APATS 2026's second day pushes competency-based pilot training from theory toward daily practice

The second day of the Asia Pacific Aviation Training Summit (APATS) 2026 focused on turning training-industry ideas into practice across five parallel streams covering pilots, training organisations, cabin crew, maintenance and simulator regulation. The event's first-ever Flight Simulation Training Device Operator stream, built around EASA's new FSTD Capability Signature framework, drew 75 participants and was judged a strong start by moderator Mark Dransfield. In the pilot stream, speakers Thomas Bessière and Captain Sander van Bergen discussed connecting Competency-Based Training and Assessment to airlines' training and safety-management systems rather than running it as a standalone exercise, with van Bergen arguing that "the competency framework is providing currency to the safety language." Cédric Coffignal added that vague course design is often the real source of inconsistent assessment outcomes, not the instructors marking them. AI-assisted review tools also featured, with AviatePro demonstrating computer-vision software meant to support instructor debriefing without replacing instructor judgment on the actual assessment. Elsewhere, Aleksandra Kapela covered using behavioural and psychometric assessment to spot cabin-crew leadership potential beyond obvious signs, while Laura Diedrich discussed adapting maintenance training to a generationally mixed workforce across Asia-Pacific's growing MRO sector. Sessions on virtual and mixed reality described VR increasingly handling familiarisation and procedural practice, leaving full-flight simulator time free for more advanced flying scenarios. APATS returns to Bangkok again next year, on 25-26 August 2027.