AFM Aero interview

Aviation English interview

Latitude’s Managing Director, Henry Emery, was recently interviewed by AFM Aero in their Pilot Training Leadership Series. Henry talked about his career in aviation English and gave a background to Latitude Aviation English Services before discussing trends in aviation training and the role of AI, and the outlook for the industry. You can listen to the interview here.

Training for Uzbekistan Airways

We are pleased to announce that Latitude has been chosen by Uzbekistan Airways to deliver advanced training for the airline's language teaching and testing team. A bespoke 70-hour course will be delivered in summer 2024 as a blend of e-learning and instructor-led training in partnership with Norwich Institute for Language Education in the UK. We're very much looking forward to taking a deep dive into aviation language teaching pedagogy and instructional and test task design, all in the context of radiotelephony communication in accordance with the ICAO LPRs.

Checkpoint listening and reading report

We are pleased to publish a report on the performance of the Checkpoint listening and reading assessments. In summary:

  1. Analyses conducted in 2015:

    • Estimated Checkpoint's reliability to be between 90.2 and 100% with a standard error of measurement of between 1.7 and 3.2%;

    • Showed that it is impossible to make accurate judgements about listening ability or reading ability on the basis of a spoken performance; separate measurement of listening, reading and speaking skills is essential; and

    • Showed Checkpoint's listening and reading items to be discriminating well between candidates of low, medium and high ability.

  2. Rasch analyses conducted in 2024:

    • Showed that Checkpoint's listening and reading items:

      • Cover a range of difficulty which is well-suited to the ability of the candidate population; and

      • Measure effectively with many items close to or at values ideal for measurement;

    • Resulted in revision of four of Checkpoint's 96 listening and reading items to further enhance their measurement properties.

You can download the report here.

Latitude supports EUROCONTROL with successful ICAO recognition

ICAO English test recognition

We were delighted to be selected by EUROCONTROL to coordinate and prepare the submission to ICAO for recognition of ELPAC for pilots. Led by Latitude’s Henry Emery and Andrea Howard, work began in January and involved review, collation and preparation of test documentation, development and administration procedures and evidence for test validity and reliability. The submission has now been reviewed under ICAO's Aviation English Language Testing System and has resulted in successful recognition of ELPAC for Pilots for a period of three years.

ELPAC for pilots is currently the only language test in the world to be recognised by ICAO for its quality. The successful recognition of ELPAC for pilots is a clear demonstration of EUROCONTROL's commitment to the highest standards in aviation language testing. Our congratulations go to the ELPAC and its partners, the Zürich University of Applies Sciences and Enovate of Norway.

Croatia Control selects Latitude

 
 
 

We're pleased to announce that Croatia Control has selected Latitude's Command e-learning to help ATCOs refresh and maintain their operational language proficiency. Accessible on all devices, Command e-learning provides 24 units of interactive aviation English training enabling personnel to:

  • Listen to plain English in a variety of aviation contexts, from safety briefs and training events to radio interviews, podcasts and discussions

  • Listen to non-standard air-ground communications

  • Develop structure, vocabulary, and plain language for radio communications.

As part of the package, Latitude is providing a branded learning management system through which ATCOs engage with course content and Croatia Control's language support team can monitor progress and download reports.

We are delighted to be working with Croatia Control and to help its air traffic control personnel maintain aviation English for safe and efficient aeronautical communications.

Learn more about Command here.

Hub'Air chooses Latitude

 
 

We’re pleased to announce that Hub'Air has chosen Latitude to support its students as they prepare for airline pilot training. Under the partnership, students sign up for Checkpoint, our web-based assessment of listening, reading and speaking which they can take remotely. Depending on scores in Checkpoint, students may proceed directly to flight training, or elect to develop their language proficiency through Foundation e-learning with optional virtual instructor-led training.

The partnership allows Hub’Air, the students and their sponsors to manage language proficiency in advance of flight training, therefore minimising risk and maximising the chances of success.

For more than 20 years, Hub'Air has trained hundreds of airline pilots who have joined companies such as Air France, Emirates, Luxair, Brussels Airlines, Qatar Airways, Corsair, TUI, Cargolux, Easyjet, Ryanair, DHL and Private Jets. We’re pleased to welcome Hub’Air to our growing list of users of Checkpoint and Foundation.

AEGEAN chooses Latitude

 
 

We are delighted to announce that AEGEAN, the awarded Greek airline, has selected the Latitude Testing Toolkit in order to establish an independent, in-house aviation English testing capability for its flight crew.

The Toolkit enables organisations to implement a professionally-produced language testing system that enables measurement of English language proficiency for radiotelephony communications according to the ICAO rating scale. The Toolkit comprises a full set of test content and tasks, Standard Operating Procedures and a package of personnel training and is available to customers under a license for unlimited, royalty-free use.

Find out more about the Latitude Testing Toolkit here.