Airlink and AviAssist Partner to Promote Aviation Safety

AviAssist and Airlink, Southern Africa’s premier airline will deliver a Human Factors in Aviation course to promote and enhance safety practices and performance at airlines, other aircraft operators, ground handlers, airports, air navigation service providers and aviation safety authorities. 

The two-day course, on 19-20 September 2024, is open to aviation professionals from across Africa and will examine human factors in teamwork, stress and workload management, human performance, error, communication, risk management and safety culture.  

It will be hosted by Airlink at its Training Centre of Excellence, in Bonaero Park, adjacent to Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport.  

“AviAssist is always looking for fresh channels of distribution for its safety promotion services to benefit the African aviation industry”, AviAssist director Tom Kok explained. “Working with a partner with such a comprehensive network to more than 45 destinations in 15 African countries throughout Southern Africa and operating a Training Centre of Excellence provides a unique opportunity to us to do just that".

“Safety and the well-being of customers and colleagues together with the integrity and reliability of aircraft and other equipment, is fundamental to running a successful airline. However, to stay safe it is vital to address the human elements because people represent the safety chain links most vulnerable to influences that could adversely affect judgement and performance,” explained Rodger Foster, CEO and Managing Director of Airlink. 

“Safety is something that affects the entire industry and is an area where we collaborate and share knowledge and learnings instead of competing. Airlink had no hesitation in agreeing to facilitate this course by AviAssist, a widely acknowledged leader promoting aviation safety in Africa,” he added.  

The course is sponsored by the Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Airbus, Boeing and ATR. To make attendance easy and affordable, it will take place directly after the Aviation Africa 2024 conference and exhibition (also in Johannesburg), being staged by AviAssist’s partner, Times Aerospace.

Airlink’s state-of-the-art Training Centre of Excellence features well-equipped lecture rooms, classrooms, briefing facilities and procedural trainers. It is also home to two full-flight Level D simulators - for pilots training on the Embraer E-jet and Regional Jets – and a full Embraer fuselage equipped with a cabin, which is used for flight attendant emergencies training. 

In addition to training Airlink’s flight crews and maintenance engineers, the centre is also available to and used by third party airlines. By localizing training, Airlink has been able to help its personnel optimize their training time.