The Second ENRI International Workshop on ATM/CNSTokyo JAPAN, November 10-12, 2010
Human factors in general aviation flight instruction
authenticity: A measure of student’s perceived
satisfaction.
Presenter: J. Bryan Burrows-McElwain

University of Maryland Eastern Shore

Why use organizational leadershiptheory to study aviation safety?
 ICAO adopted James Reason’s Model for Safety

Management Systems (SMS)

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SHELL model. Retrieved on March 1st, 2010 fromhttp://www.atlasaviation.com/AviationLibrary/Fundam
entalHumanFactorsConcepts/Fundam10.gif
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SHELL Model Liveware – Liveware Interaction
 Organizational team work Personal interaction

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Authentic Leadership Foundation
 Authentic leadership has its roots in Bass (1985, 1990)

and Bass & Steidlmeier (1999).
 Bass focused on the moral and ethical components oftransformational and charismatic leaders.
 Walumbwa, Avolio, Gardner, Wernsing and Peterson(2008) proposed that there is more to authentic
leadership than “being true to oneself” (p. 90) as
maintained by Taylor (1991).
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Authenticity Defined Harter (2002) : “Owning one’s own personal

experiences, be they thoughts, emotions, needs,preferences, or beliefs, processes captured by theinjunction to know oneself”(p. 382).
 Luthans and Avolio (2003) : “A process that draws fromboth positive psychological capacities and a highly
developed organizational context, which results inboth greater self-awareness and self-regulated
positive behaviors on the part of leaders andassociates, fostering positive self-development” (p.
243).
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Basic Tenants of AuthenticLeadership Considers ones strength’s, not weaknesses attributes of optimism, hope, resilience, morality andtransparency (Fry & Whittington, 2005).
 Consider interests of others
 Two-way communication is desired and fullparticipation warranted.
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Paradigm Shift Move from FLY – CRASH – FIX – FLY approach tosafety to a more predictive model of identifyingHazards, Determining Risks, Limiting Incidents andAvoiding Identifiable Accidents.
 Organizational Leadership tools can be an additional

front line defense against latent errors in the system.

University of Maryland Eastern ShoreLeadership’s role in Aviation
 Need to collect data (measure latent failures)indiscriminately from all sources Support safety research both with time and resources(investment) Avoid rushing to judgment
 Avoid alienating your data sources (subordinates) Adequately/fairly utilize data provided in the decision
making process Walk the walk. Implement the plan.
 Weigh your own perception of authenticity against that ofyour subordinates (self-check)
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Yukl, 2009
 Key relations-oriented behaviors that leaders possess:

1) supporting2) developing3)recognizing.

 Recognizing behavior involves positive feedback

effective performance. He states that this type ofrecognition helps to, “strengthen desirable behavior,improve interpersonal relationships, and increase job
satisfaction” (p. 69).
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FAA AC-120-92
 Section 7.1 identifies the need for leadership toestablish an effective employee feedback system thatprovides confidentiality as is necessary in order tomaintain a positive safety culture and overall training
satisfaction.

University of Maryland Eastern ShoreSMS – ISO 2007
 ISO Key principle #2 (of 8) indicates that leaders

should establish, “unity of purpose and direction ofthe organization. They should create and maintain theinternal environment in which people can become
fully involved in achieving the organization'sobjectives” (p.1).

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Authentic Leadership
Questionnaire (ALQ)
Sub-Scales Transparency
 Self-Awareness Moral/Ethics

 Balanced Processing – feedback and participant input

in decision making

University of Maryland Eastern ShoreTransparency
 The results indicate that openness of the training

process is related to one’s level of contentment withthe fight training experience. Examples oftransparency in flight training include the student’s
level of participation in the training process and open,
honest evaluation of performance. Additionally,instructors that share any potential risks or hazards ofmaneuvers up front, would be considered transparent.

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Awareness Awareness of one’s own capabilities in flight

instruction is beneficial to both student and instructor
alike. When an instructor makes an error, it is best to
not attempt to cover it up as students are quick tonotice. A perceived lack of awareness in one’s own
abilities or of the environment as a whole can lead tolack of student confidence and ultimately satisfaction
with instruction given.

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Moral/Ethics
 Instructor’s values affect their everyday experiences

and how others perceive them. In flight training,strict adherence to regulatory standards by instructors
sets the bar for students to follow. Additionally,students who observe their instructor not complying
with the standards set by the FAA, are sent a messageof unprofessionalism and this behavior can lead todissatisfaction. Many instructors are building time tobecome Air Transport Pilots. Under Title 14 of theCode of Federal Regulations section 61.153(c), the FAA
must determine the moral character of its applicants(FAA, 2010).
University of Maryland Eastern ShoreBalanced Processing
 Students are more satisfied with instructors that

communicate with them regularly and include them inthe decision making process throughout the training
regime. Balanced processing is a key element in crew
resource management in the flight instruction fieldand aviation in general.

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Authentic Leadership
Questionnaire (ALQ) Walumbwa, Avolio, Gardner, Wernsing and Peterson (2008)ALQ.

Walumbwa et al. (2008) conducted three studies with thepurpose of testing a theory based measure for authenticleadership.
The third study in the research indicated a positive relationshipbetween authentic leadership and supervisor relatedperformance. One of the performance measures wassatisfaction.

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Walumbwa, Avolio, Gardner, Wernsing andPeterson (2008) ALQ.
University of Maryland Eastern ShoreSafety and Satisfaction?
 Robert Wolosin (2008) linked customer safety with satisfactionin the medical field.

 Key elements include open communication and shared values

which are variables present in the authentic leadership model.

 A study conducted by Weingart, Price, Duncombe, Connor,

Sommer Conley, Bierer, and Ponte (2007), found poor
communication (balanced processing in authentic leadershipmodel) and lack of respect (ethics/morality) as a key contributor
to incident reporting and overall dissatisfaction with service.
 Since the authentic leadership model and the SMS model adopted

by the FAA/Aviation Industry rely on latent condition reporting,satisfaction can be an early predictor of system safety
condition.
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Bliss & Fallon (2003)
 Studies specifically targeting leadership and follower

satisfaction in the cockpit indicated that participative
leadership strategies increased follower satisfaction.

University of Maryland Eastern ShorePilot study
As an initial investigation into the relationshipbetween authentic leadership and aviation safety, an
exploration was initiated to determine whether or not
authentic leadership also affects student performancein the form of perceived satisfaction in a flight training
environment.
This was due to the ease of obtaining participants.
The relationship between ATC controllers is also an
area of interest for future research.
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Hypothesis
Hypothesis: Authentic leadership is positively
associated with individual student pilot satisfaction.

University of Maryland Eastern ShorePurpose
The purpose of this research was to measurecorrelation between the results of an ALQ assessment
and the perceived satisfaction (performance) of anaviation organization (flight training) where an SMS
safety system might one day be implemented.

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Population

Non-probability sample of convenience
Flight students currently engaged in flighttraining operations were surveyed following theprocedure used by Walumbwa et al. (2008).
The target sample size was fifty respondents. Allmale.
Fifty (50) respondents agreed to participate in
the survey instrument out of 70 distributed (71%response rate).
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Instruments
The Authentic Leadership Questionnaire (ALQ) wasused to measure instructor authenticity (16 item scale)
The Satisfaction With Life Survey (SWLS) satisfaction
survey was utilized to determine the student’s level ofsatisfaction with their flight instruction experience (5item scale).

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Results
Variable
ALQSWLSM
47.38
26.12

SD
13.57
9.62

Crohnbach’s α.957.928

r.9182**The correlation between the two variables was significant (**p<0.01).

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Results
353025SWLS

The data, when scatterplotted indicated a strong
positive correlation between
student flight training
satisfaction and perceived
level of instructor
authenticity

4020
系列115

線形 (系列1)

105002040ALQUniversity of Maryland Eastern Shore

6080

Discussion
In general, mean satisfaction and perceived flight instructor
authenticity scores are high. Standard deviation results show the data
points are close to the close to the mean scores.
The hypothesis Authentic leadership is positively associated withindividual student pilot performance (Satisfaction with instructor) has
been proven (.912) with significant findings. [Null was rejected]
With a relatively small sample size, strong positive correlations are still
indicated between the two variables (leader authenticity and student
satisfaction).
Additionally, mean scores of the SWLS were consistent with larger,
national data sets (25.95 for our study compared to 25.8 in the Diener etal. study).
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Limitations
 Since this experiment is only exploring correlation between two variables, there is nocausality. The data indicates that there is simply a positive relationship between
perceived authenticity and satisfaction.
 All male population.

 The data collected was a cross-sectional view of flight training attitudes in a limited
region and not longitudinal in nature. A larger population studied over a longer periodof time would increase the assumption’s overall validity. This study simply demonstrated
that satisfaction is related to authenticity.
 Perceived instructor authenticity and student satisfaction with instruction are likely
linked because students feel more comfortable (safe) and therefore, satisfied withinstructors who they perceive behave authentically (moral/ethical ways, share ideas andsuggestions, are transparent and demonstrate a higher moral/ethical behavior).
 Need for a stronger direct association…i.e. Leadership and Safety…

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Proposed Model
New bi-variate correlational
study

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Recommendations
 Future research to study the effect of additionalvariables associated with the SMS model combinedwith leadership authenticity is warranted.
 Other research in non-punitive response to error(Leape, 1994) has indicated that positive safety culture
increases safety by removing fear of blame andpunishment.

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Recommendations continued Satisfaction, positive safety culture, and resilience aregood candidates for a regression analysis study on howeach affect safety measure(s) or latent conditions in anaviation organization.
 Need for more research to better operationalize theSMS model’s leadership component
 Predictive model needs development
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Questions?

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