Blended Learning

For some projects, the scope is simply too large or complex to rely on a single method of delivery. WestJet's Deicing Program falls into this category.

Aircraft deicing is strictly regulated by Transport Canada's Canadian Aviation Regulations, and TC requires annual program revisions and agent requalification and recertification. Agents are considered qualified after successfully completing the classroom portion of the training. Then they must complete practical on-the-job assessments before they become certified to deice WestJet aircraft.

Every August before the deicing season starts, contracted deicing trainers from across the entire system come to Calgary for WestJet's annual Deicing Conference. Here they must complete three full days of classroom instruction and successfully pass a series of examinations with a minimum grade of 85% on each. On the fourth day, they must complete practical assessments on driving the deicing vehicle and simulating spraying aircraft with water around actual aircraft.

This course comprises nearly 70 manuals, documents, and assessments, more than 30 videos., and an eLearning component. Only a portion of these is represented here.

WestJet's Deicing Program is widely recognized by industry experts as one of the finest and most comprehensive deicing training courses in the world.

Pre-Session eLearning

Attendees of the annual train-the-trainer conference must first complete the Pre-Session eLearning course, which takes most participants roughly 1½ hours.

It covers a range of topics including flight theory, common acronyms and terms, types of contamination (ice and snow), deicing vehicles and fluids, as well as aircraft familiarization.

Password: Training1

Answer Key.pdf

Classroom Training

The classroom training is intensive and taxing for the participants and trainers alike. In order to keep engagement and interactivity at a high level, the training is interspersed with videos, games, and activities, which are spelled out for the trainer in the Facilitator Guide.

In addition to the Facilitator Guide, the trainer has a slide deck and an Instructor Reference Guide, which gives them a bird's eye view of the course in its entirety and outlines all of the requirements they are responsible for administering.

Each participant receives a reference guide to keep, a workbook that must be completed and corrected to 100%. The workbook and all exams are kept in each participant's employee file and must be available for Transport Canada inspectors.

Course Videos

The videos for the course include both video footage and animations. These are cross-referenced in the instructor guide and the slide deck. There are clickable links in the deck that take the viewer to Vimeo where the videos are hosted. Here's sample of some the course videos.

Q400 Alternating Engines

Deicing a propeller-driven aircraft with the engines running can be a dangerous undertaking, but it can also save a lot of time, and every second counts in the airline business. This video shows how the deicing crew can get the job done while safely avoiding the spinning propellers.

I scripted and voiced this animated video and worked with Creative Services and SMEs to ensure that the process and details were correct. There's no margin for error with safety.

What's LOUT All About?

This fun, campy animation breaks a complex topic involving chemistry down into in a way that the deicing audience can more easily understand.

It also gave me a measure of celebrity status in deicing circles. It was common for agents to greet me with, "Hey, what's LOUT all about?!" While this was amusing, it was also valuable: it gave me credibility with a sometimes cliquey group and allowed me to form relationships with

these agents. In turn, this allowed me to leverage their feedback (often unsolicited) to continuously improve the Deicing Program.

Additional credit: Stephen Selinger

Fluid Flowing off a Wing

As an instructional designer, I always keep my eyes open for ways to make a good program better.

I took this video from my window seat with my phone as I was taking off for vacation since it perfectly depicts an important process in deicing. This video is important since this process can be difficult for learners to visualize.

This type of fluid is sprayed onto the wings

and tail of the aircraft when it is actively snowing outside. The fluid is designed to flow, or "shear" off of the wing as the aircraft accelerates for takeoff, taking any fresh contamination with it.

This fluid is environmentally safe, so don't be alarmed by the unnatural colour. It's dyed bright green so that the agent spraying it can easily discern where and how much they have applied.

The materials on this page are copyrighted and proprietary to WestJet Airlines. Used here with permission.