On February 6th 2020, Lektor got a much anticipated contact from Finland’s national aviation regulator, Traficom. Their message included a scanned copy of a Training Organisation (TO) Certificate we had applied for in September the previous year. The certificate allows Lektor to train practical instructors and assessors for a professional endorsement.

Being approved as a TO is quite a big deal for a small company such as Lektor. The process of acquiring the certificate included creating an organisational management system with a manual describing what we do, where we do it, how we do it, with what equipment we do it, how we manage safety and changes, how we ensure we will not lose our capability do it etc. All with their necessary documentation of course. Then we needed to have the training plans for On the Job Training instructor, Synthetic Training Device Instructor and Competence Assessor courses. And respective refresher courses as well.

In December 2019, the documentation was already on a level which allowed for the regulator to book an on-site audit with us. The date was agreed to late January when the auditors arrived to check Lektor’s premises, equipment and to ask for some questions. With just a few details to clarify on our manuals, the audit was a success. Soon we got confirmation that the training plans were also acceptable, so the only thing left was the writing and signing of the actual certificate. And that is what happened on the 6th of Feb.

The regulator wanted to mail the paperwork to us (not email, but actual mail), but we were way too anxious to wait for that. We wanted to get the document in our hand an on our wall as soon as possible. So we put our coats and hats on and made our way to Traficom’s office to receive the envelope personally.

We are very proud of this accomplishment. Lektor is only the second organisation in Finland to receive this certificate, which makes us the first company ever to knock on the dominance on field of ANS training.

I am particularly thankful for Lektor's staff, who made this possible through black-belt professionalism and a strong vision of what is needed and how to organise the different pieces together.

Now it is time to move on to next steps. Keep following us for future developments.