The East-Asian Influence Karen Mak Hong Kong Airlines, China ICAEA April 19, 2013 Paris

1. The East-Asian Influence Karen Mak Hong Kong Airlines, China ICAEA April 19, 2013 Paris

2. Culture “…culture consists of the shared norms, values, and practices associated with a nation, organization, or profession.” (Helmreich: 2000)

3. East-Asia East Asian countries referenced: Singapore Hong Kong Philippines Korea Thailand Japan Mainland China Malaysia Taiwan Indonesia

4. Accidents • Since Asia’s financial crisis began in mid-1997. East Asian airlines have accounted for three of history’s 20 deadliest crashes: • Korean Air’s crash on Guam killed 228. • Garuda Indonesia crash on Sumatra in 1997 killed 221 • China Airlines crash in Taipei in February 1998 killed 203 (Asian Wall Street Journal Weekly: April 1999)

5. Still more… Since Asia’s financial crisis began in mid-1997. Asian airlines have accounted for some major (over 100 fatalities) air accidents: • Korean Air’s crash on Guam killed 228 Aug 061997. • SilkAir Flight 185 Dec. 19 1997 crash into Indonesia’s Musi River killing all 104 • Garuda Indonesia crash on Sumatra in 1997 killed 221 • China Airlines crash in Taipei in February 1998 killed 202 • 2 February: Cebu Pacific Air DC-9 crashes into mountain in Southern Philippines, killing all 104 people aboard • Thai Airways in Southern Thailand in December 1998 killing 102 • 19 April: Air Philippines Being 737-200 from Manila TO Davao crashes on approach to landing, killing all 131 people on board. • 5 September 2005: A Mandala Airlines plane with 112 passengers and five crew on board crashes after take-off in the Indonesian city of Medan, Killing almost all on board and dozens on the ground • 1 January 2007: An Adam Air Boeing 737-400 carrying 102 passengers and crew comes down in mountains on Sulawesi Island on a Domestic Indonesian flight. All on board are killed (Asian Wall Street Journal Weekly: Vol.21, Issue 15, April 1999, p13),(Air Disasters timeline BBCNews World), (Airtransport: July 1999)

6. Grime facts • 1311 killed since mid-1997 on East Asian airlines • Of the three deadliest crashes, none was due to mechanical failure • Of the 9 cases, 56% not due to mechanical failure

7. Accident rates in China … between 1982 and 1992 was 40 times higher than that in North America • South Korea…Taiwan and Thailand was about 20 times as high(Garrison, July 1997)

8. Deductive reasoning? • High accident rates in East Asia • High percentage of accidents not due to mechanical problem • Human Factors  Communication • English proficiency • Interaction of crew

9. Part 1: English proficiency “Language problem is the easiest to define”(Garrison, July 1997)

10. Language problem • In November of 1993, a China Northern jet was attempting to land in heavy fog at Urumqi, in Western China. The ground-proximity warning system repeatedly cautioned the crew that they were rapidly approaching terrain. Just before impact, the cockpit voice recorder caught one crew member saying to the other Chinese [pilot], “What does ‘Pull up’ mean?”(Garrison, July 1997)

11. Language proficiency • Referring to the ability to use English language semantics, syntaxes, articulation… “technical proficiency” • This is what ICAO and our efforts at ICAEA have made to improve the English proficiency for aviation; and the whole procedure is to ensure that the English proficiency ability of aviation personnel is at the minimum at a safe operational ability to interact cross borders

12. Case: HK Airlines • Let’s take a look at a case • Hong Kong airlines

13. Jamaican Japanese Korean Malaysian Mexican Portuguese Singaporean Slavic Slovenian South African South Korean Spanish Taiwanese Thai Belgian Brazilian British Canadian Chinese (PRC) Chinese (SAR) Czech Dutch Filipino Finnish French German Guatemalan Indian Indonesian Italian Pilot recruits 2010-2012 156 pilots 30 Nationalities

14. East-Asian pilots Hong Kong Airlines’ East Asian pilots referenced: Singapore Hong Kong Philippines Korea Thailand Japan Mainland China Malaysia Taiwan Indonesia

15. % of East Asian pilots

17. Compulsory education/English

18. Does this make sense? Correlate back with compulsory English Next generation will show more correlation between compulsory education at primary & secondary in English proficiency

19. Strategy • English classes • Yes, for a number of States (i.e. Thailand, Japan, China) • Big investment and Big commitment • Hire foreign pilots • Not much choice until the next generation, maybe?

20. “…[they] speak little English…no matter what controllers order, [they] just say ‘Roger’, and that makes the controller go away” (Wall Street Journal: July 1999)

21. Interaction of crew Culture Part 2: Interaction of crew

22. Research • Hofstede’s cultural studies (1960s,1970s) identified 5 distinctive dimensions of national culture. His work is most cited cross-cultural research and remains the benchmark for multi-national investigations. • Helmreich and Merritt (1980s) developed new measures of culture that incorporated Hofstede’s survey on 8000 pilots in 26 countries

23. Hofstede’s Dimensions • Five dimensions (Transportation Science:08/2010): • Power Distance • Individualism-Collectivism • Masculinity/femininity • Long-term versus short-term orientation • Uncertainty AvoidanceRules and Order (Helmreich:2000)

24. Power Distance • Degree of equality or inequality between people of different power or status in a given culture • Power distance the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations expect and accept that power is distributed unequally (Hormann: 2001), (Helmreich &Merritt:1996)

25. Power Distance (PD) High Power Distance Considerable dependence on superiors; and subordinates are unlikely to approach Or question their superior directly (i.e., Asian) Low Power Distance Less dependent on high ranking colleagues Focus on the self, autonomy and personal gain (i.e., Western)

26. High Power distance • Autocratic (ie., Asian) Low Power distance • Consultative • Democratic (i.e., Western) Power distance Leadership style

27. Power distance • Reflected in the way information is shared, including the willingness of co-pilots to speak up with critical information. • Those from high Power Distance (PD) cultures are more accepting of a directive or autocratic leadership style, sees the captain as “The Ultimate Boss” (Helmreich:2000) • High power distance cultures…junior crewmembers are reluctant to question the decisions of captains (Air Transport World: 11/2000) • Low PD individuals prefer a more consultative style and view themselves as a team with the captain, really as “co-pilot” • High PD pilots also accept automation with little questioning (Air Transport World: 11/2000) • Pilots from low PD cultures tend to question their superiors and show a greater willingness to disengage the use of automation (Air Transport World: 11/2000)

28. “The data revealed that local captains do not like to ask the opinion of a crewmember before making a decision, because the captain had the power to make decisions and the first officer did not need to know or even speak up, especially in case of an emergency. Keeping the power obsure and inscrutable is the traditional Chinese way of exercising power.” (Jing et.al:2002)

29. Automation & High PD • The computer may be anthropomorphized in some cultures as a high-status electronic crewmember not to be questioned, a strategy which is clearly inappropriate in many situations • High PD oblige to automation • They also accept automation with little questioning (Air Transport World: Nov. 2000) • Interestingly this was most prevalent in cultures with a strong tradition of autocratic hierarchal relationships in the working environment (Air Transport World: March 2004)

30. In addition to English proficiency, some Asian airlines need to “address the hierarchical culture in the cockpit, where no one questions the pilot even if he’s making a mistake” (Manager of FAA Asia-Pacific flight standards office in Singapore)(Wall Street Journal:April1999)

31. Uncertainty Avoidance/Rules and Order • The extent to which members of a culture tend to feel threatened by uncertain or ambiguous situations • Degree of tolerance for uncertainty or ambiguity • There must be specific rules to follow

32. Low UA Has a greater degree of tolerance for uncertainty or ambiguity Lower concern for rules and Adherence to procedures (i.e., Western) Uncertainty Avoidance (UA) / Rules and Order High UA Rules should not be Broken, written procedures are needed for all situations; strict time limits are to be observed absolutely Reluctance to accept changes to rules (i.e., Asian)

33. Uncertainty Avoidance / Rules and Order • Cultures like the US are also high in this value, but operational behavior is flexible and weaker in adherence to SOPs (Air Transport World: 11/2000) • “checklists are for the lame and weak” as noted by a researcher of Low UA American pilots (Merritt: 2000) • Pilots in cultures that do not value adherence to SOPs highly may be more creative in dealing with novel situations not covered by procedures. In contrast, pilots with a strong belief in strict adherence to rules may have more difficulty in dealing with unforeseen emergencies. (Helmreich: 2000) • High UA cockpit, one follows orders and concentrates on the flight plan as set, without deviating. One does not ask questions, nor does one want questions encouraged that could raise uncertainties … the problem is simply not acknowledged or allowed to exist (Merritt2000, p295)

34. “They memorize everything” • “Cookbook flying” as one pilot put it • “inflexibility and inability to deviate from the SOPs when necessary.” • “everything will be okay as long as everyone follows the SOPs” (Merritt: 2000), (Carley & Pasztor: 1999)

35. Individualism-Collectivism • Refers to the relation between the individual and the group • The extent to which the individual’s behavior is defined and influenced by others (Hormann: 2001), (Helmreich & Merritt:1996)

36. Individualism Collectivism Individualism-Collectivism Group membership is most important; Strong cohesive groups take precedence over individual goals Open conflicts avoided, harmony is most important (i.e., Asian) Personal choices and achievements are favoured over continuing membership to a specific group Tend to express personal opinions and ideas (i.e., Western)

37. Individualism • Individualists consider the implication of their behavior as defined by personal costs and benefits, and they value independence and self-sufficiency, preferring individual achievement and recognition to group rewards • Individualists see self-reliance as a strength, whereas seeking help, weaknesses, and mistakes are devalued by personal standards(Air Transport World: Nov. 2000)

38. “In the cockpit, friction and intimidation can cause trouble. In Western jets, entering just one wrong digit in a flight-management system or a navigation computer can lead to a crash. So the jets are designed for close teamwork, with one pilot continually checking and confirming actions of the other—and expected to challenge the other if he seems to be making any mistakes.”(Wall Street Journal: July 7 1999)

39. Collectivism • Collectivists consider the implications of their behavior in a wider framework of concern for other, particularly members of their in-group • They conform obey, and are unquestioningly loyal to their in-group to maintain in-group harmony and the social order • There is a motivating sense of shame not to disgrace the other group members with one’s weakness or failure. (Helmreich & Merritt:1996)

40. “obey or else” (Wall Street Journal: July 7 1999) • “Co-pilots couldn’t express themselves if they found something wrong with a captain’s piloting skills” (Wall Street Journal: July 7 1999)

41. Collectivism linked to Confucianism • Sustaining Face and relational-quality, minimizing imposition, giving approval, avoiding or causing dislike or devaluation of the other • High concern for others, maintaining harmony (Brew et al.: 2011)

42. Loss of face • Do not challenge or question the captain • Never shame the captain • Hide the weakness of the captain • Preserve the face of the captain

43. For a co-pilot to challenge a captain “would mean loss of face for the captain”… “it’s more honorable to die, and sometimes they do” (Carley & Pasztor: July 1999)

44. “Even after altitude alarms sounded in their cockpit, the co-pilot and flight engineer on the doomed [Korean Air] flight to Guam didn’t insist the pilot abort his landing until just six seconds before impact(Arnold: April1999)

45. Pilot (professional) culture? East West Power distance Individualism/Collectivism Uncertainty avoidance

46. “Hackman claims that it is useless to attempt to train all pilots toward a specific behaviour pattern. Under the influence of excessive stress, each person will fall back into the behavior patterns they acquired early in life and will no longer be capable of displaying the behavior pattern recommended during the theoretical instruction” (Hans-Ulrich Raulf: flight deck, p.89) • “Under very stressful and high-crisis situations, reactions tend to be direct by elements of national culture rather than by logic or training (Air Transport World: 11/2000) • “You’re fighting thousands of years of custom, culture and language” (Wall Street Journal: July 1999)

47. One size fits all • “Aviation training programs are exported by airlines and training organizations to other carriers, the outcome in many instances was a disconnect with the national and organizational cultures of the importing companies” (Air Transport World:11/2000) • One can not export a package (CRM, Operations Manual, etc.) designed from contradictingcultural aspects and expect it to be applied in all cultures in the same manner successfully

48. “training that presents a basic requirement for first officers to be more assertive with their captains may be met with incredulity by members of cultures that do not endorse such direct or egalitarian communication” (Lima: 2000)

49. Training • Because cultural values are so deeply ingrained, it is unlikely that a generic training program can modify them. The challenge is to develop organizational initiatives that are congruent with the culture. (Helmreich: 2000)

50. Asian fit? • A Western trainer, carrying a Westernized package of training methods and material into an Asian group would in a great degree will have problems because of the assumption is that there would be an extreme divergence in cultural awareness. (Air Transport World: 03/2004)