The challenge of system change in aviation: The Masca project

Within the aviation industry the need for sustainable change is becoming more and more imperative. Change is in fact something being imposed on the industry from a number of sources (e.g., uRegulations, increasing commercial pressure and the introduction of new technologies) and the need for change management skills and capability within organisations is required in order to meet these challenges. The paper presents the initial conceptual framework for the change management approach to be followed within a research project called MASCA (managing system change in aviation) and a set of change initiatives emerged from the initial field work. This is an FP7 collaborative project funded by the European Union with the objectives to deliver a structure to manage the acquisition and retention of skills and knowledge, through training on organisational processes for managing change. MASCA takes an action research approach with a primary focus on the transfer of change management capability into the organisations that are responsible for the change initiatives; especially in the area of performance management in safety.