Airport Operations Training Product Review (Cabin Crew, Ground Operations, Aerodrome Operations)

About the project

Project overview

The aviation industry continues to experience workforce shortages across cabin crew, ground operations, safety, and aerodrome functions, as outlined in Workforce Plans. These shortages are driven by increasing passenger volumes, expanding airport activity, and strong competition across operators for job-ready applicants. While nationally recognised qualifications exist, they remain underutilised across the industry.

Findings from the Industry Skills Australia (ISAs) Cabin Crew and Ground Operations Skills Gap Analyses indicate current training package products do not sufficiently reflect contemporary aviation operations or the evolving skill requirements across key frontline and safety-critical roles. These include cabin crew, ground operations personnel, safety officers, and Aerodrome Reporting Officers. As a result, many employers rely heavily on in-house training, limiting workforce mobility, reducing consistency in capability, and limiting recognised training and career pathways.

This project directly addresses these challenges by implementing recommendations from the Skills Gap Analyses to review relevant nationally endorsed training products related to ground operations, cabin crew and aerodrome operations. The review will focus on strengthening alignment with industry operational requirements, recognising the interdependent nature of aviation roles and ensuring job-ready pathways.

Areas of focus include:

Operational safety and emergency procedures, ensuring alignment with current regulatory frameworks, including CASA Part 139 updates, and contemporary industry practices across airside operations.

Integrated incident response and coordination, aimed at strengthening communication and collaboration between cabin crew, ground operations personnel, and safety officers, particularly during ground-based emergencies and disruptions.

Customer experience and conflict management skills, reflecting the increasing emphasis on service excellence, resilience, and passenger wellbeing in high-pressure, customer-facing environments across terminals and onboard aircraft.

Health, wellbeing, and fatigue risk management, recognising the operational demands placed on shift-based and safety-critical roles across aviation.

Security awareness and incident response, addressing evolving security risks, regulatory requirements, and operational protocols across airport environments.

Aerodrome safety and compliance, including airside inspections, hazard identification, wildlife and foreign object debris (FOD) management, and regulatory reporting responsibilities specific to Aerodrome Reporting Officers.

Transferable and cross-functional skillsets, such as first aid, operational risk assessment, safety management systems, and incident reporting, which support mobility across aviation roles and broader emergency management pathways.

Why this matters

What it means for industry

This project will ensure that nationally recognised aviation qualifications better reflect contemporary operational requirements across cabin crew, ground operations, safety and aerodrome functions. By modernising these training products, the project will equip learners with the skills, knowledge and capabilities needed to meet the evolving demands of aviation workplaces and support future workforce requirements.

The updated qualifications will strengthen workforce capability across airports by providing employers with more relevant, job-ready training pathways that align with current industry practices, safety obligations and regulatory requirements. This will help reduce reliance on organisation-specific training, promote greater consistency in workforce capability, and improve confidence in nationally recognised qualifications as a source of skilled workers.

The project will also support clearer and more flexible career pathways across aviation, enabling workforce mobility between cabin crew, ground operations, aerodrome operations, emergency response and aviation safety roles. By recognising transferable skills and strengthening cross-functional competencies, the revised qualifications will help workers progress within the industry while supporting employers to respond to changing operational needs.

In addition, the project will address recommendations from the Cabin Crew and Ground Operations Skills Gap Analyses, including the need for stronger alignment with contemporary safety practices, integrated incident response, customer service expectations, security requirements, fatigue risk management, and aerodrome safety responsibilities. The outcome will be a more integrated, responsive and future-focused suite of qualifications that supports workforce attraction, capability development, operational safety and sustainable growth across Australia’s aviation industry.

PROJECT

What will be delivered

This project will review and update:

5 qualifications

62 Units of Competency

16 Skill Sets

This project will also:

update the AVI Companion Volume Implementation Guides (including Core Skills Guide);

produce a mapping document stating changes made;

update any out-of-scope product affected by the changes made to the project training products.

How this will be achieved

Consultation Strategy

Industry Skills Australia (ISA) will work closely with industry stakeholders throughout the project to ensure training products reflect current and emerging workforce needs. Stakeholder feedback, ideas and recommendations will be considered at each stage of development.

A consultation log summarising stakeholder input and ISA’s responses will be maintained and made available on the ISA website to ensure transparency throughout the project.

ISA will facilitate 2 webinars during the project to support stakeholders in understanding the reason for the changes and how implementation of the changes will affect them.