The pilot training of tomorrow: utilising virtual reality in pilot training

One such example is a development project organised by Tampere University that kicked off on 1 June 2022 studying the utilisation of virtual reality in various industries. The project has brought together different Finnish organisations, educational institutions and companies, who all have their own goals and interests of utilising virtual reality. From Finnair, Finnair’s pilot training department has been involved in the project, and for this story, we interviewed Arto Helovuo, Head of Compliance & Business Development and Erik Korpijärvi, Chief Theoretical Knowledge Instructor.

Within the development project, Arto and Erik have gotten to consider whether virtual reality could offer an effective and modern addition to our pilot training in the future, replacing some of the current simulator and classroom teaching, and enabling pilots to practice flying in a virtual reality setting.

Currently, Finnair's pilot training includes a variety of theoretical training in a classroom, e-learnings at home, simulator training at Finnair Flight Academy, and training flights in an actual aircraft.

When new pilots join Finnair, they have already completed the pilot’s basic training, so they start a so-called airline-specific training and also go through a type-specific training that gives them qualifications to fly a specific aircraft type. Every six months, pilots also attend refresher training, which includes two days of simulator training in addition to the theory part.

“Our goal has been to find other types of training solutions alongside the expensive flight simulator that we currently use – solutions that would be more scalable and would free up flight simulator usage time and, thus, avoid capacity issues for us,” says Arto.

Strict regulations and the nature of the pilot training as a frame

The practical implementation of virtual reality, however, is still strongly limited by the regulatory climate from the authorities.

“The regulatory landscape of aviation is still fairly conservative, and no ready-made solutions regarding virtual reality have been approved yet. Despite this, we have tested various implementations at a concept level, so that we could implement some of them once we see how the regulations develop,” Erik says.

Finnair, like many other airlines, includes more training hours in its pilot training than what is the minimum requirement by the authorities. Thus, there has been some discussion about whether virtual reality could be already now used in the training section that exceeds the authorities' requirements. Erik says: “Our first goal is to develop the training part that exceeds the authorities' regulations, and then, as the regulatory environment develops, also consider replacing some of the mandatory sections.”

Another special characteristic defining the usage of virtual reality is the nature of pilot training: in principle, you never train alone in a flight simulator; there are always at least two pilots simulating the flight.

“Finnair's key questions in this project have also been to investigate how virtual reality would work in multi-pilot training. Typically, virtual worlds in training are based on operating independently in a simulated environment. However, for us, it’s crucial that the virtual reality in which we practice enables cooperation between two pilots in the same way as it works in a flight simulator,” says Arto.

He continues: “There are also questions regarding the technology used. Having VR glasses on, your field of vision is not completely the same as it would be in a normal situation. This can also limit the cooperation with the other pilot operating alongside you. We’ve studied this in a flight simulator, and this has also been a topic for a thesis.”

Constant development and developing

During the project, both Arto and Erik have been surprised how different technical solutions there are. The pace of technical development has also been somewhat dizzying – for example, the solutions that were available a year and a half ago are completely different from the ones available today.

Arto and Erik have gotten to test various VR solutions: some have been full virtual reality while some have been so-called ‘mixed reality,’ a combination of real and virtual worlds. According to Arto and Erik, some experiences have provided wow-factors, while some have been frustrating when a familiar switch or button has not worked as intended.

“The experiences with VR vary greatly, which is also why we need to think carefully about what kind of solutions we’ll seek in the future. The goal is not to utilise VR in any way, but to carefully choose which goals it best serves in our situation,” Arto says.

Constant development is not only typical within the VR technology, but also in the pilot training. Erik says: “Our high level of safety requires continuous training and development of training; it’s an ongoing process for us. The operating environment is changing, and at the same time, aircraft and their technology are developing further. For example, nowadays there can be GPS interference, which was not even discussed ten years ago.”

Arto continues: “The work environment in which pilots operate is becoming more diverse, making the educational needs wider, especially in terms of knowledge. Even if flying an aircraft itself doesn’t change that much, the understanding and use of various tools, systems and functions is changing, which drives the need for continuous development of our pilot training.”

An already great concept and future opportunities

During the project, Erik and Arto have come to a conclusion that Finnair’s current training concept in a flight simulator is actually very good.

“Although training in a flight simulator is a bit old as a concept, it’s still a truly immersive and great experience from the training effectiveness perspective, and it corresponds incredibly well to the pilot's working environment. Creating a similar effectiveness – or even close to it – with alternative technologies is, in fact, quite a challenging task,” Erik reflects.

Arto agrees: “When it comes to the use of simulators in occupational training in safety-critical fields, aviation is a pioneer. Many fields haven’t had any kind of simulations in use until now, while we’ve had them already for decades. In other fields, the first step might be to move to virtual reality and possibly then afterwards move to a more versatile and sophisticated simulator. Whereas, in our case, we need to think this from a different perspective and consider whether we could replace some of the elements that are completed in the simulator with virtual reality – so that our high quality of the training is maintained or even improved further.”

As the project comes to an end at the end of 2025, the goal is to have enough understanding of the use of virtual reality technology to create some kind of roadmap for the virtualisation of Finnair's pilot training to the extent that it is considered reasonable.

“We could certainly utilise virtual reality in pilot training already now, but first we want to thoroughly understand in which situations it makes technical sense to use it. I believe that within a few years we will have a few implementations in use,” Arto sums up.

Are you interested in working as a Finnair pilot? You can read more about the profession and its qualifications at our Pilots career pages.