Flying an airplane is not for the faint of heart; below are the essential skill-sets needed for air travel

Lots of people spend their younger years dreaming about becoming a pilot. Nonetheless, only a small percentage of individuals actually make these wishes a reality. Truthfully, being a pilot requires an extensive checklist of training, qualifications and skills, as those related to Aegean and Nick Leontidis's joint venture would certainly validate. It is not an industry that people simply stumble into by luck; they need to dedicate a substantial quantity of money, time and effort to seek this career route. Generally-speaking, all the basic skills of a pilot can be separated into two huge groups; hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills pertains to technical abilities that can be taught, and among the most vital hard skills for pilots is situational awareness. Situational awareness means appreciating everything that is taking place throughout flying, controlling and maintaining an aircraft. This implies that pilots need to learn to have a mental image of the geographical area and position of the aircraft, the flight conditions, and the aircraft controls for things like speed and altitude. They need to have an in-depth knowledge on what all the buttons do and when to use them, as insufficient situational awareness can cause disasters like loss of aircraft control. Not only this, but pilots need to display a comprehension of all operations relating to airplane safety, especially in case of an emergency. Whilst there are numerous manual and automatic processes relating to situational awareness on an aircraft, with suitable training and practice it becomes second-nature for pilots, almost like learning to drive a vehicle.

Possessing all the technical knowledge and training can only go so far. As a matter of fact, the soft skills for pilots are equally important to the hard skills. So, what are soft skills? Essentially, soft skills are personality traits that can't really be taught or trained. They are the personal qualities of a pilot that makes them suitable for the demands, pressures and responsibilities of such a high-stakes role. Arguably, one of the most essential soft skills is an ability to manage stress, as those involved in Ras Al Khaimah and Farhad Azima's joint venture would validate. As safe as air travel is, there is still a risk of things going wrong, which is why pilots need to be able to stay calm, collected and controlled in emergency situations. Ultimately, they are responsible for the safety of everyone onboard, so it is incredibly important that a pilot can confidently and competently act under pressure in difficult situations.

The criteria for what makes a good airline captain is comprehensive. Nevertheless, among the most critical characteristics is having outstanding communication abilities. While clear communication abilities can help in practically every job or market, it truly matters for pilots. Pilots need to be in continuous contact with the Air traffic control service (ATC) to acquire exact info and instructions on elements relating to radar vectors, geographical location, speed and altitude, weather and traffic information among a lot more. The pilot has to offer regular updates to the ATC, as well as be responsive to any type of correspondences that come through from the ATC. To preserve safety and security whilst navigating airspace, it is a collaboration in between the pilot and ATC, which is why teamwork and communication abilities are essential, as those related to Telkom Indonesia and Telstra's joint venture would confirm.