Introduction to the Airline Industry for the Leadership & Management Training Program

Overview
About
Start with the essentials to launch a career in the airline industry. Learn about the history of airline organizations, and the various operational and business functions that make up an airline.
This training program combines IATA’s trusted Introduction to the Airline Industry course with Harvard Manage Mentor© (HMM), a state-of-the-art, media-rich training platform furnished by Harvard Business School faculty, global business leaders and practitioners in the field of leadership development.
Course format
IATA Course Module
- The IATA course requires approximately 40-45 hours of study to be completed in 12 months from the purchase date (enrollment validity). The course is available in e-textbook format and your instructor will help you to study these materials and you also need to study these materials on your own.
10 Harvard Manage Mentor© Module
- Additional time will be required for the 10 HMM© modules. Each HMM© self-study module requires approximately 2-4 hours of study. Access to the HMM© platform is valid for 6 months (enrollment validity) from the date access is provided, with exams administered online.
What you will learn
Upon completing this course you will have the skills to:
- Know the history, current scale and scope of the airline industry
- Find out about the multiple operational and business functions of airlines
- Describe the duties and responsibilities of key airline personnel
- Build or refresh management and leadership skills
- Respond to management challenges effectively
Course content
IATA Introduction to the Airline Industry content
- Airline Organizational Structure and Personnel
- Airline Business Model
- Airline Fleet
- Airline Manufacturers and Vendors
- Government and industry agencies
Harvard Manage Mentor© access
This valuable online reference tool, used by companies around the world, will help you handle day-to-day management issues. HMM offers the following on-demand features to help you achieve more on the job:
- Concise lessons and tools for fast and effective learning
- Videos featuring Harvard University faculty, trusted experts, and next-generation emerging leaders
- Editor’s Choice articles featuring up-to-the-minute business expertise, selected and updated quarterly by Harvard Business Publishing editors
- Hundreds of new checklists, self-assessments, worksheets, and handouts to facilitate the application of new ideas to your own work environment
- Personalized experience: goals, skill development, and action planning to help you quickly apply new skills
- Post-topic, On-the-Job component where you work on your action plan and receive content, tips, and reminders
Who should attend
This course is recommended for:
- Entry-level airline industry staff
- Newcomers to the airline industry
Exam information
Please read the General Information on Partner-taught / Self-study exams, and check the Course Edition List for Exams when booking your exam.
- Exam Method: Online exam with remote supervision
- Exam Format: Multiple Choice questions, Closed Text Book
- Number of questions: 100
- Time Allowance: 3 hours
- Passing Grade: 60 correct answers
- Distinction Grade: 90 correct answers
- Number of exam attempts: 2
Harvard Manage Mentor© Exam
- Exam Method: Online assessment
- Exam Format: Multiple-choice questions
- Number of Questions: 10 or less per HMM module
- Time Allowed: The assessment can be retaken as many times as you need to pass
- Passing Grade: You must score at least 70% on the assessment.
Course Features
- Modules5
- Duration40-45 hours
- Class ModeVirtual
- Skill levelLeader
- LanguageEnglish
- Batch Size10
- Course TypePaid
- CertificationCertificate
- ExamOnline
Curriculum
Key Topics
IATA Introduction to the Airline Industry content
- Airline Organizational Structure and Personnel
- Airline Business Model
- Airline Fleet
- Airline Manufacturers and Vendors
- Government and industry agencies
Harvard Manage Mentor© access
This valuable online reference tool, used by companies around the world, will help you handle day-to-day management issues. HMM offers the following on-demand features to help you achieve more on the job:
- Concise lessons and tools for fast and effective learning
- Videos featuring Harvard University faculty, trusted experts, and next-generation emerging leaders
- Editor’s Choice articles featuring up-to-the-minute business expertise, selected and updated quarterly by Harvard Business Publishing editors
- Hundreds of new checklists, self-assessments, worksheets, and handouts to facilitate the application of new ideas to your own work environment
- Personalized experience: goals, skill development, and action planning to help you quickly apply new skills
- Post-topic, On-the-Job component where you work on your action plan and receive content, tips, and reminders
Certification
Certificate awarded
- You will receive an IATA Certificate upon successful completion of the IATA exam.
- A Harvard ManageMentor© certificate of completion is awarded for each module, provided you obtain a passing grade of 70%. You may track your progress within the HMM platform.
This course is a step toward earning an IATA Diploma in ”Leadership & Management Training Program Diploma”. Enhance your critical business knowledge and skills through this highly-acclaimed training program.
About Harvard Manage Mentor
Harvard Manage Mentor is leadership training with of Harvard Business School and for over 20 years, Harvard ManageMentor® has set the standard for on-demand leadership development. It combines the highest quality content with a unique design focused on putting learning into action. This combination has helped high-performing managers around the world build necessary skills and elevate their performance.
Harvard ManageMentor gives learners insights that matter, with content fueled by the latest in thinking and proven practices from Harvard Business Publishing’s and other renowned world-class experts. Whether used at their desk or on-the-go, Harvard ManageMentor helps them quickly apply new concepts and skills.
Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning partners with Global 2000 clients to create world-class leadership development solutions. We help clients educate leaders who can make a positive difference by delivering technology-enabled, globally-scaled leadership development programs that produce real-time results for our clients.
About IATA
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is the trade association for the world’s airlines, representing some 290 airlines or 82% of total air traffic. It was established in 1945 to support many areas of aviation activity and help formulate industry policy on critical aviation issues.
IATA is working intensely in the area of customer service quality. To this end, it cooperates with numerous organisations and major companies from around the world operating in industries associated with transport, security, and tourism. It is also very active in the area of legislative work.
For 75 years, the organisation has set the standards in the transport sector
About IATA Training
We train more than 100,000 professionals and students each year from all areas of the world. Our 350+ courses and 40+ diplomas are developed around IATA’s areas of expertise and commitment to promoting industry standards worldwide.
Our training helps businesses operate safely, efficiently and sustainably, building career opportunities for the people they employ.
Tranning Provider

Aviation Consulting was created in 2010. Since our foundation, we have focussed on delivering specialised training courses in the area of transport, with a particular focus on air transport, addressed to organisations operating in the transport, forwarding, and logistics industry.
Our services are also targeted at young people wishing to start a career in aviation, which is one of the most dynamic sectors offering numerous career opportunities. So far, we have trained more than 3000 students from over a dozen countries around the world.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), we are the best Authorised Training Center in Europe for 2018, 2019, and 2020.

What we offer – A career in 3 simple steps
1 Complete our training
Receive the prestigious IATA certificate
2 Develop your competence
We offer training courses in various job roles in the aviation sector.
3 Apply for aviation studies
With the IATA certificate, you will surely be admitted.
More than 90% of graduates from our training courses get a student visa for the EU
Why Aviation
Aviation is a key sector affecting the fortunes of the global economy, while its own fortunes are also impacted by changes in the state of the global economy. This sector has seen a sustained growth over the past several decades, with the number of passengers travelling by air increasing from 9 million in 1945 to over 6.7 billion in 2014.
The various expert forecasts indicate that this number is set to burgeon further in the future. For the global aviation sector, India is a key market. With a growing population and increasing propensity to travel. And soon India will become the third-largest aviation market by 2020 and the largest by 2030.
Aviation is more than 70 million jobs, including:
Do you know that…
- The aviation sector generates 2.4 trillion dollars
- Aviation accounts for 3.4% of the world’s GDP
- If aviation was a country…, it would occupy the 21st place on the list of the wealthiest countries of the world
- 3.6 times more. An aviation sector employee is on average 3.6 times more productive than their colleague working in a different sector
Future in Aviation
According to IATA data, by 2037 the number of passengers transported will have doubled and reached 8.2 billion. At the same time, the aviation sector will need a huge number of new employees, pilots, crew, mechanics, and administrative workers, who would be able to ensure continuous development of aviation.
According to Boeing’s assessment for 2019-2038 referring to the demand for staff in the industry, in the next 20 years, demand for aviation mechanics will increase to 769,000 globally.
Aviation will need 804,000 new pilots and 914,000 new crew members. This means almost 2.5 million new employees in these three vocational groups in the next 20 years.
By 2035, the Indian Aviation sector (across the study segments of Airport, Airlines, Cargo, MRO and Ground Handling) will employ 0.8 to 1 million personnel directly and another 3 million after factoring in the likely improvements in economic output and labour productivity.
Growing demand – a global problem
Meeting such strong demand will require a concerted effort on the part of the entire global aviation industry. As several hundred thousand pilots and technicians will reach their retirement age within the next decade (it is estimated that 30% of aviation mechanics are approaching their retirement age) educational programmes and career paths will be essential for inspiring and recruiting the next educational programmes and career paths will be essential for inspiring and recruiting the next generation of staff. What is interesting is that new practitioners of these professions entering the labour market account for only 2% of the total personnel.
The need for technical staff, pilots, and plane crews will be the highest in the Asia-Pacific region. In the next 20 years, the area will need 266,000 new technicians, a similar number of pilots, and 327,000 plane crew members. The data are hardly surprising, as the Asia-Pacific region is already the largest market in the world and is developing at the highest rate. China, Japan, and India have a total share of 20.8% in the global passenger transport market. Europe also occupies one of the leading positions in global terms, being the second-largest aviation market when taking into account breakdown by continents. Europe generates 26.7% of the global aviation traffic expressed as the number of passengers transported.
Course Features
- Lectures 5
- Quizzes 0
- Duration 40 hours
- Skill level Beginner
- Language English
- Students 2
- Assessments Yes
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Course content