Category: Transitions

It is frequently debated that we are on the cusp of a worldwide pilot shortage and this one might even be worse than what was experienced by the airlines back in the 1960s. One only has to look at manufacturers’ order books and retirement schedules to see that if a pilot is willing to move…

Hamilton is the capitol of Bermuda, a British colony made up of 300 coral rocks, islets, and islands in the North Atlantic. It lies roughly 675 nmi east-southeast of Wilmington, N.C. It’s also home to the low profile and internationally convenient aircraft registration recognized by the three-letter prefix VR-B (Victor Romeo Bravo), followed by two…

The 41st Paris Air Show flight director, Claude Martin, is in his fifth year bearing the responsibility for Presentations en Vol – flight operations safety. He ensures that all flights are conducted in accordance with safety rules specifically developed for this show.  In view of his “day job” as a test pilot for the French Flight Test…

The Airbus A340, with its fly-by-wire controls commanded through a sidestick, is arguably the most highly automated airplane flying today. Its introduction has presented pilots with an entirely new realm of aviation. Airbus Captain P. Chandler wrote as part of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s discussions on the Future Flight Deck, “As a result of the…

What’s a flight department worth? If you’re a responsible aviation manager, EVA (Economic Value Added) is another acronym you’ll be learning. EVA and ABC (Activity Based Costing) have both been around for eight to 10 years. ABC has not caused much excitement since its exposure has been primarily in accounting journals, which are not exactly…

Turning pilots into managers: Pilots who learn to manage grow with parent firms Capt. W. Patrick Gordon, M.Sc. April 1990 Professional Pilot Magazine. If you’ve been in corporate aviation any length of time you probably met that strange hybrid, the pilot-manager. You may have even worked for him and wondered how on earth he ever got…