EATS 2026 Day One: Are We Ready for What Comes Next?

The European aviation training community gathered at the Estoril Congress Centre in Cascais today for the opening day of the 2026 European Aviation Training Summit(EATS). Across the Pilot, ATO, Cabin Crew and Maintenance streams, one idea kept coming back. Aviation is no longer preparing for change. It is already living it.

Three questions for the industry

That theme was set in the opening session, moderated by Captain Jacques Drappier, where Ana Vieira de Mata, Chairwoman of the Board at Portugal’s civil aviation authority ANAC, gave the opening address. Vieira de Mata, who became the first woman to chair the EASA Management Board in December 2025, last spoke at EATS in 2024.

“In 2024, we were discussing transformation. In 2026, we are living it,” she said. The industry, she noted, is no longer talking about competency-based training only as a concept but about CBTA and EBT implementation, regulatory approval, operational data and instructor standardisation.

She put three questions to delegates. Are our people ready? Are our organisations ready? And are our regulatory systems evolving quickly enough?

On people, her message was clear. “Technology is transforming aviation, but aviation will continue to depend fundamentally on human competence, judgement and responsibility,” she said. Artificial intelligence, data and immersive technologies can all support training, but “technology does not remove the importance of people. It makes it even more important.”

Tomorrow’s aviation professionals, she said, will need adaptability, critical thinking, leadership and resilience as well as technical skills. For organisations, resilience cannot simply mean getting back to normal after a disruption. “It means having the ability to anticipate, to adapt, to respond and to learn,” she said, and training has a fundamental role in building that capacity.

Her third question turned the spotlight on her own side of the industry. “We frequently ask whether airlines, training organisations, manufacturers or technology providers are ready for the future,” she said. “But we should also ask, are regulators ready?” As the organisations they oversee become more sophisticated, authorities need to keep pace, and that requires a change in regulatory culture. Compliance remains essential, she said, but it is a means to an end.

She also suggested that regulators can sometimes do more by bringing the industry together than by imposing requirements. As an example, she pointed to Portugal’s national aviation workforce campaign, which reaches out to young people about aviation careers and was presented to ICAO’s 42nd Assembly in 2025.

Pilot Training

The Pilot stream looked at how organisations choose the right training device for each task, and how evidence from line operations can shape what gets trained. Later in the day, the discussion turned to where immersive technology fits alongside the simulator.

ATO

The ATO stream looked at the regulatory landscape, the pressure on instructor numbers, and how initial training can better prepare pilots for the judgement and behaviours airline operations demand.

Cabin Crew

The Cabin Crew stream focused on how to tell whether crew can apply their skills in the conditions they will actually face. Sessions covered making performance visible in training, building realism into scenarios, and selecting cabin crew for competence rather than training it in later.

Maintenance

In Maintenance, the central question was how to train more technicians without lowering standards. The stream covered workforce demands, competency-based training and qualifications, digital learning, and where AI can help in maintenance training.

Looking ahead to Day Two

There’s plenty more to come tomorrow across all four streams. Take a sneak peek at Day Two here.

Attending EATS? Check the Halldale Event App for tomorrow’s timings and save the sessions you want to attend. Not in Cascais? Follow CAT for more coverage from EATS 2026.