Aviation’s transition towards cleaner energy is taking place at the same time as the sector faces increasingly complex climate and operational risks. Under the EU-funded ALBATROS project, performed through the SESAR Joint Undertaking, JAA TO’s three new training programmes translate research on sustainable aviation, resilience and emerging risks into practical competencies for aviation professionals.
Aviation’s sustainability transition is often discussed in terms of technology: Sustainable Aviation Fuels, hydrogen, electrification and the infrastructure that will eventually support them. Yet introducing new energy systems into one of the world’s most regulated industries involves much more than replacing one source of energy with another.
To help translate this work into practice, three training programmes focus on closely connected areas:
- future aviation energy
- the operational impact of extreme weather
- effective emergency response
From alternative fuels to new operational realities
Few elements of aviation have remained as constant as its dependence on conventional kerosene. That is now beginning to change. Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and Low Carbon Aviation Fuel (LCAF) are increasingly central to aviation decarbonisation strategies, while hydrogen, electric propulsion, fuel cells and Power-to-Liquid solutions are being explored as part of the longer-term transformation of the sector. All of them will be necessary to achieve the objective of net-zero emissions by 2050. However, each solution presents unique operational, safety, infrastructure, certification, regulatory and organisational challenges.
The five-day Future Aviation Energy Solutions - Understanding SAF, LCAF and Other Cleaner Energies programme examines this transition from an aviation-specific perspective. It covers the characteristics and production pathways of different energy solutions, their environmental implications and the regulatory and certification frameworks developing around them.
More importantly, it considers what happens when these technologies move from strategy into operations.
⛽ Which energy solutions are suitable for different operations and aircraft types?
⛽ What infrastructure and operational changes will be required?
⛽ How will emerging technologies affect safety, certification and compliance?
⛽ What infrastructure and operational changes will be required?
⛽ How will emerging technologies affect safety, certification and compliance?
For professionals across airlines, airports, Civil Aviation Authorities, engineering, safety, infrastructure and sustainability, the value lies in understanding these technologies in their full operational context.
🔋 Assess operational, infrastructure and safety implications
🔋 Navigate evolving regulatory and certification considerations
🔋 Evaluate potential technology combinations, including hydrogen fuel-cell systems
🔋 Support informed investment, implementation and decarbonisation decisions
🔋 Navigate evolving regulatory and certification considerations
🔋 Evaluate potential technology combinations, including hydrogen fuel-cell systems
🔋 Support informed investment, implementation and decarbonisation decisions
When extreme weather becomes an aviation resilience issue
For aviation, climate change is increasingly an operational question. Extreme heat can influence aircraft performance and runway requirements. Severe precipitation and flooding can affect airport infrastructure. Turbulence, icing, storms, and strong winds have direct implications for flight operations; large-scale weather events can constrain airspace, trigger diversions, and create disruption far beyond the location where the event began.
Effects of Extreme Weather in Aviation programme examines these interconnected consequences. Rather than approaching extreme weather solely as a meteorological subject, the training considers its effect across the aviation system:
▪️ Increased delays, diversions and cancellations
▪️ Higher safety risks for passengers, crew and ground personnel
▪️ Greater infrastructure vulnerability
▪️ Reduced operational capacity
▪️ Higher safety risks for passengers, crew and ground personnel
▪️ Greater infrastructure vulnerability
▪️ Reduced operational capacity
The programme also addresses the longer-term implications of climate change for aviation, from coastal airport vulnerability and infrastructure resilience to extreme heat, changing operational limits and weather-related rerouting. These issues sit at the intersection of safety, operational performance and sustainability:
🌩️ Identify and assess climate-related operational risks
🌨️ Interpret weather information and climate projections more effectively
🌧️ Apply structured decision-making frameworks during adverse conditions
🌦️ Integrate climate risks into Safety Management Systems
🌨️ Interpret weather information and climate projections more effectively
🌧️ Apply structured decision-making frameworks during adverse conditions
🌦️ Integrate climate risks into Safety Management Systems
Ultimately, however, resilience is measured not only by how well risks are understood, but by how effectively an organisation responds when disruption occurs.
Preparing for the emergencies aviation may face next
Emergency Response Planning (EPR) has always been a fundamental component of aviation safety. The range of scenarios organisations must prepare for, however, is expanding.
Climate-related disruption, cyber incidents, digital system failures, drone operations, geopolitical instability and new aircraft propulsion technologies are introducing risks that established Emergency Response Plans may not fully address.
The three-day Aviation Emergency Response Planning and Crisis Management programme reflects this changing risk landscape. For safety managers, operations personnel, emergency-response teams, airport and airline professionals, air navigation service providers and communication specialists, the practical question is ultimately the same: would the organisation know what to do if an unfamiliar or complex event happened tomorrow?
🔥 Develop, maintain and evaluate effective Emergency Response Plans
🔥 Integrate emergency preparedness within the Safety Management System
🔥 Define clear crisis management roles, escalation processes and responsibilities
🔥 Coordinate regulators, operators, emergency services and other stakeholders
🔥 Strengthen crisis communication and media management capabilities
🔥 Integrate emergency preparedness within the Safety Management System
🔥 Define clear crisis management roles, escalation processes and responsibilities
🔥 Coordinate regulators, operators, emergency services and other stakeholders
🔥 Strengthen crisis communication and media management capabilities
Keeping safety at the centre of aviation’s transition
The three programmes approach aviation’s transformation from different directions, yet they are closely connected. New energy systems cannot be introduced without understanding their operational and safety implications.
Climate resilience cannot be strengthened without understanding how changing environmental conditions affect aircraft, airports and networks. And neither technological nor environmental risks can be managed effectively without organisations capable of responding when normal operations break down.
By translating emerging knowledge into competencies that aviation professionals can apply in practice, the ALBATROS-related programmes help connect research, technological development and operational reality ensuring that as aviation changes, the people responsible for its safety are prepared to change with it.
About JAA TO ✈️
The JAA Training Organisation (JAA TO) is a Dutch non-profit, self-financing organisation and the Associated Body of the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC). JAA TO has a history of 50+ years training the aviation industry and national authorities on regulation in the air transport sector. JAA TO is the only Platinum Training Centre of Excellence (TCE) in Europe recognised by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). JAA TO is an IATA Dangerous Goods CBTA Centre of Excellence, an ACI World Accredited Training Partner, recognized Dutch National Aviation Security Training Centre and a leading member of the EASA Virtual Academy (EVA).
JAA TO schedules more than 300 training courses annually on topics such as safety, security, drones and management. Within the aviation community, JAA TO offers a platform to learn and exchange views on latest regulatory developments. In addition, JAA TO provides advisory services, knowledge solutions, training consultancy and assistance with capacity building for (aviation) training departments.
