Emirates elevates cabin crew safety with virtual training platform Mira

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MIRA's training meets the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and other regulatory standards, reinforcing Emirates’ commitment to rigorous safety and training standards for its growing team and millions of travellers.

Photorealistic, hyper-realistic training environments

The platform features photorealistic, high-fidelity, fully modelled cabin interiors of the Airbus A380, Boeing 777, and Airbus A350 aircraft, plus emergency slides, tarmac, airbridges, and different views of water and land. It will be supported with hyper-realistic audio and images.

Multi-player scenarios with avatars playing the part of backup crew members will ensure that standard operating procedures are accurately replicated.

Emirates is rolling out SEP training modules on its virtual platform Mira, starting with critical components in onboard safety: aircraft door operations and fire-fighting. While the airline’s cabin crew are celebrated for their high service standards, their primary role is ensuring passenger safety. MIRA’s SEP training is designed to complement existing training methods, reinforcing essential skills for Emirates' crew.

Arming and disarming heavy aircraft doors require hands-on skills and experience. If opened incorrectly, the emergency slide could inflate, potentially causing damage to aircraft and airbridges, or lead to injuries. This is why cabin crew are required to complete annual recurrent SEP training.

Soon, Emirates cabin crew will be practising door drills virtually to demonstrate and be assessed for their competency in normal and emergency door operations, and standard operating procedures.

Firefighting skills are also key in the cabin crew competency arsenal. MIRA will feature a host of scenarios for fires in ovens, overhead lockers and toilets. The cabin crew will demonstrate their skills using a fully modelled fire extinguisher with visual and audio effects of smoke and flames as well as extinguishing agents.

Scalable training for Emirates' future growth

Captain Bader Al Marzooqi, senior vice president, Flight Training says: “At Emirates, we are priming our crew for the airline’s next era of growth and expansion by integrating the latest innovations with our leadership, best practices and excellence in training.

"With our ambitious growth roadmap – 315 aircraft on order and 30,000 cabin crew numbers by 2030 – effective and efficient SEP training is an absolute must. With MIRA, we can now quickly and significantly scale up our crew training to meet business demands. This is a bold, brave and strategic move which has shaped our training ethos for the future."

Emirates’ recurrent SEP training on Mira is designed to unlock benefits for its crew, training team, and customer experience. The airline will be building on its existing platform, optimising creative assets and extending it for a more holistic, end-to-end employee training experience.

The 3D modules with virtual reality headsets can be run in three different modes: Teach, Practice and Assessment. Around 8-10 cabin crew can be trained and assessed in their own VR space on the same scenario simultaneously. Trainers and facilitators can rely on a range of metrics to fine-tune training programmes.

A 2D version, which can be accessed on all mobile devices, laptops, and desktops, means cabin crew will no longer need to travel to training venues with restrictive schedules. They can practise and refresh their knowledge anytime, anywhere – whether relaxing at home, down route or even while travelling to work. Not having to build and maintain even more facilities, interiors, and equipment will lead to significant savings – both ecological and in cost.

Building confidence with safe, realistic simulations

The training team can recreate complex or dangerous situations of any intensity in a safe environment. This will ensure crew can practise worst-case scenarios and make mistakes till they’re fully competent and confident in dealing with emergencies onboard.

Training on MIRA can also help calm the nerves of new cabin crew as it can be done repeatedly, reinforcing their knowledge and understanding engagingly.