Glass Cockpit Technology Training: How Is It Addressed in Collegiate Flight Programs?

Collegiate aviation programs provide well-trained flight personnel resources to meet critical air transportation requirements.Such programs have traditionally relied on proven flight methodologies and general aviation aircraft with simple instrumentation to prepare students for air transportation employment.As the number of experienced commercial pilots continues to decline within industry, a large number of collegiate flight program graduates may have the opportunity to quickly move into the right seat of modern regional airliners and corporate aircraft that are equipped with advanced "glass cockpit" instrumentation.A survey of current four-year collegiate aviation programs suggests that elements of glass cockpit technology, in some cases, receive little or no consideration within the flight training curriculum.In addition, after considering the cost of acquiring appropriate instructional materials, many college aviation departments have decided that responsibility for this training more appropriately belongs with the employing airlines.The authors hope that the results of this survey will lead to a dialogue between collegiate aviation faculty, airline employers, and vendors of training resources to promote low-cost training aids for glass cockpit aircraft and to discuss the issue of whether or not glass cockpit training should be an important part of the college flight training program.