Corporate Aviation

Corporate Aviation

      

In the aviation career field, there are generally two routes, becoming a corporate pilot or commercial airline pilot. There are differences in the way these two operate. For example corporate pilots are more on call. They need to be ready at a moment’s notice to fly. His equipment and plane must be ready for the trip, which could possibly be thousands of miles to remote places. They are responsible for the trip route, take off and to check in with the airport. A commercial pilot generally does not need as many training hours as a commercial pilot. The life of a commercial airline pilot is more structured and regular. He is not required to maintain the equipment but he is required to fly a much bigger plane. He is responsible for flying the plane for normally over a thousand miles and on time.

The argument has been made that corporate aviation departments can actually save a company money. This argument is based off of the facts that this means of transport is far more efficient. It is an invaluable asset that can lead to many new business deals opening up. It can be ready at a moment’s notice when the opportunity arises which can definitely save company money. Nowadays even thousand mile and cross Atlantic journeys can be made. This is a very sound and logical argument.

              A corporate aviation company that operates out of Michigan is Pentastar Aviation. The company is based out of Oakland County International Airport (PTK). The fleet the company is operating with consist of light Jets, Mid-Size Jets, Super Mid-Size Jets, Heavy Jets, and long Range Jets, such as; Citation, Hawker 800, Learjet. The company is currently hiring Captains and First Officers positions. To qualification for the job, it require a type rating, 4000 hrs PIC and 2500 hrs SIC with FAA first class medical, and they prefer a Bachelors Degree.

Sources

Private Jet Charter and Aircraft Management. (n.d.). Retrieved February 17, 2015, from http://www.pentastaraviation.com/

NBAA - National Business Aviation Association. (n.d.). Retrieved February 17, 2015, from http://www.nbaa.org/

(n.d.). Retrieved February 17, 2015, from http://www.nata.aero/data/files/NATA publications/NATA_factbook.pdf

The NTSB Most Wanted List

The NTSB Most Wanted List

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) identified many things that they “Most Wanted” to change or improve for 2015. Two main bullet points that they highlighted included the prevent loss of control in flight, in general aviation and the strengthening of procedural compliance. These are two significant issues that negatively impact the flying community.

There is a difference in the problems facing each general aviation and commercial aviation. For the general aviation community I believe their biggest issue is the lack of required training after the pilot is licensed. According to the NTSB website, General Aviation pilot proficiency requirements are much less rigorous than those of airline pilots. Pilots are much more likely to have longer intervals between training sessions and longer intervals between flights. They typically need to complete a flight review, consisting of 1 hour of ground training and 1 hour of flight training, every 24 months. They almost exclusively maintain and improve skills on their own, and their conduct of safe flight depends more on individual abilities and judgment, potentially leaving them unprepared for situations that can lead to loss of control.

In my opinion the greatest issue facing commercial aviation are the human factors. These include, but are not limited to, not calling out to the captain when one believes there is an error, chit-chatting during crucial times in the flight, and lack of awareness of the situations. Human error has been documented as a primary contributor to more than 70 percent of commercial airplane hull-loss accidents.

The NTSB proposed a few ideas to fix some of these topic areas. Concerning Prevent Loss of Control in Flight in General Aviation, they proposed pilots should:

• Be prepared to recognize the warning signs of an impending stall, and be able to apply appropriate recovery techniques before stall onset.
• Be honest with themselves about their knowledge level of stalls, and their ability to recognize and handle them.
• Utilize aeronautical decision making (ADM) techniques and flight risk assessment tools during both preflight planning and inflight operations.
• Manage distractions so that they do not interfere with situational awareness.
• Understand, properly train, and maintain currency in the equipment and airplanes they operate. They should take advantage of available commercial trainer, type club and transition training opportunities.

These seem very reasonable and can be easily implemented if the FAA is willing to mandate these items. The airlines also need to not be shy of spending money in these areas. These changes will easily and immediately help reduce the accidents that happen in the areas. In the area of strengthening procedural compliance the NTSB recommends these fixes:

• Requiring pilots to conduct landing distance assessments,
• Revising the procedures for handling thrust reverser lockout after landing, and
• Non-precision approaches, discontinuing so-called dive-and-drive approaches in favor of continuous descent final approaches.

These are great fixes to help pilots remain alert and focus on the immediate tasks at hand during crucial tasks.  These are easily applicable if the airline companies are willing to spend in these areas.  The NTSB has set out easily achievable goals for the airline industry and I think, with hard work, they can be achieved.

Sources:

The Role of Human Factors in Improving Aviation Safety - Text Only. (n.d.). Retrieved February 9, 2015, from http://www.boeing.com/commercial/aeromagazine

Prevent Loss of Control in Flight in General Aviation. (n.d.). Retrieved February 9, 2015, from http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/mwl/Pages/mwl7_2015.aspx

Strengthen Procedural Compliance. (n.d.). Retrieved February 9, 2015, from http://www.ntsb.gov/safety/mwl/Pages/mwl10_2015.aspx

Piot Shortage, The Regional Airlnes

Pilot  Shortage , The Regional Airlines

Pilot shortage is a big problem in the US that is directly affecting the regional airlines. On the first day of class we watched the documentary “Flying Cheap.” It showed just exactly how detrimental in can be to cut edges in the financial sectors of aviation. Pilots are required by law to undergo 1500 hours of training before they can fly commercially. This training is very costly and very time consuming.

 Naturally a young person with ambitions to become a pilot sees these two things as roadblocks. To make matters worse, even after one has completed their mandatory training, the wage for the first few years is downright terrible and a serious deterrent for future pilots. This is leading to a shortage of pilots, which will only increase due to the current old age of pilots that are set to retire.

 If there are no new incentives for new pilots, the retirements of the baby boomer generation will not even matter. Any good industry needs to be able to bring in and entice new people to join the profession.  Without addressing the topic of pilot pay, the regional airline industry is destined for failure!

As (ALPA) represents most regional pilots., (RAA) is representing the remainder of the industry, such as management and manufacturers.

Professionalism to me is doing your profession in the most correct and full hearted as possible. When we watched the documentary “Flying Cheap” it showed me just how bad a lack of professionalism can be. The pilots were not trained to industry standards and they were severely overworked.  I believe that the airline company was showing a horrific lack of professionalism by not compensating their employees properly and cutting corners. When I become an airline pilot I will always be as alert as possible while in the cockpit and follow procedures.

Sources:

Air Line Pilots Association, International. (n.d.). Retrieved January 24, 2015, from http://www.alpa.org/

FAA looks at revising tougher pilot training rules implemented in wake of Flight 3407 - The Buffalo News. (n.d.). Retrieved January 24, 2015, from http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/washington-politics/faa-looks-at-revising-tougher-pilot-training-rules-implemented-in-wake-of-flight-3407-20140722

Regional Airline Association. (n.d.). Retrieved January 24, 2015, from http://www.raa.org/

U.S. Regional-Pilot Shortage Called Severe. (n.d.). Retrieved January 24, 2015, from http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304071004579410544242217688