PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT
Making informed recruitment decisions
Aviation will now use recruitment best practices long established in every other industry, to assess high-risk, high-value employees and find the best fit for the job.
The psychological experts at the Centre for Aviation Psychology provide valuable and cost-efficient insights for interview panels to make better-informed employment decisions, reduce the risk of excluding good candidates, and the cost of recruiting weaker or poor-fit pilots.
PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT
EASA Regulations
From February 2021, EASA regulations came into force regarding Psychological Assessment of Pilots. AOC’s must ensure that Pilots have undergone a Psychological Assessment before they commence line flying. The regulation requires this process to be overseen by a qualified Psychologist (or someone under their direction).
EASA directive EDD 2018//012R, relating to CAT.GEN.MPA.175 Endangering Safety
Psychological assessment should be undertaken at least within the past 24 months before commencing line flying unless it is deemed that a previous assessment is still adequate for the risk mitigation required by ORO.GEN.200(a)(3).
A psychological assessment performed by one AOC may subsequently be accepted by a different AOC, provided that the latter is satisfied that the assessment has been performed in accordance with AMC1 CAT.GEN.MPA.175(b).
THE GOAL
It’s the airline’s responsibility to assess the personality of candidate Pilots and determine their potential fit to the organisation and the flying role in question. The Psychological Assessment will examine characteristics of the person, the job and the operation. And it will measure a person’s signature strengths, development areas, performance and career potential.
The goal is to:
Identify psychological attributes and suitability of the flight crew in respect to the work environment
Reduce the likelihood of negative interference with the safe operation of the aircraft
Assess the Pilot’s psychological fitness, mental health or predisposition to mental health disorders or suicidal thinking/action
SMALLER AOCs
For non-complex AOC holders (workforce of 20 or fewer):
The psychological assessment can be replaced by an internal assessment of the psychological attributes and suitability of the flight crew. The internal assessment for non-complex operators should as far as possible apply the same principles as the psychological assessment for complex operators.
It’s not just about compliance
PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT CAN:
Improve and inform decisions when selecting pilots
Provide multiple objective data points upon which to select
Assess cognitive ability, personality and fit with the organizational culture
Mitigate risk and cost of poor selection decisions
Highlight no-tech training needs
Identify leadership potential in junior pilot recruits