Pilot Training

Aurora-PilotTraining: Alaska Airlines Uses Aurora to Schedule Their Pilot Training Program

Pilot training is a multifaceted and highly specialized process, requiring careful coordination and extensive management of resources, including instructors, simulators, and trainees. Traditionally, scheduling pilot training was a slow, manual task that required considerable cross-checking, adjustments, and the handling of unforeseen issues. As a result, this often led to inefficiencies and unnecessary delays. To address these challenges, Aurora-PilotTraining offers a streamlined and automated solution, allowing users to make edits and adjustments to the training schedule, while the system automatically updates the schedule to accommodate these changes.

Aurora’s advanced capabilities offer numerous benefits to airlines like Alaska Airlines by automating complex scheduling tasks while maintaining the flexibility to adapt to real-time changes. The system’s intelligent algorithms not only simplify scheduling but also optimize resource allocation, ensuring that training runs smoothly and efficiently.

Supported Functionality of Aurora-PilotTraining

Aurora-PilotTraining is a comprehensive solution that addresses a wide variety of scheduling needs in pilot training. The system has been designed with flexibility in mind, enabling users to customize training schedules to meet the unique needs of each class, group, or trainee. Some of the key features include:

• Generating Trainee Groups: Aurora automatically generates trainee groups based on their specific training needs and standard class sizes. This feature ensures that groups are formed efficiently, allowing instructors to focus on delivering the training rather than spending time on administrative tasks.
• Coordinating Training Events Across Trainees: Aurora coordinates training sessions across different trainees within a class. Some events involve the entire class, while others may only involve sub-groups or pairings of trainees. For example, first officers may train together or pair with captains, depending on the requirements of the training program.
• Specifying Training Event Requirements: Each training event requires specific resources, such as simulators, instructors, and equipment. Aurora allows users to specify these requirements for every training session, ensuring that all necessary resources are scheduled in advance, without conflicts.
• Preventing Gaps in Training: Even with large class sizes and limited simulator availability, Aurora prevents significant gaps in the training schedule. This ensures that trainees receive consistent and uninterrupted training, leading to faster certification and more efficient use of resources.
• Holiday and Event Impact Management: The system accounts for how holidays and special events affect different types of training. By factoring in holidays, Aurora ensures that training schedules are adjusted accordingly to avoid unnecessary delays or disruptions.
• Clustering Training Events: Aurora can cluster different types of training events together to avoid unnecessary days off or disruptions to the training process. This ensures that the training schedule remains cohesive and focused, without losing valuable time.
• Enforcing Training Order with Flexibility: Aurora allows users to enforce a specified training order, ensuring that each trainee progresses through the program in the correct sequence. However, the system also permits flexibility by allowing chunks of floating training, making it easier to adapt to unforeseen changes in the schedule.
• Supporting Various Training Sequences: Whether it’s for first officers, captain upgrades, or recurring training, Aurora supports different training sequences to accommodate a wide range of training needs. This flexibility ensures that all trainees, regardless of their specific role or experience level, receive the appropriate training at the right time.
• Instructor Allocation: Aurora automates the process of instructor allocation, ensuring that there are enough standard instructors available for each training session. If additional instructors are needed, Aurora can allocate pilots to supplement the existing team, ensuring that the training program runs smoothly.
• Allocating Extra Staff: In cases where there are uneven team sizes (e.g., an odd number of first officers), Aurora automatically allocates additional staff to fill in for trainees, ensuring that each training activity proceeds without delay. This feature ensures that all trainees are paired appropriately for their training sessions.
• Cost Reduction through Scheduling Flexibility: Aurora’s intelligent scheduling system allows for the use of flexibility in the training schedule to reduce costs. By optimizing the use of resources and minimizing downtime, airlines can reduce the overall cost of the training program.

Simulator Scheduling and Logic

Simulators are a critical component of pilot training, and their proper scheduling requires additional layers of logic and management. Aurora provides a robust simulator scheduling system with the following key features:

• Maintaining Simulator Assignment Consistency: Aurora ensures that each trainee is assigned to the correct simulator and time slot consistently. This prevents confusion and ensures that training is conducted on the appropriate simulator for each phase of the program.
  
• Managing Different Types of Simulators: Different types of simulators are required for different stages of the training process. Aurora manages the scheduling of various simulator types, ensuring that each trainee is assigned to the appropriate simulator for their specific needs.
  
• Simulator Maintenance Time: Aurora automatically accounts for maintenance time and blocks out simulator availability when necessary. The system schedules around these maintenance windows, ensuring that training programs are not interrupted by maintenance activities.
  
• Scheduling Recurrent Training Around Extended Training: Aurora also ensures that recurrent training sessions are scheduled around longer, extended training periods, utilizing any leftover simulator time effectively.
• What-If Analysis and Program Growth: Aurora allows users to add additional simulators and perform what-if analysis to assess potential changes or growth in the training program. This enables airlines to plan for future expansion and adapt to changing training needs.

Reporting and Analytics

Aurora-PilotTraining also includes a variety of reporting functionalities to help track key variables, monitor resource utilization, and assess cost-related information. Some of the key reporting features include:

• Schedule Overview: The system provides an overview of the entire training schedule, allowing users to quickly see the status of all training events, resources, and trainees.
  
• Load and Availability: Users can view load and availability data, even though Aurora automatically identifies potential scheduling conflicts or resource shortages before they become issues.
• Export to Excel: Aurora also allows the export of trainee schedules to Excel, enabling further analysis or data transfer as needed.

The training schedule for part of a class. Shows trainee pairing.

The training schedule cross-referenced with the simulator schedule.

Instructor schedule, showing the different categories of allocated instructor.

 

The Future of Pilot Training Scheduling

Aurora-PilotTraining is an advanced pilot training software solution that is revolutionizing how airlines and training organizations approach scheduling. By automating the scheduling process, reducing manual tasks, and optimizing resource allocation, Aurora has significantly enhanced the efficiency and effectiveness of pilot training programs.

The flexibility provided by Aurora allows airlines to easily adjust to changes, whether they are due to unplanned events, resource constraints, or other factors. Additionally, the software’s robust reporting tools provide actionable insights that can drive continuous improvements in the training process. With the aviation industry’s growing demand for highly trained pilots, Aurora-PilotTraining offers a scalable and efficient solution that ensures training is conducted effectively, on time, and within budget.

Through these capabilities, Aurora is helping airlines like Alaska Airlines meet the ever-growing demands of pilot training, ensuring that they have the skilled pilots necessary to keep up with the fast-paced aviation industry. As the need for more pilots continues to increase, Aurora-PilotTraining ensures that airlines can maintain high training standards while optimizing their resources for maximum efficiency and cost-effectiveness.