The selection and training of prospective air traffic controllers is not to be taken lightly. Considering the selection and training process takes a year and costs in excess of $100,000 to complete (which is still the cheapest training rate in the world), failed hires are a huge risk. Airways’ assessment centre needs to minimise this risk, both for the candidate, for Airways itself and for the international organisations who purchase Sure Select selection and training from Airways. Prior to engaging Intergen to build the new solution, the Sure Select assessment centre was paper-based and its various components were disparate and driven manually. The assessment and selection methodology itself is highly sophisticated and proven, based on extensive research and experience, yet its execution let it down. Each aspect of the paper-based system had its own pain point. Manual processes slowed things down. And because assessors could add or change elements of the training, introducing variability in content and timing, it wasn’t possible to deliver one definitive and consistent training experience. All data, such as candidate information and test scores, was managed within an Excel spreadsheet. “It was a reasonably clever spreadsheet,” explains Airways’ HR Manager, John Eatwell, “but it’s hard to persuasively sell a spreadsheet. And people would write over formulas; it was open to errors and therefore accuracy could come into question.” Airways needed to bring the existing solution online, integrating all elements of the paper-based system into one computer-based system. And, due to the complexity of the testing performed, it also needed make doubly sure nothing got lost in translation from paper to PC. More information: http://www.intergen.co.nz/Our-Work/airways/

1. Transportation
case study
A training solution
set to soar
Airways
From “clever spreadsheet”
to interactive online tool.
“We needed a robust
solution that would be
simple to use, something
that just worked. It also
needed to be adaptable
and able to be used in
a number of settings
– including right in the
middle of the runway.”
John Eatwell
HR Manager, Airways
The situation
The pain
Airways delivers a wide range of services
to the New Zealand and international
aviation sector, including controlling all
air movements within New Zealand’s 30
million square kilometres of controlled
airspace, developing and maintaining
flight paths and managing all air traffic
control towers and radar centres. Airways
also takes responsibility for training air
traffic controllers for both the domestic
and international market.
The selection and training of prospective
air traffic controllers is not to be taken
lightly. Considering the selection and
training process takes a year and costs
in excess of $100,000 to complete
(which is still the cheapest training rate
in the world), failed hires are a huge
risk. Airways’ assessment centre needs
to minimise this risk, both for the
candidate, for Airways itself and for the
international organisations who
purchase Sure Select selection and
training from Airways.
To do this, it relies on its Sure Select
recruitment and training programme. As
a hugely complex and predominantly
manual set of disparate people-driven
processes and tests, the Sure Select
assessment centre is a unique and critical
tool that gives Airways distinctive
competitive advantage, performing the
complicated, expensive and risk-laden
task of recruiting, selecting and delivering
training to future air traffic controllers.
Prior to engaging Intergen to build the
new solution, the Sure Select assessment
centre was paper-based and its various
components were disparate and driven
manually. The assessment and selection
methodology itself is highly sophisticated
and proven, based on extensive research
and experience, yet its execution let
it down.

2. Each aspect of the paper-based system
had its own pain point. Manual
processes slowed things down. And
because assessors could add or change
elements of the training, introducing
variability in content and timing, it
wasn’t possible to deliver one definitive
and consistent training experience.
All data, such as candidate information
and test scores, was managed within an
Excel spreadsheet.
“It was a reasonably clever spreadsheet,”
explains Airways’ HR Manager, John
Eatwell, “but it’s hard to persuasively
sell a spreadsheet. And people would
write over formulas; it was open to
errors and therefore accuracy could
come into question.”
Airways needed to bring the existing
solution online, integrating all elements
of the paper-based system into one
computer-based system. And, due to the
complexity of the testing performed, it
also needed make doubly sure nothing
got lost in translation from paper to PC.
In doing this, it would add value to its
key competitive offering. A computerbased package would also “raise the
barrier to entry,” John Eatwell says,
protecting Airways’ long-cultivated IP
from imitation. An online system would
introduce consistency, streamline
processes and better simulate the
experience of air traffic control,
providing more exact and certain
outcomes.
The technology
As a leading edge, one-of-a-kind
offering, with no other comparable
solution available, Airways wanted the
technology the new solution employed
to be as innovative as the solution itself.
Because of the complex nature and the
scope of testing performed, with the
requirement to coordinate up to six
computers simultaneously running an
air traffic control scenario, a bespoke
solution was called for.
John Eatwell says: “A lot of our
customers just need the solution to run
straight away, with no intervention from
IT staff, and the assessment centre is
typically run by non-technical types,
such as HR professionals and air traffic
controllers. For this reason, we needed a
robust solution that would be simple to
use, something that just worked when
you took it out of the box. It also
needed to be adaptable and able to be
used in a number of settings – including
right in the middle of the runway!”
Windows Presentation Foundation was
chosen as the best technology toolset
for the solution. Providing a rich user
experience for Windows desktop
applications, WPF is a highly flexible
communication technology for
connecting application components over
many types of channels and using many
types of protocols, perfect for simulating
an air traffic control environment.
The Business Case
Airways needed an online training
solution that would do justice to its
sophisticated and unique Sure
Select tool, delivering competitive
advantage, reducing risk and
bringing together numerous
manual processes.
The Business Value
»» Brings together disparate and
paper-based manual
components, streamlining and
reducing time spent on
processes and improving
accuracy and quality of outputs.
»» Provides one definitive and
consistent training experience.
»» Reduction of risk to Airways
and its candidates
»» Greater competitive advantage
and IP protection
»» Easy to use for non-technical
staff
The Engine Room
The gain
With the new assessment centre now
bedded in, feedback from its users has
been extremely positive. With one
centralised online system that is simpler
and more engaging for candidates and
testers alike, there is now a lot less
manual entry involved throughout the
process, and greater consistency and
accuracy and quality of output is a
given. The new system offers an
unprecedented rendering of
aeronautical space, representing huge
operational and competitive advances
in one of Airways’ most critical and
complex tools.
»» Windows Presentation
Foundation
»» Windows Connectivity
Framework
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