Avianca: From 1,776 Candidates to 180 Airline-Ready Pilots
How competency intelligence transformed pilot recruitment at scale
The Challenge
Avianca needed to recruit 180 first officers for its A320 fleet from a global applicant pool of nearly 1,800 candidates. The airline faced a challenge familiar to any large operator scaling pilot intake: how do you assess competency consistently across hundreds of candidates, reduce subjective bias in selection, and identify which pilots will perform well in the line environment — not just in an interview room? Traditional recruitment relies heavily on CV screening, unstructured interviews, and single-point simulator checks. These methods produce high volumes of data but limited visibility into the competencies that matter most: decision-making under pressure, situational awareness, workload management, and crew resource management.
The Approach
Stage 1 — Platform Filtering
1,776 applicants were assessed against Avianca’s baseline requirements through the Amelia platform. Reduced the pool to 750+ qualified candidates.
Stage 2 — Online Interview & English Assessment
620 candidates progressed. Conducted through the platform by experienced airline pilots and training captains. Three data points recorded per candidate.
Stage 3 — Psychometric & Knowledge Assessment
553 candidates completed the Symbiotics digital optimum profile focused on Avianca’s specific pilot profile. Included cognitive assessment, FAST multitasking testing, and personality profiling. 35 data points recorded per candidate.
Stage 4 — Competency-Based Simulator Assessment
360 candidates attended in-person simulator evaluations on King Air 200/350 in Bogotá, conducted by Amris subject-matter experts. 11 additional data points captured per candidate, assessed against the nine ICAO competencies and Observable Behaviours.
Stage 5 — Selection
180 candidates were selected and recommended for A320 type rating.
"Most airlines discover pilot competency issues through incidents. Avianca chose to surface them earlier — through structured recruitment data they were already collecting."
The Role of Competency Intelligence
Across the full pipeline, 49 structured data points per candidate were captured and analysed through the Amelia platform. For candidates who passed psychometric screening but underperformed in the simulator, Amelia’s treemap analysis identified the specific competency areas driving the gap — most commonly Problem Solving and Decision Making (PDM), Situational Awareness (SAW), and Leadership and Teamwork (LTW). This evidence allowed Avianca to understand not just who failed, but why.
Personalised Development
For pilots who entered training, Amelia generated individualised development plans based on their assessment profiles. Each pilot’s areas of improvement were mapped to specific ICAO competencies. Personalised course outlines were produced for instructor review and approval. The training solution was implemented without disrupting the approved training programme.
Value Delivered
Defensible evidence behind every selection decision — traceable, structured, and aligned to ICAO competency frameworks.
Visibility into cohort-level competency patterns, enabling the airline to anticipate training needs before pilots entered the line.
Personalised development pathways that turned recruitment data into actionable training intelligence, closing the gap between selection and operational readiness.
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