Culture in the cockpit: Implications for CRM training

Abstract

Crew resource management (CRM) is an important airline training tool that was developed in the United States and has been used to train flight crews worldwide since the 1990s. Modern CRM programs cover a wide range of skill areas, including communication, interpersonal skills and decision-making. This paper describes the evolution of CRM and its underlying cultural assumptions. CRM has been criticized for being implicitly biased towards Western culture, and there have been calls for the development of different versions “culturally calibrated” to meet the needs of target participants around the world. This paper reviews research into national cultural differences, as well as airline organizational culture and pilot professional culture, and examines the implications for CRM training. This study is relevant to all international airline flight operations, especially those involving mixed-nationality crews.