For air traffic training organisations · CBTA
Competency assessment for controllers. On the method used for flight crew.
European controller training is moving to competency-based training and assessment: Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2143 writes CBTA into the ATCO licensing rules, applying from 1 January 2029. Unit, on-the-job and continuation training are assessed against observable competence and recorded as evidence.
Where it fits
The parts of controller training. That need evidence.
Unit training plans
Phases, objectives and competency elements held as a structured plan rather than a document.
On-the-job training
OJT instructor assessments captured live at the position, with evidence attached.
Continuation and refresher
Recurrent competence checks, emergency and unusual situations training, with due dates tracked.
The regulation
Controller training becomes competency-based. In European law, from 2029.
Regulation (EU) 2015/340 has governed air traffic controller licences and training for a decade. Its two most recent amendments change what a training organisation has to show: first a simpler system of ratings and updated initial training, then competency-based training and assessment itself, for controllers, their instructors and their assessors.
2015
Regulation (EU) 2015/340 sets the rules for controller licences, initial, unit and continuation training, and for instructors and assessors.
August 2024
Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/893 applies: a simpler system of ratings and endorsements, and updated initial training requirements.
October 2025
Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2143 is adopted. It introduces CBTA and virtual training for controllers, with Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1044 on licences from third countries.
May 2026
The first provisions apply, and EASA publishes the second issue of the acceptable means of compliance and guidance material (ED Decision 2026/004/R).
January 2029
CBTA applies in full. Courses started before that date remain acceptable if they are completed by 30 June 2029.
Competency-based training and assessment is the method AeroEBT already runs for flight crew under ORO.FC.231 and ICAO Doc 9995.
See the method in AeroEBTWhat changes
From objectives to evidence. What Regulation (EU) 2025/2143 asks of a training organisation.
A simplified reading. The text in the Official Journal and your competent authority define the detail for your organisation.
What training aims at
Until now: Performance objectives
With CBTA: Performance criteria, set per competency
Competencies
Until now: Carried by subjects and objectives
With CBTA: Defined: seven for basic training, ten for rating training
Unit training
Until now: Described unit by unit
With CBTA: Competencies clearly defined and assessable across multiple contexts
Evidence
Until now: The result of an assessment
With CBTA: Evidence of competent performance, gathered through practical observation
Who assesses
Until now: Assessors
With CBTA: Assessors, and OJTI and STDI holders in basic, pre-OJT and continuation training
Classroom
Until now: On site
With CBTA: Virtual classroom accepted as a training method
Sources: Commission Implementing Regulations (EU) 2023/893 and (EU) 2025/2143, EASA Opinion No 06/2024 and ED Decision 2026/004/R, as published by EASA and summarised on SKYbrary. Reviewed October 2026.
In AeroEBT every grade carries the observation behind it: what was seen, at which moment, against which behaviour.
The ORCA cycle in AeroEBTUnit training
From the classroom to the position. The unit training plan, phase by phase.
A unit training plan is a sequence, and each phase should leave evidence behind. In AeroEBT the plan is a structured programme: every phase has its competencies and performance criteria, and every assessment in it is recorded against them.
Transitional training
Knowledge and understanding of the unit, built in the classroom and the simulator before the position.
Pre-on-the-job training
Skills consolidated on the simulator, with the unit's own procedures and traffic.
On-the-job training
Live traffic at the position, under the supervision of an OJT instructor, assessed as it happens.
Unit endorsement
The assessment rests on the evidence of every phase, not on a recollection of it.
On-the-job training
Assessed at the position. While the traffic is still on the screen.
The OJT instructor follows one practical procedure on a tablet beside the position: observe, record, classify, assess, debrief. What the trainee did, under what traffic load, is captured in the moment and tied to the competency it shows, so the grade is given with its evidence and the debrief starts from what actually happened.
- Observations captured at the position, offline if the network is not available
- Each observation tied to a competency and its performance criteria
- The grade given against your scale, with the observation behind it
- Debrief notes recorded with the assessment, in the trainee's record
Continuation training
Competence, kept current. Refresher training and what is due, in one view.
After the endorsement, competence has to be maintained and shown. Refresher training, emergency and unusual situations on the simulator and the assessments of the unit competence scheme are planned across the year, with every due date followed per controller and every session recorded as evidence.
- Refresher and conversion training planned per controller and per unit
- Emergency and unusual situations trained and assessed on the simulator you already have
- Due dates followed in the included TMS, with notification before they lapse
- Competence records exportable for your authority on request
Assessment
Six things transfer directly. From flight crew practice to the unit.
One method
Observation before grading
What the controller did, under what traffic load, captured before it becomes a score.
Assessor concordance
Two assessors, one trainee, one standard: measured rather than assumed.
The debrief is the training
Facilitated debrief notes recorded as evidence, not as an afterthought.
Simulator sessions and live positions
Both recorded in one trainee record.
Evidence for the authority
Competence records and assessor qualifications held in Swiss data centres, exportable on request.
Offline capable
Assessment captured at the position whether or not the network is available.
AeroEBT measures concordance from the grades assessors already enter, against the baseline of the group.
Concordance in AeroEBTAeroEBT for air traffic control
One platform, configured for your unit. The one airlines use for flight crew.
AeroEBT for air traffic control is the platform airlines use for flight crew, configured for your unit, your competencies and your assessors. The unit training plan, assessment at the position or in the simulator, assessor concordance and the competence record your authority asks for sit in one place.
Configured for the unit
Your competencies, performance criteria and grading scale.
Assessed at the position
On tablet, offline, with the observation behind every grade.
Assessors compared
OJTI, STDI and assessor grading compared against the group baseline.
Due dates followed
Refresher and continuation training followed in the included TMS.
What we are, and are not, offering here
This is competency assessment and record-keeping for controller training, configured from our flight crew platform. We do not supply ATC simulators, and we do not claim an approval under the ATCO licensing rules that your training organisation holds. If that is what you need, we will say so rather than stretch the product.
Questions air traffic training organisations ask
Does AeroEBT replace our ATC simulator?
No. SkyDynamics does not supply ATC simulators. AeroEBT records and assesses the training you deliver on the simulator you already have and at the live position.
Which regulation is this built around?
Regulation (EU) 2015/340 on air traffic controller licences and certificates, as amended by Implementing Regulations (EU) 2023/893 and (EU) 2025/2143. The second introduces competency-based training and assessment for controllers, instructors and assessors, applying in full from 1 January 2029.
Does it work for tower, approach and area control?
Yes. The competencies, performance criteria, grading scale and forms are configured per unit, so a tower unit and an area control centre each work with their own setup on the same platform.
Who records the assessment?
The people your organisation authorises: assessors, and OJT instructors and synthetic training device instructors where the rules allow them to assess. Each record carries who assessed it.
Does it work at the position without a network?
Yes. Assessment is captured offline on the tablet and synchronises when the device reconnects.
Is the software approved by EASA or by our authority?
No, and it does not need to be: approvals attach to your training organisation and its courses. AeroEBT gives you the evidence your authority asks for.
Tell us how your unit trains today.
A short conversation is enough to tell whether this fits your training organisation or not.
We respond within one business day.