Corporate Aviation

            The main differences between careers available to me at a corporate company vs. an airline company from a flight students perspective is, at an airline it is more straight forward, you are a number from the get-go with all your eggs in one basket, which is fine.  From a corporate perspective, I’d say it’s more geared to “who you know”.  Things can happen in a corporate company, you meet new people which opens up new opportunities, etc.  In the airline industry, you start in the regionals and move up numbers until you can upgrade to a captain, then do the whole thing over again at an airline, pretty simple and straightforward.

            It is said that a corporate company can save a company money by owning it’s own flight department vs. paying employees airline tickets.  I do somewhat agree with this statement due to the fact that you don’t have to deal with all the problems that airlines have like bag check in, other people, and other arousing issues.  With a corporate flight department, the employees can show up just before the flight and talk business the whole flight if need be, with no worries about surrounding public.  I think it can save a corporate company money but it is more for easier traveling and less stress. 

           

            A corporate aviation department of my choice is a company called Cook Canyon Ranch.  They fly for a family that owns a few ranches out in Texas and are involved in the automotive industry and hunting reserves.  They own a king air 350, Lear 45, and Gulfstream 550.   The company doesn’t have set hiring flight numbers like other companies do, it’s more of a company that’s based upon the “who you know” aspect in the world. 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cook-Canyon-Ranch/432534196798956

Sorry, I can't find much about this company at all on the Internet, they're pretty tiny and not too popular.  

NextGen in Aviation

NextGen is a system designed to change America’s air traffic control system by changing it from a ground based system to a GPS based system.  It is said that by doing so, it will shorten routes, save time and fuel, help prevent delays, and help controllers monitor aircraft more safely. Planes will also be able to fly closer to one another and avoid delays due to aircraft stacking. NextGen will be implemented between now present day and 2025.

            The impact NextGen will have on GA and Commerical aviation is faster more efficient timing in and out of airport. This will create less fuel burn, shorter flights, less delays, etc.  I think a downside would be, especially for GA, is that for the aircraft to partake in NextGen, they will need some major upgrades to their avionics to support this system.

            I think these fees and taxes should be optional.  A lot of GA flyers and owners will not be able to afford this whatsoever.  Main concerns of shorter flights and fuel savings will be interest of Commercial Aviation.  Big companies like Delta, American Airlines, etc. will be able to afford these and in the future save money from it.  I don’t think it should be applied towards taxes of the American public, our taxes are already too high as it is. NextGen won’t exactly affect my career as a pilot I feel like. It will help shorten flight and stress of delays which will be nice, but I don’t think it would effect my career as much as it would for an Air Traffic Controller.

Short Video and readings explaining how NextGen will work

http://www.faa.gov/nextgen/

Flying Cheap: Professionalism in the Regional Carriers

    The specific job and company in the aviation industry that I would like to end up at is Eaton Corporation.  Eaton Corporation is an “American multinational power management company headquartered in Ireland providing solutions to its customers to manage electrical, hydraulic and mechanical power efficiently, safely and sustainably.” I received that information right off of the companies website.  A description of the job would be flying for the company starting out as an F.O. then eventually a Captain in their fleet of Challengers and Gulfstreams. 

     Some safety concerns with the job I have chosen would obviously be in the company was having financial issues, usually the first thing to go is the flight department since it requires so much money to uphold.  I really can’t mitigate this risk because it would be out of my hands, but I could keep a close eye on the company’s progress and potentially be able to see something like that coming before it hit.

     Professionalism is something that everyone in the aviation industry must uphold and be concerned about.  Professionalism is personal hygiene, language, how you present yourself, how you dress, how you talk, etc.  Lack of professionalism was the pilots talking, being tired, and not being concerned of the conditions they were flying in.  Multiple events led to this crash from the days leading up to it.  From a management stand point, lack of professionalism came from trying to put pilots through training as fast as they could to get them flying. I plan to maintain and have my professionalism grow by starting with the basics of personal hygiene, all the way to how I present myself to others through language and poster; along with performing given tasks that are provided to me.

AVT 422 Intro

     How did I get into aviation?  I got into aviation by growing up and listening to my grandfather talk and tell stories about his flying career.  He grew up crop dusting at the age of 12 with the family business and retired with GM.  I was fascinated with his stories and when it came time to choose a career in my life, it was an easy decision.

     In aviation I either plan on going to the regionals and building my time, since that is pretty much the only liable option to get into a jet being a green horn at 1500 hours, or I plan on going into corporate if I can find a company that will hire someone with such low time.  I know a few corporate chief pilots but I don't know how far that will go with being able to fly with them, or if that's even possible without experience.  I have also really been considering ATC since I was accepted into it and received an Offer Letter from the FAA with a class date from April 15th to June 30 of 2015. I do think ATC would be interesting and a highly focused task job just like being a pilot, which intrigues me.  There are pros and cons to both that I think of daily, and I just haven't made my full decision yet on which field to pursue.

     Current topics that interest me are obviously aviation tragedies, for example, the story of the gentlemen and his wife that lost pressurization in their brand new TBM 900 while flying to Caribbean Islands I believe.  I also am very interested in reading articles that talk about a pilots starting salary in the regionals, I still can't believe it's an average of $23,000/year about.  Aviation topics that I don't so much find interesting but I know they are important to know are FAR's.  FAR's are pretty much black and white which is a good thing I guess, as a pilot with constant changing FAR's it's always good to stay fresh on them and know the rules.