Training is critical for the trades. As specialty contractors, it seems few have the appreciation for well-trained workers and crews that we do. Without skilled workers, both productivity and quality drops, and it can drop dramatically. However, it’s not just about having trained crews. It’s also about cultivating the type of culture that ensures everyone succeeds. This is more far-reaching than we may first want to believe. Yet, having trained, good workers is almost pointless without a culture that verifies the job gets done.
The tragedy of Continental Express Flight 2574 is an excellent example of a cultural failure—even when well-trained people are in place. This little-known flight is credited by airline experts as the flight that changed safety in aviation forever. Not for a failure in training, or mechanical issues, or pilot error, but because of a problematic culture. It was the culture of the entire industry, and in particular that of Continental Airlines, that caused this fatal maintenance issue. This doomed flight was just a local short commuter flight in 1991 from Laredo, Texas to Houston. Fourteen people unfortunately lost their lives as the plane crashed on its approach to landing in Houston.