Transavia

The challenge

Every year, Transavia cabin crew must meet mandatory safety and security assessment requirements under European aviation legislation. The existing approach relied on intensive classroom training scheduled around annual exams, an approach that worked at a single point in time but struggled to keep crew genuinely competent in the months that followed.

Crew members would cram before the exam, reach a temporary knowledge peak, and then quickly lose most of what they had learned as the forgetting curve took hold. The pressure created real stress among a diverse cabin crew, all of whom need to perform reliably in the aircraft, not only on exam day.

For a workforce that spends most of their working life in the air, access to training is a constant logistical challenge. Flexible, on-demand learning was not a nice-to-have. It was a prerequisite.

A no-stress approach to year-round competence

Transavia partnered with Drillster to replace the theoretical training model with adaptive microlearning, building drill modules in close collaboration with their own subject-matter experts. Instead of blocks of classroom content, crew members now work with small, focused knowledge chunks that Drillster's AI-powered algorithm continuously adapts to each person's current level.

The algorithm tracks individual knowledge decay rates and sends notifications when a specific topic needs refreshing, before a gap becomes a problem. Content is available on any device, at any time.

You can use Drillster stand-alone, whenever and wherever you want. This is a big advantage for our crews, who are always traveling.

Michael Piat, Cabin Crew Training Manager, Transavia France

That flexibility matters for a population that is rarely in the same place for long. Whether during a layover, between rotations, or at home, crew members can keep their knowledge and competences current at their own pace and on their own schedule.

Making the transition work

Introducing a new learning method to an established workforce requires more than a technology deployment. Transavia and Drillster ran a joint change management process, including on-site demonstrations, live technical support, and internal communication that explained the reasoning behind the shift.

The result was quick adoption. Crew members understood that the new approach was designed to reduce pressure, not add to it. Instead of a single high-stakes study period before an annual exam, they now build and maintain competence continuously throughout the year.

Managers gained a clearer picture too. Drillster's dashboard gives training teams visibility into where knowledge gaps exist across the crew, enabling targeted intervention rather than blanket retraining. Protocol and rule updates can be pushed out through the year as they happen, without waiting for the next classroom cycle.

Six years of continuous improvement

The partnership between Transavia and Drillster spans more than six years, with formal evaluations held at least twice annually to review outcomes, adjust content, and align on new feature development. That longevity reflects something beyond a successful implementation: it reflects a shared commitment to keeping cabin crew genuinely prepared, not just compliant.

The outcomes have been consistent:

• Reduced temporary knowledge peaks: competence levels remain more stable across the year, rather than spiking only around exam windows

• Less exam stress: crew members arrive at assessments better prepared and with more confidence

• Continuous knowledge retention: the forgetting curve is actively countered through adaptive repetition

• Management visibility: dashboard insights allow training teams to identify and address knowledge gaps proactively

• Year-round protocol updates: new rules and procedures are distributed and learned continuously

• Healthy team competition: visibility into individual progress creates a positive competitive dynamic among staff

• Improved exam results: ongoing preparation translates to stronger assessment performance

Transavia is part of the Air France KLM Group, where Drillster's presence now spans multiple airlines. Each finds that adaptive microlearning solves the same underlying problem: keeping a distributed, traveling workforce genuinely competent year-round, not just on the day they are tested.