Written by SOURCE: Halldale.com – Civil Aviation
Dr. Doug Farrow is an aviation training expert and Instructional Development Specialist. He served 15 years as the Research and Development Coordinator for the FAA Air Transportation Division. Published on Halldale.com, the online platform of Halldale Group, a specialist publication covering global aviation and safety training, this long piece unpicks the differences between definitions of training.
The article explains how Competency-Based Training and Assessment (CBTA) has become a broad training framework used across many industries, not just aviation, and is understood under various labels like performance-based or outcomes-based training.
In aviation, CBTA combines two major traditions: the Advanced Qualification Program (AQP), which focuses on narrow, task-level skills and proficiency (including integrated Crew Resource Management and scenario-based evaluation), and Evidence-Based Training (EBT), which emphasizes broader, high-level competencies.
The piece traces the historical roots of these approaches, contrasts their definitions and methods, and shows that although they originate from different training philosophies, both aim to ensure pilots demonstrate real-world performance to established standards. Ultimately, AQP and EBT are described as hybrid systems that select and assess flight tasks to cover the competencies necessary for competent job performance.