Competency-Based Peer Support in Aviation

Abstract

In July 2018, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (2018) issued Regulation (EU) 2018/1042, now (EU) 2020/745, which required all commercial air transport operators to implement a support program by February 14, 2021. This was initially aimed at pilots and formed part of the recommendations made after the pilot murder-suicide crash of Germanwings flight 9525 in March 2015. Pilot peer support is now considered vital in supporting crew well-being and in promoting aviation safety, alongside other initiatives (Federal Aviation Administration, 2024). To date, there has been scant published literature on the provision of pilot peer support beyond the rationale for its inception. This In Practice paper offers guidance for a competency-based framework for training and benchmarking pilot peers and draws on the familiar framework to pilots of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) pilot competencies (ICAO, 2013). This conceptualization of peer competencies offers a framework for pilot peers in the acquisition of core peer support skills, and for those training pilot peers, a yardstick by which skills acquisition can be assessed.