On Thursday, October 8, 2025, the Training manager of SWISS, Stefan Oser and Olympic Aristeidis Oikonomou visited together with their deputies Erhard Jäckel and Dimitrios Papamichalis the EASA in Cologne. They were accompanied by Hans Mayer, our EAMTC President and met with the Section Manager and Experts of Airworthiness Standards and Implementation.
The topic which was discussed is the EAMTC Lighthouse Project for implementing Competency Based Training and Assessment (CBTA) following ICAO Standards for Maintenance Staff. CBTA is known in other safety-critical industries like Defense and Military or Healthcare for a long time, even in aviation it is applied e.g. for the MPL Pilot License, but it did not progress successfully as a qualification model into aviation maintenance training yet.
Olympic and SWISS Maintenance Training joined forces and cooperated closely applying the ADDIE (Analyze-Develop-Design-Implement-Evaluate) Model in close coordination with the MRO requirements of their airlines. They are working on training and assessment plans, which will allow us to test this CBTA training method and to gather real data on the training quality, to deliver a proof-of-concept. The project drivers are certain that this approach is the successful way forward to qualify the maintenance staff of the future while also offering a much more attractive way for the young generation to learn this safety critical profession, which demands a high level of knowledge, skill, and application, with the right attitude.
During the meeting the actual working status and possible implications it may have for the future on the regulation side was discussed. In order to better understand the implications, EASA was invited and eager to have a close look at the whole process, the material with the data already developed and the next steps.
It was therefore agreed to continue with a close exchange between EASA and project participants, so we will keep you informed on the progress.
Best regards,
Harald – EC Secretary