8 October 2021
It’s been a while since we did a blog about what’s going on at Resilient Pilot, so here we go!
So, what has been going on? Quite a bit is the answer! But first a bit of a recap on why we are here…
Resilient Pilot was launched in March 2020 in direct response to COVID 19. Our goal being to provide free, online mentoring for pilots impacted by the pandemic to help negotiate through the decisions and challenges thrown at them by redundancy, furlough, lack of flying, erratic flying and so forth.
We are a volunteer supported organisation and operate ‘not-for-profit’. In fact, we generate very little revenue; all of which is reinvested to cover costs and grow our portfolio offering to help aviators around the world. Where we do charge (for example for LPCs) we’ve done our best to keep costs to a minimum and facilitate funding options for eligible pilots (more on this later)
From small acorns as they say…
We now have an international team of over 70 volunteer mentors and coaches scattered around the globe. A diverse group of pilots, crew and specialist coaches from a range of cultures and operational backgrounds, they find themselves providing support on a whole range of topics from wellbeing and mental health, to personal finances and career changes; from helping refresh basic competencies, to preparing for LPCs; from CV and interview guidance to ‘how do I uplift my kids and move them to another country?’; from just having a chat to practising aviation English language and RT together. Essentially, whatever you want to chat about, they will lend their ear and if they can’t help, then we have a whole raft of collaborative partners we work with who they can signpost to, including counsellors, peer support providers and mental health first aid practitioners; but also, English language testing, ATPL Ground school training and UPRT specialists to name a few.
Our foundations: wellbeing at the heart of all we do, maintaining competencies and embracing diversity.
So, back to ‘what’s new?’
We’ll keep it simple as otherwise this could be a lengthy blog! In no particular order…
1. We’ve expanded our services to cabin crew too and have cabin crew mentors on board who are happy to mentor pilots or cabin crew (as are our pilot mentors and coaches). We’ve called this Resilient Crew…look out for #resilientcrew to follow relevant updates
2. Our team of mentors (which is growing continuously) have created a unique, interactive, web-based Resource Hub stocked with original and popular resource to help you maintain your competencies; all resources link to one of the 9 EASA pilot competencies. Follow #resourcehub
3. Our mentors have also created monthly Competency Development Scenarios; these are mentor-led scenarios you work through together to challenge your brain to exercise your decision making, situational awareness etc., event while not flying. You also get the opportunity to self-evaluate and then delve into the resource hub to get some help to refresh and upskill (yup, you guessed it…follow #competencydevelopmentscenarios – there’s a trend here!)
4. Our mentors were reporting that the pilots they were chatting to were getting concerned about being ‘rusty’ prior to going into the sim for an LPC, or prior to going back to flying. So, we liaised with a number of UK-based ATOs to develop Skills Refresher Days – part sim, part non-tech CRM review. At the moment these are limited to A320 and B737 and the UK only, but we hope to add more types and locations going forward (#skillsrefresherdays)
5. Expanding on the above, we’ve also launched monthly technical and non-technical (CRM) workshopshosted by our team together with collaborative partners. These are run by volunteers and at minimal cost to make them as accessible as possible and we’re attracting pilots and crew from around the world each month, so they make a great networking opportunity too. #techworkshops #nontechworkshops #crmworkshops
6. We launched our Resilient Crew Room membership. Everything we’ve always offered for free (and more), is still freely available on our Resilient Pilot or Resilient Crew FREE membership tier. Or, you can choose to upgrade to a monthly subscription for our PLUS tier to access even more benefits. See below, keep an eye out for #resilientcrewroom and do sign up for at least free membership if you haven’t already
7. Blogs – we’ve launched weekly blogs (they come out every Friday) on a whole variety of subjects. Take a read of the others whilst you are here; they are proving very popular! Let us know if there’s a subject you’d like covered and we will do our best.
8. Importantly, we’ve worked to wrap all we offer together in the Resilient Pilot Performance Programme. Designed as a 12-month programme encompassing everything in the ‘Plus’ membership, this has been approved for funding by the UK’s DWP. We have programmes in place for both rated and non-rated pilots, but they can also be tailored to meet individual needs, including shortening them should you need to accommodate a job offer perhaps. #pilotperformanceprogramme
And finally..
We said we’d come back to the funding topic. The only funding that seems to be out there is DWP funding in the UK for those on Universal Credit. We are very pleased that those Resilient Pilot services that are chargeable are approved for DWP funding (if you have any issues or questions about accessing this, please contact us on current@resilientpilot.com), but also frustrated that there is not more funding for those who’ve had to come off Universal Credit and for those who live elsewhere. We are on a mission to try and change that and keep banging on doors to see what can be accessed. If anyone is aware of any other funding options, please do let us know!
As you can see, there’s a lot going on. Please take a look at our website resilientpilot.com to learn more about how we aim to keep you supported, current and connected and if you have any questions, please email us info@resilientpilot.com as websites sometimes just don’t hack it!
Stay supported, current, connected and resilient!