'Model Code of Conduct' update released

The permanent editorial board of the Aviators Model Code of Conduct released its first major update to its flagship product April 6.

The Aviators Model Code of Conduct “offers recommendations to advance flight safety, airmanship, and professionalism.” Version 2.0, the latest update in a suite of products that includes model codes for aviation maintenance technicians, flight instructors, glider aviators, light sport aviators, seaplane pilots, and student pilots, includes a new emphasis on professionalism, enhanced focus on safety culture, and an emphasis on flight training and simulation devices, according to Michael Baum, a member of the board.

The Aviators Model Code of Conduct “promotes flight and ground safety, professionalism, and pilot contributions to the aviation community and society at large; encourages the development and adoption of good judgment, ethical behavior, and personal responsibility; and supports improved communications between pilots, regulators, and others in the aviation industry,” according to a news release. The all-volunteer effort offers models of behavior that it encourages members of the aviation community to adapt to their specific needs.

Baum said this version reflects the board’s recent experience developing codes for aviation maintenance technicians and flight instructors—two professional groups. Recognizing that all pilots could benefit from aspiring to professionalism, whether or not they make money, he said, the board brought forward “notions and paradigms of professionalism” into the new code. It is designed to be equally fitted to pilots who fly recreationally and career pilots. A typical new version of a code is vetted externally by an average of more than 30 experts, Baum said.

Among the changes in Version 2.0, he said, are rewrites to improve clarity and conciseness, adoption of crew resource management and single-pilot resource management concepts, and inclusion of technologies such as simulators to enhance flight safety. The board also made an effort to better harmonize the text internationally, he said; the code is offered in Chinese, Danish, French, German, Hebrew, Portuguese, Spanish, and now Japanese.