Induction – Days 2 & 3, CRM

The last two days involved watching videos, lectures on several topics on Crew Resource Management (CRM) and group activities.  We had a surgeon sitting in on our session, as he was interested in applying CRM principles to surgery.  We covered topics such as body language, barriers to communication, past attitudes in the flight deck environment and it’s relation to aviation safety.  I really enjoyed the group activities.  One of the group activities involved prioritizing a list of articles, titled “Lost on the moon”.  We also discussed how difference in culture can be a barrier in communication and several examples (some with comedy value) were discussed.  This was drawn to our attention with special importance, as Ryanair have employees that come from many different backgrounds, cultures and nationalities.

The day usually started with me meeting up for breakfast at around 8.30am with a couple of my friends that were staying at the same hotel as me.  We would then set off to pick up another friend of ours that was staying nearby, to be at the East Midlands Training Centre for a 9.30am start.  By now we were given access to the computers, and so were making ourselves familiar with the system in the morning just before the class started.  The CRM classes went quickly and were given a generous 1.5 hour lunch times.

As expected, CRM is something Ryanair put a lot of stress on, especially since crew & passenger safety is the top priority and good CRM is conducive to that cause.  Tomorrow we’ll begin Safety & Emergency Procedures which will involve security, dangerous goods and cabin safety procedures.