Language Proficiency Test: the Operator‘s Perspective

A BRIEF HISTORY: Air Dolomiti started business in 1991 in the regional air transport segment. In 1994 we started cooperation with Lufthansa and became partners. In 1999 Lufthansa took a 26% share in our capital and in 2003 acquired 100%. Today, Air Dolomiti is Lufthansa’s main feeder carrier for Italy. The business model focuses on feeder activities to the Lufthansa/Star Alliance hubs like Munich and Frankfurt. Munich airport is our main hub with more than 700 flights weekly from the major cities in the north of Italy. We are the leading international airline at Munich Airport.

FLEET: We started operations with Dash 8-300s. In 1993 we purchased the ATR 42–Super 320 and later we became the launch customer for the ATR 500 series. In 1998 the ATR 700 joined the fleet. In 2001 we acquired the CRJ 200. In 2005 the BAe 146-300 replaced the CRJ. In 2009 the EMB 195 replaced the Bae. Today, the Air Dolomiti fleet comprises 11 ATR 700 and 5 EMB 195.

LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY TESTING IN AIRDOLOMITI Agreement between ENAC and TEA Ltd. (UK). Examiner and Administrator courses provided by TEA Ltd. to all Italian Test Centres under ENAC supervision. Air Dolomiti became a certified TEA centre in September 2009 with 2 Administrators and 4 Examiners. 4 Examiners: 3 Captains and 1 mother-language English teacher.

WHY BECOMING A TEA CENTRE? EASIER CREW PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT EFFICIENT FAILURE MANAGEMENT ECONOMICAL REASON KNOWLEDGE AND STATISTICS ON OWN PILOTS

TEA EXAM EXAM SETUP, CONTENT AND CERTIFICATE PROVIDED BY TEA Ltd. EXAM RESULTS EVALUATED BY TEA Ltd. 6 EVALUATION AREAS: Pronunciation Structure Vocabulary Fluency Comprehension Interactions STATISTICS ON RESULTS

TEA RESULTS 181 pilots were examined from Nov 2009 until Feb 2011: 110 reached level 4 (61%) 56 reached level 5 (31%) 15 reached level 6 (8%) 13 pilots did not pass the exam at first attempt (7%)

FAILURES BY AREA

FAILURES The pilots who did not pass the test at first attempt were given specific classes with the English teacher. With an average of 6 lessons of 2 hours each 100% of the pilots managed to pass the exam at the second attempt.

GRADES BY EVALUATION AREA (1st and 2nd attempt)

FAILURES IN TIME NR. OF EXAMS FAILURES

LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY TEST: CONCLUSION Main Failure Areas: Comprehension and Interactions Both areas are strictly connected because a good Interaction is possible after a good Comprehension of the original message. Good results were achieved after organizing specific English classes to recover the failures. Weakest Area: Structure In this area there were no improvements even after the English lessons. The reason could be that a good result in this area indicates a solid base of grammar and phrase construction which is difficult to attain for most Italian pilots.

LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY TEST: CONCLUSION (2) Exam Improvement More use of standard aeronautical phraseology. Less use of technical words NOT connected to aeronautical terms. Wider set of operational phrases available to the examiner. Avoid changes in the exam set-up. Regulatory Framework TEA exam not recognized by all States. Harmonization/Standardization required on test standards..

Language Proficiency: the Operator‘s Perspective THANK YOU!