What will affect my career the most...

UAVs are becoming very prominent in the aviation industry. They are breaking new ground in areas that can benefit from them greatly. In todays industry UAVs are becoming prominent because of the fact that they are more flexible in operations and that they don’t need as much training as an aircraft that requires a pilot. I believe that UAVs are going to affect my career the most because I am in the military. The military uses them now more than they do aircraft requiring pilots. I believe that in the next ten years I will see a huge growth and even more of a shift from traditional aircraft. More operations can be flown and the safety of the operators can be assured. This is a very attractive aspect to the leaders in the military because they don’t have to worry about the loss of life that traditional aircraft pose in military operations. I truly believe that out of all of these topics, UAVs will have the most impact on my career.

Export-Import Bank Affects U.S. Airlines

The Export-Import Bank was established in 1934 for the purpose of creating and sustaining U.S. jobs by financing sales of U.S. goods to international customers. It is in place to ensure that sales of goods take place with foreign customers that are weary of the credit risk involved otherwise. It is a function of our government. 

The Export-Import Bank is unfair to airlines though. Foreign airlines who receive help from our government are in direct competition with our own airlines and our airlines have to pay full price for their airplanes. It is unfair to the U.S. airlines and is one of just the many hurdles that the airlines have to jump in order to make profits and stay in business. 

I believe that the Export-Import Bank is a bad deal for the U.S. economy. It makes it to easy for our country to lose a lot of money if these risky foreign governments decide to default on their loans. It is also putting unneeded pressure on the aviation industry. I believe in order to level the playing field, either we get rid of the Export-Import Bank or offer subsidies to our airlines as well.

Subjects like this are touchy and I don’t believe there is a simple solution. I believe it is something that requires constant adjustments as our economy changes.

UAVs

1)   UAVs are currently being used in the civilian market for many things, including hurricane hunting, 3D mapping, wildlife protection, agriculture and search and rescue. The regulation of these UAVs are currently being figured out, but there was interim guidance given in 2008 and the FAA has continued to work on the matter.

2)   I absolutely see UAVs integrating into the NAS. I believe they will be used for all the things I listed above and more. The FAA will have to figure out how to make them safe and practical in the NAS though. I foresee some issues with safety and avoidance, misuse of the UAVs by those who have approval and use by those who do not have approval at all to use them.

3)   With military applications of UAVs, it has changed military strategy for the better. Our military are able to make better and more informed decisions, spare human life in dangerous missions and gather critical intelligence to be used at later times.  I believe that the integration of UAVs into the military has been just the same as many other things that the military adapts. A lot of money is put into the projects and through trial and error, they figure out what works and what doesn’t work.

4)   There are indeed UAV jobs that are available for civilians. One that I found was a job through Northrop Grumman that was not very hard to find at all.  As usual, the management side of things is not as easy to find a job but I managed to find one at General Atomics for a program manager in their UAV programs.

Professional Associations

What do I want to do when I grow up? Well, I want to become an airport manager somewhere quiet, calm and pristine. This may not happen over night, so I will have to begin building a name in the industry. How else better to do that than join some professional associations.

I believe that two of the most important associations I could be a part of would be the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) and Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA).

I believe it is important to be a part of AAAE because they are very involved in legislative debate and are advocates of airport executives. It is their mission to better serve airport executives by providing better products, services and Washington representation. They have grown to be one of the biggest professional trade associations and has proven results in Washington.

The AOPA is a very important association to be a part of because I am a pilot myself and when I am an airport manager, I will need to know what the customers I am serving are thinking and what they are concerned about. The AOPA values Initiative, Teamwork, Service, Integrity and Excellence. They advocate on behalf of their members on many issues in Washington and also use education to ensure the long-term health of General Aviation. I believe that the AOPA is a great organization for me to get a good understanding of my customers.

Although associations are important, I believe the function of continuing education in our industry is the greatest benefit that these associations provide. I encourage all aviation professionals and those who want to become aviation professionals to seek out the association that is right for what you want to accomplish. Strength in numbers…..

Flying Cheap and Professionalism

When I finally enter the aviation industry after retiring from the Navy, I want to be the airport manager for Oscoda County Airport. The airport manager here is responsible for very little as far as operations goes.  Only just recently they put in fuel service and a paved runway.  Before this it was merely a grass strip that saw very little traffic and no economic contribution to the community.  One of the concerns that I have if I become the airport manager is safety.  I believe that it is my responsibility to keep the field operational and safe. In this area, wildlife creates an interesting challenge for me.  I will have to be very conscientious of this problem as the airport manager. This is a manageable risk, but one that would require my attention.  This may seam like a far stretch for someone with a degree in aviation management but it will definitely require professionalism either way.

Professionalism in my opinion is the way an individual acts when they have respect for themselves, good morals and feelings of strong social responsibility.  When someone has these traits, they can and normally do, carry themselves in a professional light.  When I watched the PBS Special "Flying Cheap," I clearly saw that the pilots involved in that accident were unprofessional.  One way in which they were unprofessional is that when the first officer knew she was sick and probably shouldn't fly, she went ahead anyway for concerns of being stuck in a hotel room until she got better. This is not what a professional would do.  She should have done the right thing and spoke up about being ill.  Another unprofessional thing that I learned about while watching the special is that the managers were putting low hour pilots in the captains seat well before they were ready.  Several of Colgan's former pilots said themselves that they should not have had the responsibility.  This demonstrates a very unprofessional company and it is definitely an eye opener.


When I become an airport manager, I plan on staying proficient in my professionalism.  I plan to do this by always taking classes on the professional topics at hand in my industry and the community.  I also will establish a reporting system of my own at the airport to expose any safety risks that may not be apparent to myself.  These are only a few things that I can do to remain professional. I believe the biggest thing to being professional is keeping an open mind and not allowing the "old ways" to get in the way of improving yourself.

NTSB Most Wanted

1) Two of the 10 most wanted list by the NTSB involved aviation.  Those two were “Improve Safety of Airport Surface Operations” and “Improve General Aviation.” I like the idea of the general aviation idea. This states that general aviation accidents have been increasing due to the fact that pilots either lack training or skills required for the weather that they are experiencing.  It also mentions that new technology such as “glass” cockpits adds even more difficulty to a bad situation. 

2) I believe that these topics made the list because they are considered by the NTSB to be the most significant problem.  For that reason, I feel like these issues should have made the list.  I would suggest that the NTSB should divide the list up by the type of transportation.  That way they can focus on more topics for each transportation type. 

3) I believe that the jobs created by these two topics would be a training position.  Someone who would instruct pilots about the risks of falling behind the learning curve.  I also believe that a possible analyst position could be created and  maybe studies can be done on how to reduce these occurrences.