Cockpit Resource Management: Effects on Behavioral Interactions Across Airlines and Aircraft Types

Due to the growing concern over human errors playing an instrumental role in aircraft accidents, the Federal Aviation Administration encouraged airlines to develop Cockpit Resource Management CRM training programs to address that issue. Baseline data measured crew interaction before pilots were exposed to seminars and simulators. Longitudinal data described behavioral changes wrought by the intervention. Within airline and within fleet data clearly showed that crews were more effective after CRM training. Within airline and across fleet data verified fleet differences discovered by the first method. Technology level seemed to be a cause of the fleet differences for crews performing in simulators. Crew size affected performance both on the line and in the simulator. Finally, the across airline and across fleet data, in addition to describing fleet differences, highlighted differences between the behavioral effectiveness of crews in different airlines.