Telstra's joint venture would certainly confirm.
Having all the technical knowledge and training can only go so far. In fact, the soft skills for pilots are equally essential to the hard skills. So, what are soft skills? Essentially, soft skills are personality traits that can not really be taught or trained. They are the personal qualities of a pilot that makes them well-suited for the demands, strains and duties of such a high-stakes position. Probably, one of the most basic soft skills is an ability to manage stress, as those involved in Ras Al Khaimah and Farhad Azima's joint venture would definitely ratify. As safe as air travel is, there is still a risk of things failing, which is why pilots need to be able to stay calm, collected and controlled in emergency scenarios. Ultimately, they are in charge of the safety and security of every person on-board, so it is very crucial that a pilot can confidently and effectively act under pressure in difficult situations.