Category: Industry News

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Do We Need WAI?

Today, on #JustJuliesTakes, I ask the question I heard a couple times last week at the Women in Aviation International conference:

Do We Still Need “Women in Aviation”?

The raw numbers say yes—the percentage of pilots holding ATPs that are women has doubled, but when you start at 3.5% just a few decades ago the meaningful change still leaves much room for growth.

The nature of what it means to be a pilot is changing, as we move away from manual skill towards systems management. The breadth of roles is increasing too, with a variety of piloting jobs available—including those from flight instructor to tourist flights to the super short-haul routes promised by eVTOLs that allow a parent to stay home every night. This reduces a key “barrier to entry” particularly for women who are primary caregivers.

And, though the spectre of forcing people into “traditional roles” keeps popping up even in the U.S., changing attitudes towards women working internationally have reached a tipping point in so many countries that we can consider a future when perhaps this isn’t a “thing”—and we’re serving on an equivalent to the flight deck of the Starship Enterprise, where each person contributes according to their talents and skills. (Thank you “Dragon Lady” Merryl Tengesdal for giving me that analogy.)

Speaking of which, both Dragon Lady (a U-2 pilot) and Caroline Jensen (“Blaze,” a Thunderbird) are moms. In our generation, we went from “no women fighter pilots” to this, normalizing these multifacted roles. Moms are soooo badass!

As for how each woman pilot found our way into the cockpit, all I can say is it’s been through our individual means. Some folks are self-directed and appear to need little encouragement, and some need real prodding before they figure out how to shine on their own. Many of us didn’t “need” WAI or the 99s or ISA+21… but those groups have been here to support us and cheer us on anyway. For others, the “hand up” has been priceless.

I foresee a time—10 years? 20?—when we no longer need the distinction of WAI and the 99s any more than we’ll have the QBs (Quiet Birdmen).

Maybe then, the conference will remain the main event, but simply settle into its role as a careers conference for all genders to attend—kinda like today—one that just so happens to do what it does better than most other venues for networking and recruitment. Maybe because we have made it such a nurturing environment that all young professionals appreciate. And it does so around the core of celebrating women within its sectors.

Hey—it’s kinda there already, a marvelous pathway for a diverse group of people to learn about all the roles possible in aviation. Not just pilots.

And as long as we need the beacon to shine the light for more people to follow and join our ranks, we need to preserve as many pathways into the dream as possible.

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Jet-A Tax on BizAv?

The recent budget proposal from the White House includes a number of positive points—but one stands to kneecap the aviation industry just as it starts to leave the chocks on sustainability.

That’s the proposed 4X increase (from 22 cents to $1.06/gallon over 5 years) in the fuel tax on Jet-A for bizav operators, a line item that surely resonates with the green set, but bodes poorly for the ability to grow capability, capacity, and jobs under the sustainable aviation umbrella. The quest to net-zero by 2050 absolutely depends on it.

Here are my quick takes:

  1. The healthy flow of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) into the market relies upon the demand for Jet-A. While commercial aviation represents the bulk of the volume, business aviation has the flexibility and higher margins to accommodate the experimentation required to bring new sources of zero-emission fuel into play. 
  2. The infrastructure investments required to deliver SAF lean on the ability of local FBOs and governments—and distributors—to justify the cost to equip. With lower flowage into these wide-spread locations, the business case grows even more difficult than it already is in some places.
  3. Bringing aircraft production into the U.S.—and keeping what we have—is central to providing skilled labor with well-paying, satisfying work. Keeping sales and delivery volumes to what they reached in the bizav sector before and after the pandemic is vital to offering these desirable positions.
  4. And, at a time when aircraft OEMs fight hard to secure the workforce they need, the ability to appeal to the younger generation with sustainable aviation projects is critical to attracting the brightest minds to our industry. They want to be part of the solution. Raising the tax on one sector that provides some of the coolest jobs in aviation—across the board from engineers to marketers—is at best shortsighted and at worst a true crux for the industry.

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Women in Aviation Day, by Joby

On Wednesday, March 6, Joby Aviation hosted a reception celebrating Women in Aviation in honor of the official #InternationalWomensDay on March 8. It gathered a handful of significant women in leadership to speak, including Bonny Simi, president of operations for Joby, Joanna Geraghty, CEO of JetBlue and Senators Duckworth and Cantwell. From their inspiring words—and boards crafted from the FAA’s Women in Aviation Advisory Board report out last year—I walked away with the following takes:

1. We need women to make up a larger percentage of the pool of potential aviation careerists so that we can swell the numbers in that group—and thereby draw the best stars from a larger pool. If we only attract half the population with our promise, we may wait longer for the geniuses we need to deliver on that promise.

2. Women leaders serve as role models to those entering the industry, as well as those rising through the ranks. At every stage in my career, through all its twists and turns, I’ve had women and men who have guided me—but those women in CEO or business ownership positions have resonated with me on a viseral level. In my role at Flying, I felt this keenly, calling on a wide range of mentors who motivated and supported me.

3. Thanks to Insta and its influencers, women pilots are more visible, and reach out to inspire young people who may not have known what was possible back in the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, as Sen. Duckworth noted from her own entry into the service. And though the percentages entering airline classes have ticked up—at some airlines more than others—the stubborn truth is that we haven’t moved the needle enough to even match the percentages of women in other STEM fields—20 vs 26 percent. Work rules that benefit all parents will help more—and as Bonny pointed out, short-range eVTOLs naturally suit any pilot who prefers to—or needs to—spend each night at home. 

4. And Sen. Cantrell’s observation that she noticed a higher percentage of women in the composites area at the Technology Center at the University of Washington? While she compared the mix of chemistry and physics in elaborating new processes to baking, I think that the complex problem solving within a quieter environment would hold appeal to those more in tune with the laminations of a pastry chef as opposed to the brute force often involved in bending and shaping metal—male or female. As the science evolves, so will the workforce to craft it. As we highlight the women succeeding every day in these fields, we expand the appeal of our industry to everyone, lifting us up—together.

For a highlights reel, visit our YouTube channel.

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Heli-Expo Takes: a First for VAI

The biggest one yet? Perhaps not—but guaranteed there’s never been a Heli-Expo as widely ranging. It’s part of the reason the 70-year-plus organization went through a serious rebranding, to Vertical Aviation International, to encompass all types of vertical lift. Now that VTOLs (electric and otherwise) claw towards certification, VAI feels like a necessary pivot for an association that used to wear “helicopter” in its title and DNA.

My other key takeaways?

  1. This is a big-money show. It now approaches NBAA’s annual BACE in size and spend. Record crowds hovered into the last Heli-Expo (the 35th, before its rebranding to Verticon next year in 2025), bringing the total to 15,000. Last year’s BACE in Vegas hosted 20,000. For folks focused on fixed-wing lift, the numbers may surprise you—but they make sense to anyone watching this space take off.
  2. Women now take on more visible roles, since Karen Gebhart’s leadership a few years back. Now we have the dynamite Nicole Battjes serving as chairman of VAI’s board of directors this year. We caught up at lunch on day two, and her company, Rainbow Helicopters, plans significant growth in the years to come—even as the team garnered well deserved recognition for its efforts following the Lahaina fires.
  3. State of the art lift still centers on traditional rotorcraft designs, like the upcoming Bell 525, and the Leonardo AW09, both coming into TC later this year, perhaps. Fly-by-wire and envelope protection rule the immediate future, as these protocols enter maturity ahead of their incorporation into eVTOLs.
  4. Powerplants evolve too—witnessed by Safran, Airbus, GE, and Pratt & Whitney with carbon-based thrust as well as each OEM’s forays into electric, hybrid, and hydrogen power. Watch this space for the weekly reports coming out as each model enters or continues flight test on various platforms—on rotor, powered lift, and fixed-wing aircraft.
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What Happened at GAMA 2024?

The annual report out livestreamed by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association Wednesday delivered good news mixed with ongoing challenges to the industry.

My key takeaways?

  1. The GA industry delivered more than 4,000 units across the piston, turboprop and jet segments last year—more than we have in a decade. That’s exciting and shows continuing strength in the face of supply chain, inflation, and workforce pressures.
  2. The MOSAIC comment period is open again—and we need to weigh in strongly against the proposed shift to Part 36 noise compliance, which would add spurious testing to already extensive certification programs.
  3. We need to push for a commensurate book & claim system in Europe—especially as SAF availability moves to commercial airports and out of reach of BizAv where it can be used to foment innovation.
  4. As we move towards the publication of the SFAR governing advanced air mobility lift, as well as facilitating bilateral agreements we must keep building guidance that is clear and actionable for the front line FAA, EASA, ANAC, and Transport Canada folks to implement.

More on unleaded fuel, electric and hybrid progress, and fallout from Boeing to come.

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Records: Proof Of A Concept

The champion rarely needs further proof of success, in the hearts of public opinion. And when you’re trying to entice a reticent audience to take a risk, that proof may be the special catalyst you need.

For more than 100 years, innovators in aviation have recognized that the key to their economic viability usually lies in gaining public acceptance—and there are few more visible ways to achieve that than winning a race, or setting a new record.

When I recall the races to win various speed prizes back in the early days of commercial air transport, I see the parallels to today’s efforts to demonstrate the concepts going into electric aircraft. Case in point: Rolls-Royce building an all-electric aircraft with the intent to move the bar past 300 mph.1 The project, part of Accelerating the Electrification of Flight—or ACCEL—shows that even a world leader in the industry can’t just toil away in isolation. A prize, and the publicity that goes with it, will be needed to catalyze acceptance. With the barriers that we must still surmount in making electric-powered aircraft the standard, having the public behind it is critical.

In 1935, Douglas Aircraft Company met a similar challenge. With its DC-1 and DC-2 flying, it faced intense competition from European manufacturers—and a still-reticent public not yet sold on the idea of transcontinental flight. The U.S.-based National Aeronautical Association (NAA) wished to recapture a raft of speed records and prove the value of American aircraft manufacturing. So TWA, who had purchased the original DC-1, loaned it in pursuit of gaining back the advantage.

“The first record-breaking attempt launched from Floyd Bennett Field on Long Island, New York, at 7 a.m. on the morning of May 16, 1935. Loaded with extra weight (to meet international class criteria), the DC-1 took off with a run of 30 seconds and headed south at 10,000 feet. For an entire day, [TWA’s experimental test pilot Tommy] Tomlinson and co-pilot Bartles flew a triangular course between New York, Washington, D.C., and Norfolk, breaking a record roughly every three hours. When the clock ticked over 1:50 a.m. the next day, they had set a new record for the 5,000 km mark (nonstop) in 18 hours, 22 minutes, and 49 seconds, at an average speed of 169.03 mph.”2

The proposed electric aircraft from Rolls-Royce’s ACCEL intends to double that mark. Though attaining a pure speed won’t fully solve other critical elements of the problems faced (battery weight and life, among others), it will surely contribute to the public’s good perception of the concept. In hot pursuit of viable electric aircraft, success will breed future acceptance.

1: “Rolls-Royce goes for record with 300mph+ electric aircraft,” published online in Flyer. 2019 Seager Publishing. Accessed January 10, 2019.

2: “Honest Vision: The Donald Douglas Story,” Julie Boatman Filucci. 2018 Aviation Supplies & Academics; page 114

The sole DC-1, owned by TWA

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Web Summit: 3 Takeaways

I spent several days last week at Web Summit, which took over Lisbon, Portugal, in a way that no amount of summer tourists can approach. 

With more than 70,000 official attendees, and probably another 10% to form the whole entourage, Web Summit doesn’t so much wash over the town like a wave—rather it encapsulates the spirit of entrepreneurship and new thinking already on an unstoppable march through the city’s centuries-old passages.

I needed a shot of that motivation, so I chose to go this year as part of the Women in Tech initiative, attending the WOW Dinner (a networking event prior to the show) and taking advantage of a bargain rate offered in a promotion last spring.

From those four days I found the following 3 Takeaways:

1.Getting women to the party helps move the needle—but it’s not even halfway there in terms of real change. When it comes to changing the demographics of the STEM fields, representation matters. Web Summit reported roughly 45% women in its registered attendees—but there were a number of glaring discrepancies still in evidence, in the speakers, in the awards, and, tellingly, in the representation of start-ups (particularly from Portugal—this is its own issue). The split felt more even amongst the 20-35 year old attendees. And, overall, there still needed to be better representation from people of color.

In aviation we face a subset of this problem, and it has proven even more resistant to change. We can keep inviting women to the party, but we can’t stop there. Mentoring, intelligent promotion, and generations of changing practices will, with persistence, bring our industry into parity—and diversity in other critical ways. In part, it’s one place where our next big ideas will come from…

2.The big names weren’t necessarily the big innovators. The coolest ideas that I saw were down on the floor, in the Alpha, Beta, and Growth areas featuring start-ups in those varying stages of development. One company is working on a way for you to execute your own will after your passing—using blockchain. Another seeks to make real change in the way we talk about politics on social media—wouldn’t that help us all?

While I see the big aviation manufacturers building on success, they tend to be iterative—much like their colleagues in the tech world. Real change still starts in someone’s T-hangar in the sticks. Or the person drawing connections between seemingly disparate industries. And it comes from a diverse community, folks from widely divergent backgrounds, coming up with solutions in new ways.

3.You can put all the info at a person’s fingertips, but delivering information does not equal communication. That person will miss something important. Web Summit uses a well-thought out app to help attendees manage their experience—it’s better by leaps than any event app I’ve used thus far. But I still missed a few big things, and came close on others–like Stephen Attenborough from Virgin Galactic. The scale of the show is impossible for a single person to digest (it’s like trying to master every function on the G1000)—so here’s where AI can step in. And it will still be the case: Communication must be personalized—and to do that, a person has to be willing to share their preferences and desires.

As communicators, we need to poll our audiences in a way that is timely and congenial—we can’t just keep guessing what they want—or assume they want to hear what we think is best to deliver to them. But they must feel confident in sharing those preferences with us–we must trust each other. I only watch cat videos when I’m already bored to tears—give me compelling stories (it helps if there’s an airplane involved) any day. That echoes another theme: Good content wins influence.

What do you think?