Alt Academy speakers outlined a training model focused on competence, practical assessment, reliable equipment and clearer pathways into aviation employment.
Africa’s aviation training pipeline needs closer links between students, training providers and the organisations that will eventually employ them, according to Alt Academy chief executive Ryan van Wijk.
Speaking at the Alt Academy Insight Day Experience in Rhodesfield, Kempton Park, on 16 July 2026, Van Wijk said aviation training should be measured by how effectively graduates perform in operational environments, rather than solely by whether they complete a course.
The event brought together representatives from aviation training, airline operations, aircraft manufacturing, human factors and education. Presentations covered pilot development, simulator-based training, engineering, aviation security, vocational education, cabin crew preparation and emergency medical response.
Although each discipline has different regulatory and technical requirements, the presentations shared a central theme: a qualification confirms that a learner has completed a defined process, but operational readiness depends on whether that person can apply the training safely, consistently and independently.
For Van Wijk, this requires training to form part of a broader workforce-development process rather than ending when a certificate or licence is issued.
“We train with a purpose,” he said.
Connecting Aviation Training with Employment
Van Wijk said operators, training providers and prospective students often function separately. He wants Alt Academy to help connect these groups so that operators can communicate their requirements, training providers can respond to those needs, and students can understand the available career pathways.
This closer relationship is particularly important as the aviation industry confronts the retirement of experienced personnel and the movement of South African professionals to employment opportunities in Europe, Australia and other international markets.
Van Wijk said skills development and youth participation were discussed regularly within the industry, but practical action was required to build the next generation of aviation professionals.
Young people also need to encounter aviation before they are expected to choose a career and commit to training. Van Wijk began flying at age 9 after his father introduced him to aviation. He subsequently instructed, operated light and light twin-engined aircraft in difficult South African weather, flew in Afghanistan and joined Nationwide Airlines at the age of 22.
That early exposure gave him access to a career that many young people may never have considered.
“I was shown the door, and I want to be the person to show someone the door and open the door for them,” he said.
Career exposure should extend beyond pilots and cabin crew. Van Wijk highlighted engineers, avionics technicians, simulator specialists and apprentices among the people whose work supports aviation but receives less public attention.
His intention is for training providers to help operators prepare suitably qualified people while allowing airlines to concentrate on their core operations. Achieving this requires collaboration with airlines, manufacturers, schools and other industry participants.
Building Experience Before Line Operations
Within pilot development, Van Wijk distinguished between accumulating flight hours and acquiring experience that develops judgement and operational understanding.
He said some pilots entering the industry were missing the fundamental experience gained through activities such as instruction, light-aircraft operations, difficult weather conditions and flying short sectors.
Alt Academy’s expansion into ab initio training is intended to strengthen this foundation. Van Wijk also presented the organisation’s memorandum of understanding with Federal Airlines as an example of a more structured pathway.
Under the arrangement, Alt Academy will employ Grade II and Grade III instructors and allow them to develop their instructional skills and consolidate the fundamentals of flying. They can then take that experience into an operational environment and continue learning before seeking further airline opportunities.
The purpose of the pathway is not simply to help pilots record 1,500 hours. Instructional and operational exposure should also prepare them for the standards and responsibilities they will encounter as they progress towards airline operations.
From Proficiency Checks to Competency
Simulator-based training presents a similar challenge. A pilot can be prepared to complete the exercises required for a proficiency check, but passing that assessment does not necessarily demonstrate how the pilot will manage a changing operational situation.
Danie Jacobs, Alt Academy’s head of training and chief pilot for its simulators, said the organisation follows a safety-driven, competency-based training and assessment philosophy.
Commonly known as CBTA, this approach measures pilots against operational scenarios and places greater emphasis on decision-making, risk management and the application of knowledge.
Information received from airline clients can be used to tailor training to a particular operator. Jacobs used unstable approaches and crew resource management difficulties as examples of issues that could be examined through the simulator.
If an airline is experiencing unstable approaches, the training team can consider the circumstances contributing to them, including visual approaches, speed control and thrust settings. A programme can then be developed around the operator’s experience rather than applying the same generic exercise to every crew.
Pilots must recognise a developing situation, make a decision, apply a risk-management model and reassess the outcome as conditions change. Jacobs emphasised that failing to make a decision can itself create risk.
Alt Academy’s simulator resources include Boeing 737 Classic and Boeing 737-800 full-flight simulators, an Airbus A320 simulator and fixed-base devices for Airbus and Boeing training.
Its pilot-training activities include initial type ratings, recurrent and reactivation training, differences training, command-upgrade evaluation, upset prevention and recovery training, Category III operations, airline pilot standards multi-crew co-operation training, and multi-crew co-ordination and jet-induction training.
The devices provide high-fidelity environments in which pilots can experience real-life operational and emergency scenarios.
Alt Academy operates its simulator facilities around the clock and was closed for only two days during the preceding year, he said.
Preserving Instructor Experience
Experienced instructors are central to the effectiveness of simulator training. Jacobs referred to instructors with more than 25,000 flight hours who can draw on situations encountered during long operational careers rather than relying exclusively on textbook knowledge.
That experience also creates a succession concern. Many senior instructors are approaching retirement, making it necessary to prepare younger instructors to replace them.
Alt Academy is investing in the development of younger personnel while maintaining instructor standardisation and continuous development. The objective is to ensure that operational experience is transferred and delivered consistently.
Jacobs said a training provider could coach a pilot to complete a check within a small number of simulator sessions but regarded this as an inadequate measure of the organisation’s responsibility.
Training must prepare safe and competent pilots who can perform in line operations, not merely candidates who can pass an assessment.
Engineering the Training Environment
The quality of simulator training depends on the performance of the equipment supporting it.
Albert Lephoko, technical manager at Alt Engineering, described a simulator as a complex system combining software, hydraulics, optics and mechanical engineering. Within that environment, pilots can encounter engine failures, system malfunctions and extreme weather without placing an aircraft or its occupants at risk.
“If the simulator doesn’t feel right, the training doesn’t work,” he said.
Simulator engineering includes preventive maintenance, hardware fault diagnosis, visual-system calibration and root-cause analysis. When a component fails, the engineering team does not simply replace the part. It investigates the cause so that future downtime can be prevented.
Lephoko said engineering teams were often judged by their response when something went wrong, but Alt Engineering measured success by the events that did not occur.
“Our success is measured by what doesn’t happen,” he said.
For the engineering team, success means avoiding training interruptions and ensuring that an instructor can begin a session confident that the machine will behave like the aircraft it represents.
The work is performed behind the scenes, but it directly affects the accuracy, consistency and value of every simulator session. Pilots need to be able to practice, repeat and master difficult situations within a reliable training environment.
Alt Engineering is also using its technical activities to create a skills pipeline. Lephoko said four interns had completed training and moved into permanent roles.
The division had recently concluded workplace exposure for University of Pretoria aerospace students during their winter vacation. Rhodesfield High School matric learners were also being introduced to simulation and job-shadowing opportunities.
Further plans outlined by Lephoko included in-house basic and advanced electronics training, mathematics and science tutoring for learners in Grades 10 to 12, a welding workshop, robotics training from primary school to advanced levels, and aircraft maintenance engineer basic training. The organisation is working through the relevant accreditation requirements for the aircraft maintenance training.
These programmes are intended to help young people develop the academic and technical foundations required to enter aviation and related technical fields.
Practical Aviation Security Training
Operational preparation extends beyond pilots and engineers.
Anja Roux, head of Skyguard Training, said aviation security learners need practical experience with X-ray screening equipment rather than classroom instruction alone.
Skyguard’s learners train on security-screening machines comparable to equipment used at airports. Roux said this gives them practical skills and confidence before they enter an operational environment.
The equipment includes technology associated with systems being introduced at O.R. Tambo International Airport and King Shaka International Airport.
During the year, Skyguard conducted its first commercial aviation security training day, launched computer-based X-ray interpretation systems and underwent a review by a South African Civil Aviation Authority inspector. Roux said the audit produced no findings.
Skyguard had also secured scope to deliver Level 1 security courses and was working towards approval for Level 1 cargo and Level 2 training.
The organisation plans to introduce online courses, beginning with Level 3 management and Part 109 general awareness. This is intended to extend access beyond its physical classrooms while maintaining the required standards and compliance.
Skyguard is also participating in industry work to develop security training standards with the relevant authority, share good practice and keep its programmes aligned with changing requirements.
“Not because we have to, but because we believe security training is too important to do it any other way,” Roux said.
Bridging Education and the Workplace
EPT Skills Hub applies the same focus on practical competence to occupational and vocational education.
Eunice Visser, head of training at EPT Skills Hub, described vocational training as a bridge between education and industry. Its objective is to prepare learners who can meet workplace requirements from the beginning of their employment.
The organisation provides accredited occupational certificates and skills programmes in aviation, tourism and business. These include training for airline ground crew and dangerous-goods practitioners, as well as project management and essential workplace skills.
Its programmes use competency-based assessment, with learners evaluated through tasks as well as theory.
For employers, the intended outcome is a pipeline of professionals able to meet operational requirements, uphold safety and provide the required standard of service. For learners, the programmes are intended to support confidence, employability and career progression.
As an accredited assessment centre, EPT Skills Hub aligns its programmes with national standards while responding to the skills employers require.
“We don’t just teach knowledge, we transform it into action,” Visser said.
Cabin Crew Training Beyond Service
Cabin crew training provides another example of why a licence cannot be regarded as the only outcome.
Speaking on behalf of the cabin crew training department, Sonali Oodit drew on a career that included work in travel agencies, tour operations, car rental, airport ground services, reservations and call centres before she joined Nationwide Airlines and later South African Airways as a flight attendant.
“Being a flight attendant is not just about serving tea and coffee,” she said.
Cabin crew are responsible for passenger service, safety and the representation of the airline’s brand. Their training includes aviation medicine, communication, safety procedures and practical demonstrations.
Oodit said the cabin crew licensing course also develops the confidence required to stand in front of passengers and conduct a safety demonstration. A crew member may repeat the demonstration across several sectors and in front of hundreds of passengers during a working day.
The role demands clear communication and the ability to perform consistently in a public and safety-critical environment. These capabilities require practice and cannot be developed through theoretical instruction alone.
Oodit said the organisation had trained more than 1,000 students over six years, including more than 500 during the preceding year.
Several former students had subsequently returned to the organisation as interns or employees. They now work in areas including enrolment, registration, sales and learner support, using their own experience to guide prospective students.
One former cabin crew student had also received an opportunity to begin pilot training through the organisation. Her progression illustrates how an initial qualification can become the first stage of a longer aviation career.
Training for Medical Emergencies
In emergency medical training, applied competence can determine whether a person receives assistance during the critical period before professional responders arrive.
Michelle Phillips, who manages the AvMed department, said the purpose of training was to give people the knowledge, calmness and confidence to respond.
“We are not here to sell you training. We are here to sell you the certainty that the people we train know what to do, because the only thing a patient has is time, and we cannot waste that time,” she said.
Although aviation medicine forms part of cabin crew preparation, the training also extends to schools and companies through first aid, health and safety, and fire programmes.
EPT Skills Hub wants matric learners to complete selected occupational modules so that they leave school with additional qualifications, including first aid.
She illustrated the purpose of the training through an incident involving a 26-year-old man who drowned and was pulled from the water. A first aider whom Phillips had trained six months earlier began CPR before first responders arrived.
According to Phillips, the patient was airlifted and left the hospital two weeks later without neurological impairment. The former learner subsequently contacted her to explain that he had been the person who pulled the patient from the water and started CPR.
For Phillips, this was the outcome that justified the training. Its value did not lie in satisfying a regulatory requirement or issuing a certificate, but in preparing someone to respond when another person needed immediate help.
Measuring What Happens After Training
Across the different training disciplines, operational readiness depends on more than completion of a syllabus.
Pilot training must prepare people to recognise risks, make decisions and perform in line operations. Simulator engineers must provide equipment that behaves consistently and supports valid training. Security screeners need experience with the systems they will use. Cabin crew require the confidence to communicate and respond under pressure. First aiders must be able to act before professional help arrives.
Qualifications, licences, regulatory approvals and assessments remain essential. They confirm that defined requirements have been met, but they are not the end of professional development.
The approach presented during the Insight Day places responsibility on training providers to look beyond enrolment and pass rates. It also requires employers to communicate their operational needs and participate in the development of relevant pathways.
For students, closer connections between education, training and employment can provide a clearer understanding of what an aviation career requires. For operators, those connections can help prepare new entrants for the standards they will be expected to meet.
The final measure is not simply whether a learner completes a course. It is whether that person can take the knowledge, judgement and practical skills developed during training and apply them when the operation becomes real.