Boeing and Cathay Pacific Bring Together 20+ Airlines to Push CBTA/EBT Implementation Further

Boeing and Cathay Pacific jointly hosted a three-day conference from September 16 to 18 under the banner "Implementing the Total System Approach," bringing together more than 20 airlines from multiple regions to work through the practical mechanics of competency-based and evidence-based training, known respectively as CBTA and EBT. The conference structured its three days around a deliberate progression: the first day examined why airlines are undertaking training-system changes in the first place and drew lessons from carriers that adopted CBTA/EBT early, the second walked through the transition from initial implementation through an intermediate "Mixed EBT" stage to a fully mature "Baseline EBT" model, and the third focused on individual airline discussions, implementation guidance and cross-carrier collaboration sessions. A joint presentation from Captain Daniele Grassini of easyJet and Captain Kevin Liu of Shandong Airlines addressed how artificial intelligence tools can be applied to analyse EBT operational data and support digital training solutions, reflecting a growing interest across the industry in using AI to process the large volumes of competency and safety data that evidence-based training generates. Other sessions covered "Enhanced EBT" as a longer-term direction in which training content is continuously adapted based on ongoing analysis rather than fixed to a standardised baseline curriculum, alongside discussion of safety data analytics and how competency mapping can be tied more directly into airlines' broader safety management systems. The conference followed a related Asia Airline EBT/CBTA Symposium held in Taiwan on September 15, which covered similar ground on AI applications and training-data analysis for airlines across the region.