Tanya Phipps

Aviation Safety Inspector, Federal Aviation Administration

Tanya Phipps is an Aviation Safety Inspector with the Federal Aviation Administration. She has been with the FAA for 22 years and has been deeply involved with Advanced Qualification Programs (AQP) for the past 15. She has had regulatory oversight for several large air carrier AQP’s and worked three major mergers that involved AQP’s. Tanya currently holds a position with AFS-280, the Training and Simulation Branch as an AQP subject matter expect. She acts as the FAA chairperson for several Extended Review Teams and is the point of contact for carriers transitioning their Inflight training programs to an AQP. Tanya also instructs an AQP course for the FAA Training Academy designed to familiarize inspectors to the dynamics of AQP.

What is AQP All About?

As stated in Advisory Circular (AC) 120-54 “Advance Qualification Programs (AQP) is a systematic methodology for developing the content of training programs for air carrier crewmembers and dispatchers. It replaces programmed hours with proficiency-based training and evaluation derived from a detailed job task analysis that includes Crew Resource Management (CRM). AQP incorporates data-driven quality control processes for validating and maintaining the effectiveness of curriculum content. AQP provides an alternate method of qualifying and certifying, if required, pilots, Flight Engineers (FE), flight attendants (F/A), aircraft dispatchers, instructors, evaluators, and other operations personnel subject to the training and evaluation requirements of 14 CFR parts 121 and 135. The AQP encourages innovation in the methods and technology that are used during instruction and evaluation, and efficient management of training systems. The goal of AQP is to achieve the highest possible standard of individual and crew performance. A leading objective of AQP is to provide effective training that will enhance professional qualifications to a level above the present standards that are provided in parts 121 and 135.

Although AQP is a voluntary program, the FAA Flight Standards Service (FS) encourages air carriers to participate. AQP provides for enhanced curriculum development and a data-driven approach to quality assurance along with the flexibility to target critical tasks during training. The AQP methodology directly supports the FAA’s goals for safety enhancement. The primary goal of AQP is to achieve the highest possible standard of individual and crew performance. In order to achieve this goal, AQP seeks to reduce the probability of crew-related errors by aligning training and evaluation requirements more closely with the known causes of human error.