My future plans in Aviation and elsewhere...

Not only in this course that I've learned the experiences of other aviation professionals but have learned what to expect and how to acheive the career goals I want in aviation.  It has been a long journey for a promising future and that I'm nearly done with earning my Bachelors Degree in Aviation Management and is ready to step foot into the professional world and gradually become successful.

As for me, my career plans still remains the same.  However, I still plan on going back for my Masters in Supply Chain Management in which I have a joy in working in the logistics environment as well.  Aviation will always be my number one career goal and to hopefully have luck finding a job within just a few months after graduation as an operations manager for any department or organization within the aviation industry.  I will always keep on the look out on certain aviation associations websites for posted job opportunities and try to take advantaged of its vacancy. Aviation will always intrigued me because it is one of the few industries that is always changing and evolving, and professionals that strive for a long term career must be able to adapt and change with the environment.

I'm glad to say that I enjoyed all the guest speakers.  They were very informative on the challenges they've encountered and describing to us what to expect in the future of aviation.  However, the most interesting speaker to me, was Aubrey Grohowski who pursued her career in corporate aviation.  Although, she's a flight major, I was very intrigued on her struggles and challenges she faced to get where she's at now; enjoying the traveling life and what she do.  She makes a great example for students; that making sacrifices truly pays off at the end if you stick with what you want to achieve.  I want to also say that Mark Johnson, an Airport Manager, was quite interesting as well because he trully showed how he became successful in forming a airport (Livingston County Airport) together and in which I'm looking foward to do as well one day in the future.  As he was showing the steps he performed to do such a task, I can remember the same steps I've been taught in Adamski's Flight Operations course last semester at EMU.  

As for blogging with other students, throughout this long semster; from beginning-to-end, I felt as though I was a Google blogger fanatic researching interesting topics and posting them for other students and even other professionals to comment their opinions on. The best topic to research and explain upon on was Boeing vs. Airbus.  I always like competition and to see these two major companies modify their jets for efficiency in every aspect for the passengers, flight crew and the aircraft designs is quite interesting. The technology use to get the work done is what draws my attention.  The least interesting topic was the EU-ETS.  In my opinion, it won't have a too much of an effect for me as a operations manager and that I could careless about European policy to combate climate change.  Sad to say that this would be the 1st time I've ever blogged with other individuals such as students and other interested professionals in aviation. Nevertheless, this was a learning experience for me alone and other students who has never blogged. 

After graduation, as mentioned before, I'm hoping to get hired in a entry-level position that offers growth opportunities and allows me to utilize my leadership skills and experience in the aviation industry. Also, I will be attending many seminars, activities (volunteer work) and events given by associations/organizations year round for better in depth experience.

Overall, this course has kept me aware in many regards. Many of the topics we talked about are things that we will be engaged the moment we step foot into our new jobs. Each topic had a realistic impact to our class and each one of our individual careers.  If anyone out there who is aware of any job opportunities, please comment on my blog. 

I want to wish everyone the best of luck in your future endeavors!!

Thanks for reading
Ryan Pride

Inquired career paths in such organizations

Once all said and done, I will definitely consider or telling myself a job well done and that you are on your way sir! Through all required training/courses for gaining knowledge in the aviation industry, I have learned the professionalism, safety, management, some flight technology and the skills to maximize profit for any organization or should I say association I choose to work for.  There are few associations that I am willing to start my career and put my knowledge into use.  As a senior and upcoming graduation, I’ve been wondering what’s out there in store for me in the industry.  Who or what professionals am I go run into and meet?  What is the best financially stabled company to work for?  With these thoughts in my head, I want to make sure that everything is nearly perfect once I step foot into the aviation world.  

First, let’s talk about the upmost proper approach used entering into the aviation industry.  In the aviation world, professionalism is top priority.  Professionalism is acting in a mature, business-like manner, abiding by regulations and company procedures, creating a good line of communication of flight or management related information between flight crew members, employees and customers, and treating co-workers and customers respectfully. Professionalism also includes doing nothing that you believe may degrade safety.  As Dave Higdon stated in his article, " “Professionalism is a mindset, a state of mind, a commitment to being the best… anything less is unacceptable,” in which I totally agree.  Either you are a Flight or Management major,  “knowledge” is also fundamental as another pillar in the foundation of professionalism, and while training is important, exposure to the real world is imperative to the accumulation of knowledge. Similarly, “courage” is required in order to accept the responsibility of flying; courage to respect the challenge of an unforgiving environment, and the courage to recognize that mistakes will happen. Conversely, it’s not courageous to be stupid (Higdon, 2009).  Let’s not forget to professionalize your resumes as well.

I’ve always kept an eye on what available job positions are open in the field of aviation and most likely those in operations.  However, doing that on career sites doesn’t always help.  I realize that joining and becoming a member for certain associations can be quite helpful on finding your dream job or at least help get you started in aviation.  Click here for a list of some of the most common used associations for benefits, subscriptions, job postings, networking, information etc in the aviation industry.  For example, AAAE (American Association of Airport Executives) is one association that provides a variety of information for your needs and request.  AAAE is the world's largest professional organization for airport executives, representing thousands of airport management personnel at public-use commercial and general aviation airports (AAAE, 2013).  Additionally, it post available job openings in the industry in which I'm always browsing through.  I've utilized this site because it provides me the information I'm looking for such as job postings, events, updates on different airports in America and else where, workshops, seminars and informative magazine subscriptions about the aviation industry.  I can probably say that it will help find me a job in Aviation Management.  The website has totally grab my interest when I first started the aviation program at Eastern Michigan University 2010.  When time permits, I will travel and start participating in their events and seminars they have throughout each year. 

My second interested organization that I utilize but not yet a memeber is the NBAA (National Business Aviation Association). The NBAA is the leading organization for companies that rely on general aviation aircraft to help make their businesses more efficient, productive and successful.   By me having the background knowledge in business administration, this website provides me information on how to maximize profit for aviation organizations, help aviation do successful business and how to be a pro at it.  Each associate here works together and shows the success they bring by doing fundraisers for certain aircrafts, advertising, aviation safety; another top priority in aviation, operation controls for certain PART's (125, 135),  and so on.  The website also provides you a member benefit NBAA management guide on how to do business aviation management.  An addition to the website, the NBAA post many available national and international management jobs in which is great for me because that's what I'm searching for as my career path in aviation.

In all, I am certain that I will be able to find that dream job I want to pursue in aviation by constantly utilizing these 2 organizations website and hopefully soon participate in their yearly events/activities.  You never know who you may run into down the road and that whoever it is maybe able to help or make you become successful.  Take my word for it, take advantage of an association that you think can benefit you because it will help you in the long run.

Thanks for reading,

 
Sources:

AAAE. (2013). Membership benefits. Retrieved April 8, 2013, from, http://aaae.org/membersh ip/membership_benefits/

Higdon, D.  (2013, March).  Safety Matters: Professionalism.  Retrieved from: http://www.avbuyer.com/articles/detail.asp?Id=1414

NBAA.  (2013).  Membership benefits.  Retreived from:  http://www.nbaa.org/membership/benefits/

 

Aviation Business Models; small fortunes...

There was a time when I thought about owning my own domestic airline but the amount of funds required is quite overwhelming.  In order to become successful in the aviation business industry, you will have to 1^st start off with a large fortune to make a small fortune; which is a phrase commonly used in aviation.  Understanding what it takes to lead an airline to success is very important if you’re planning on succeeding and that it will take a great deal of funds to get it started no matter where or how you start.  Most likely, you will have to perform a written out out business plan.  Unlike successful businesses in aviation, there were some that did not succeed and had to take drastic measures.  Customers are the individuals who keep an airline in business; steady airfares.

Knowing with the big carriers cutting routes and raising fares, this would seem an ideal time for a new airline to take them on with cut-rate prices and service to smaller airports eager for more flights. That is the path, after all, taken by two of the industry’s success stories such as Southwest Airlines, back in 1971, and JetBlue Airways, in 2000.  But getting an airline off the ground has become a lot more treacherous. High oil prices these days mean carriers must fly full planes to turn a profit, and smaller airports just do not provide enough passenger traffic. At the same time, the major domestic carriers are more entrenched than ever in their own hub airports, making it harder for a new entrant to wrangle gates there. With that being said, investors have become more cautious about lending to just any airline project.  With the economy picking up in 2011, the top domestic airlines reported profits of $1.5 billion with revenue of $192 billion; a measly margin of 0.8 percent. Still, their combined market value is smaller than that of Starbucks (Mouawad, 2012). .  Fuel has become one of the biggest barriers to entry into the business, accounting for 35 to 50 percent of costs as prices almost tripled in 10 years.

Airfares; how much it costs to get to your flying destination and what it really pays for? Keep in mind that fuel now is by far the biggest cost for airlines greater than even airline salaries. For example, on a 100-passenger US Airways flight, the tickets and fees of 29 people pay just for the fuel to make the trip. Salaries are the second-highest cost, with 20 passengers covering personnel paychecks. The industry spent more than 34% of its revenue on fuel, it takes the fares of more than one-third of passengers on a flight, on average, to pay for the gas (McCartney, 2012). Airline gas mileage has improved over the years, the result of filling more seats on each flight, replacing multiple trips on small planes with fewer trips on larger aircraft and replacing older planes with newer, more fuel-efficient jets (2012, Russel). After fuel and salaries come ownership costs, planes are being bought or leased. That includes the cost of spare engines and insuring planes in case of accidents. Its hard to believe but that's pretty much sums up the where airfares go towards keeping an airline business flowing along with other sources of income. 
      

Mergers have also created a handful of major carriers that control powerful hub airports in large cities, making it generally tougher for a new airline to break in. According to Mouawad article, The most successful smaller airlines: Spirit Airlines, Allegiant Air, Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines in which were all carved out specific markets in past decades that allowed them to thrive without competing head-to-head with their larger rivals.  In other words, these airlines had somewhat a piece of mind in aviation business and that creating a another small low-carrier airline wouldn't be that much complicated unless competing against major domestic airlines.

 

Starting a successful airline business can be quite overwelming but it can be done.  However, by the economy still underneath financially, it may take longer or be difficult to turn a profit in the industry.   But, I will say that for any airline, I think that customers (passengers) should be the main focus.  They're the ones whole keeps airlines up and running. 

 

 

 

Sources:
 

McCartney, S.  (2012, June).  How airlines spend your airfare.  Retrieved from:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303296604577450581396602106.html

Mouawad, J. (2012, May). The challenge of starting an airline. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/26/business/start-up-airlines-face-big-obstacles.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Russel, M. (2012, July). Where does your airfare go? Retrieved from: http://www.newser.com/story/147687/where-does-your-airfare-go.html
 

Stahler, P.  (2012, May).  The strangle business models of airlines. Retrieved from:  http://blog.business-model-innovation.com/2012/05/strange_business_models_of_airlines/
 

 

BOEING vs. AIRBUS

Whose plane is better?  For quite some time now, Boeing and Airbus have been providing the best flying jets for transporting passengers around the globe.  Both companies are one of the corporate world's greatest and most visible corporate rivalries, a set-to between manufacturers of world-class aircraft.  Since these two companies have dominant control over the aviation market, competition has been surely intense since the 1990s and that Airbus and Boeing will continue on with competing with building better efficient jets in every aspect. 
 
With Boeing and Airbus, duopoly will always remain in constant competition with their different builds of aircrafts.  The competition can be seen at any major airport on any given day: Boeing 747 jets take off while an A380 taxis in a few hundred yards away, or an easy Jet-owned A320 comes into land while one of Boeing 737s rapidly unloads its passengers in preparation for yet another return flight (Milmo, 2012).    The Boeing 737 is the U.S. company's most popular aircraft and competes with the Airbus A320 in the largest segment of the aircraft market, estimated at $2 trillion over 20 years (2012, Reuters).   However, not only these 4 jets have competition, but others as well.  Boeing 787 is the first commercial jet to use the lightweight but powerful batteries, which discharge a large amount of energy to support an increasing array of electrical equipment on modern aircraft but must be shielded from the risk of overcharging.  Airbus executives defended the use of lithium-ion batteries on the company's A350 passenger jet which is currently in development, saying its rival to the Dreamliner is designed differently.  The 787 relies on electrical power rather than traditional hydraulic and pneumatic systems for a larger number of aircraft systems.  Airbus are developing and releasing 3 models of their new A350 XWB in which is to be fuel efficient, light-weight designed and will also replace its own jets; A330-300, A320-200 and A340-600.  These new developments will take on Boeings 777 and 787 production line (2013, Terdiman).

Unlike Boeing, Airbus has its operating automated systems to fly its aircrafts using fly-by-wire technology through a side-stick controller; referencing a joystick.  Most likely, Airbus jets fly on its own and automatically knows what is needed for safety purposes.  Boeing will always have its manual operated systems but also with advanced technology to support them.  Pilots who fly Boeing jets will at least have the option to control the aircraft manually if needed.

With Airbus and Boeing manufacturing nearly all aircrafts for current merged airlines, they're both build for safety flying which is top priority.  Its hard to tell which aircraft is better built due to their technology incorporate into the systems each aircraft have for pilots and passengers.  In all, market wise, I think both companies has the opportunity advance further in the future with building different jets for certain purposes for each country, always compete-no matter what other company may come in to try compete against them and will always please the aviation industry for the air traveling public. 
 
Sources:

Airbus.  (2013).  Retrieved from:  http://www.airbus.com/innovation/proven-concepts/in-operations/fly-by-wire/

CNN.com (2013).  Boeing 747-8 vs. Airbus A390-- the airline giants face off.  Retrieved from:  http://travel.cnn.com/explorations/life/boeing-747-8-and-airbus-a380-death-match-152563

Milmo, D. (2012, July 7).  Boeing hard on the tail of Airbus in race for orders.  Retrieved from:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jul/08/boeing-hard-tail-airbus

Terdiman, D.  (2013, March 20).  It's airbus a350 vs. boeing's dreamliner in the war of wide-bodies.  Retrieved from:  http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-57575248-235/its-airbus-a350-vs-boeings-dreamliner-in-the-war-of-the-wide-bodies/ 

Sequestration for better or worse...

Sequestration will soon be a plan if not done so already for numerous of agencies and departments within the U.S. for budget and debt issues through Congress.  With United States fiscal cliff, sequestration is a good place to start in cutting federal budget.  However, it will cause many furloughs in certain industries.  With that being said, the aviation industry will most likely be the 1st to get severely sequestered. 

According to a USA Governemnt article, sequestration, sometimes called the sequester, is a process that automatically cuts the federal budget across most departments and agencies.  Congress included the threat of sequestration in the Budget Control Act of 2011 as a way to encourage compromise on deficit reduction efforts.  "The President and Congress have had a year and a half to come up with a smarter way to reduce spending, and they have failed" (Widom, 2013).  With no solution in sight after March 1st 2013, the U.S. is now stuck with sequestration, which is likely to result in $85 billion in cuts over the next year alone, with reductions being split equally between defense and domestic spending (USA.gov, 2013).  In my opinion, I think that sequestration should have taken place years ago so that we would not be in so much debt crisis in today’s society.  As Charles Spence stated in his article, “FAA spending over the past few years has shown several areas where belts could be tightened to prevent any cuts in more important places. These include $179 million for FAA employee travel and $143 million a year to maintain a fleet of 46 aircraft. Thune and Shuster say the FAA has $2.7 billion in non-personnel operations costs that should have been examined before furloughs were even considered.”

While cuts are being made progressively in certain industries, sequestration has definitely become a plan for the the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to take advantage of for the aviation world. The FAA is planning for over $600 million in spending cuts for the 2013 fiscal year. The government agency will not only be furloughing workers, but will also be reducing funding and closing over 100 air traffic control facilities, eliminate the overnight shift for at least 60 facilities, and reduce preventive maintenance and support for all air traffic control equipment. The high standards of safety in the aviation industry will also be affected (Matteson, 2013). This will not only affect the efficiency of the aviation industry, but also the safety, aircraft operations and maintenance.  This will also include aviation managers as well in which I am a bit concerned about due to being a avaiation management graduate:

"The furloughs will include all management and non-management employees working within the Air Traffic Organization" (Matterson, 2013).

 

Sequestration will also cause more delays and higher airfare. The reduced number of ATC facilities limits the amount of aircraft that can be safely followed by the controllers. This will create more delays during peak times. These delays could regularly reach 90 minutes during peak times. The FAA expects that airlines will estimate these delays and will change their schedules and cancel flights so they do not go bankrupt. The consequence of these changes will be a rise in airline tickets to compensate for lost revenues.

From what I've gathered, I think the sequestration will not benefit the industries including aviation.   If the government  stop wasting billions of dollars on unnecessary needs, maybe the U.S. wouldn't be facing budgeting and furloughs in the U.S.  It’s obvious that aviation will take a big hit and that there will be a lot of disappointed employees losing their jobs and that I now will have to be cautious on what organization, department, and facility I choose to work in.

 

Sources:

Matteson, C.  (2013, March 9).  How sequestration affects aviation industry.  Retrieved from: http://voices.yahoo.com/how-sequestration-affects-aviation-industry-12040508.html

Spence, C.  (2013, March 2013).  Some question faa’s selection of sequestion cuts.  Retrieved from:  http://www.generalaviationnews.com/2013/03/some-question-faas-selection-of-sequestration-cuts/

Widom, W.  (2013, February 28). What is Sequestration & Why Politicians Are a Bunch of Windbags.  Retrieved from: http://www.chicagonow.com/families-in-the-loop/2013/02/what-is-sequestration-and-why-partisan-politics-is-wrong/

USA.gov.  (2013, February 26).  What is Sequestration?  Retrieved from:  http://blog.usa.gov/post/44071444149/what-is-sequestration

 

EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS)

Burning less fossil fuels is definitely something to be concerned about in the future.  Looking for cost efficient traveling is always in research to find ways to reduce the amount carbon emissions produced. However, in the aviation world (planes), I honestly think that there should be a solution for carbon emissions due to the fact that flying is one major choice from all travelers for fast arrivals to their destinations.  But the question is, do we yet have the proper technology to reduce air traffic carbon emissions?  Meanwhile, airlines may get taxed for and may cause downfalls of passengers and flight crew.

The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is the first international trading system for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the world and is a cornerstone of the EU’s efforts to address the issue of climate change.  EU-ETS is a cap-trade system that the principle of operations involves the allocation and trading of emission allowances. Every one allowance represents one ton of carbon dioxide. The capping, or maximum, of emissions is set and regulated by the European government. Most airlines will get an allotted amount accordingly.  Additional allowances are distributed to operators through trade. The EU-ETS is designed to reduce the total amount of emissions in multiple industries across the European continent (European Commission, 2013)). The goal is to successfully do this in a cost effective way and by allowing numerous companies to trade allowances, they will be able to potentially generate income and competition between joining countries.  With that being said, its hard to see how the ETS helps the environment when there is no mandate on how the funds collected can be spent.

President has made it clear that he wants change in the aviation world facing EU-ETS.  According to Aaron Karp article, President Obama signed into law last year prohibiting US airlines from participating in the European Union’s (EU) Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).  It states:

"the transportation secretary can bar US carriers from participating in the EU ETS if doing so would be “in the public interest,” particularly taking into account “the impacts on US consumers, US carriers and US operators; the impacts on the economic, energy and environmental security of the United States; and the impacts on US foreign relations, including existing international commitments.” (Karp, 2012)

The U.S. and other countries are opposed in the Emissions Trading System because of taxes and other fees added to air carriers for flying. This will cause airlines to not make much profit and travelers will not considering traveling as much as they use to.  Starting from an airport that may be outside of Europe by a great distance and charging the airline for that trip if they enter European airspace. Many nations, including the US, have opposed this idea. This shows that their is a common goal for all to reduce the total amount of emissions throughout globe.

Solutions from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) should involve in a precise way of charging the allocations globally. If EU-ETS would want reduction in emissions through their airspace, then i think it should be their airspace and their airspace ONLY that should be charged. I think the difficult part will be when different nations will required different charges based on traffic, aircraft, and capabilities. Another way to possibly make a positive change will be to continue the development of reduce carbon-emitting engines. We have made great advances in limiting the total amount of emissions and I feel that the major countries of the world should focus on cleaner developments of their aircraft, rather than a focus on increasing profits.  The only issue now is not having the technology to to create a more efficient, quiet and cleaner burning engine in which I think we do but maybe too costly to have it done as of yet.


Sources:

China's Ambition/Investments in General Aviation Market Sector

As the market economy and worldwide influence of China grows, so too does the nation's significance to the U.S. economy. Not only the U.S. are one of the biggest consumers of Chinese goods, but China is also one of U.S. biggest creditors.  With that being said, China has made many investments within the past years in its general aviation market sector.   Chinese authorities will always expect explosive growth in sector to always continue in the future.

On February 28th of last year, China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co. Ltd. (CAIGA) has purchased Cirrus Aircraft Industries. Cirrus CEO, Brent Wouters, has made a statement that the sale to CAIGA is sure to boost Cirrus’ Vision single-engine jet program (Hirschman, 2012).  In Wouters views,  the sale of Cirrus marks a major milestone for the pioneering aircraft manufacturer that introduced airframe parachutes, glass cockpits, and composite materials to general aviation.  CAIGA has the resources that will allow Cirrus to accelerate its aircraft development and the global expansion of Cirrus.

In addition of China's investment in general aviation, in 2012, China has recently purchased Hawker Beechcraft who filed for bankruptcy protection in May to expedite a prearranged restructuring of the company and some of its subsidiaries (Hegeman, 2012). The Chinese firm offered nearly $1.8 billion to purchase the company's business jet and other aviation operations.  However, there maybe an collapse on the deal due to complication nature of the deal, much of which was related to the origin of the buyer.

The reasons varies for rapid growth in Chinese general aviation industry. China has always been a major production country for the U.S. in which us Americans gives China much profit alone.  The Chinese authorities has been developing numerous policies including opening low-altitude airspace specifically for general aviation operations (Koh, 2012). Also, the demand for corporate aviation plays a big role. Corporations and citizens will be in need of additional modes of transportation; aviation.

"Emerging markets, in particular China, have kept aircraft manufacturers airborne through a bout of weak demand from Western carriers. Chinese airlines accounted for 20 percent of global aircraft deliveries in 2010, and China’s civil aviation authorities estimate that by 2012 the country will need 2,100 aircrafts, nearly half of those for general aviation. It is also estimated that, for every dollar spent on an aircraft, $6 is spent on supporting sectors, leading to the burgeoning growth of the overall industry (Koh, 2012)."

With expansion taken place in China, career opportunities will be limited within the United States. The job market in U.S. aviation will quickly decrease. If China persist on investing more companies in the U.S., more jobs will be transferred over to China and other countries.  The U.S. will be left with nothing; particularly in general aviation and that American will have to relocate else where across the globe for their dream job in aviation. 

Thanks for reading

Ryan Pride

 

Sources:

Hegeman, R.  (2012, July 9).  Chinese firm to buy hawker beechcraft for $1.8b deal.  Retrieved from:  http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/manufacturing/story/2012-07-09/hawker-beechcraft-china/56120442/1

Hirschman, D. (2011, February 28). Cirrus sold to china. Retrieved from: http://www.aopa.org/aircraft/articles/2011/110228cirrus_sold_to_china.html

Koh, W.  (2012).  Aviation in china: ready for take off.  Retrieved from:  http://www.agcs.allianz.com/assets/PDFs/riskfeatures/2011_02_Aviation_in_China.pdf

Lei, Z.  (2012, Novemebr 13). Civil aviation industry ready to take off .  Retrieved from:  http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2012-11/13/content_15920218.htm