Beyond the Podium: APATS Adds Another Interactive Workshop to Tackle Asia-Pacific Pilot Training Challenges

The aviation training world has a problem. Everyone knows it, few want to say it out loud. Captain Jacques Drappier FRAeS, APATS 2025 Conference Chair, isn't mincing words: "The Asia-Pacific region faces unprecedented demand for skilled airline pilots, and we can't keep doing things the same way."

That's why APATS 2025 is adding something different to its programme this year. Alongside the traditional presentations and keynotes, delegates will roll up their sleeves for a series of workshops, this one on implementing Multi-Crew Pilot Licence programmes across the region.

The 90-minute session will be led by Chris Ranganathan, Chief Learning Officer at CAE. It will run from 14:15 to 15:45 in the ATO Conference Stream and tackles one of the industry's most pressing challenges: how do you build airline-ready pilots through competency-based training? Ranganathan and his panel, featuring representatives from easyJet, Air Asia, and JAL, will dig into the nuts and bolts of MPL design, oversight, and delivery.

"Whether you're a regulator preparing for oversight, an operator considering MPL adoption, or a training provider trying to align with CBTA principles, this isn't about listening to best practice presentations," explains Drappier. "It's about working through real implementation challenges with your peers."

This latest workshop format adds a hands-on dimension to APATS's traditional conference structure. Participants will examine actual case studies, dissect successful MPL implementations, and address the thorny questions around FSTD integration and instructor qualification that keep training managers awake at night.

The timing couldn't be more critical. With ICAO Doc 9868 setting new standards and airlines across Asia-Pacific scrambling to fill cockpits, MPL represents a potential solution to a looming pilot shortage that threatens regional connectivity.

"We're not here to tell people what they should do," says Drappier. "We're here to work out what actually works, and what doesn't, based on real experience from operators who've been there."

The workshop requires no additional registration beyond standard APATS attendance, making it accessible to anyone already committed to the conference. For an industry that's spent years talking about innovation while largely sticking to tried-and-tested methods, it represents something genuinely different: a chance to shape solutions rather than simply hear about them.

Jacques, Chris and all the team at Halldale look forward to welcoming you to Singapore for this important session.