The Role of Basic Flight Simulators in the Selection of Ab Initio Airline Pilots

Abstract

Objective: This paper aims at identifying the factors influencing per-formance in basic flight simulators in the selection of ab initio pilot candidates and to determine the incremental value of these flight simulators in predicting performance in flight training.Background: Several factors such as cognitive ability, personality, and demographic information are discussed to be associated with perfor-mance in basic flight simulators. Many commercial flight operations tend to refrain from using flight simulators in the selection of ab initio pilot candidates in favor of less expensive test batteries.Method: Study 1 uses 4,340 candidates in the selection of major European airlines to investigate the factors influencing performance in the basic flight simulator. Study 2 then uses 1,753 candidates to evaluate the incremental validity of the basic flight simulator in pre-dicting issues in flight training.Results: Multiple task ability, gender, and previous flight experience are the strongest predictors of performance in the basic flight simu-lator. Still, the flight simulator shows significant incremental validity in predicting problems in flight training.Conclusion: These findings seem to justify the additional use of a basic flight simulator in the selection of ab initio pilot candidates. Despite a strong correlation with more economical multiple task abil-ity tests, the flight simulator still shows incremental validity in predict-ing success in flight training.