In November, we partnered with The Halldale Group to sponsor an exhibit booth at The 2023 European Airline Training Symposium (EATS) in Cascais, Portugal. EATS brings together industry leaders, subject matter experts, and aviation professionals from Europe and beyond to discuss the future of airline training. 

With more than 1,000 attendees, 90 operators, and 85 exhibit booths, EATS 2023 was the largest in the organization’s history and provided an opportunity for collaboration across the leaders of the industry. 

This impressive conference allowed us to conduct more than 100 product demonstrations to a wide audience, including flight training department leaders and multiple industry professionals. By showcasing our fully mobile, untethered headset with FlightDeckToGo^Ⓡ, participants could practice ground-based flows with Airbus 320 and Boeing 737 flight decks. We received exceptional praise from the participants and earned a perfect 5.0 star cumulative rating from our respondents. A team highlight included conducting practice sessions with a group of local schoolchildren to demonstrate the possibility of VR within flight training and showcase the next generation of aviators.

In addition, EATS provided our founder and CEO, Captain Evey Cormican, an opportunity to discuss the aviation environment from a female perspective. During Fly Like a Girl: Navigating the Complex Landscape of Obstacles Faced by Female Pilots, Evey explored the intersection of gender differences within such an important industry. Women can face a variety of barriers, including a multi-faceted blend of societal, institutional, and personal factors. Gender stereotypes and ingrained biases can discourage women from pursuing flight training at the outset, and ill-informed retention practices can fail to provide relevant support. 

Evey provided multiple solutions for airline organizations to overcome these barriers to bias. Shifting to remote-learning with virtual reality (VR) is one option to provide more contemporary work/life balance for individuals also managing significant family commitments. We also need to create and support more female leaders within the industry – such as Evey – to provide aspirational role models to our younger female generation considering an aviation career. 

Overall, we’re thrilled with the success of EATS 2023 and we look forward to further strengthening the relationships we developed during this productive event.

‍