Tag: FAA

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NAFI Summit: The FIRC In Between

The MAPS Museum at the Akron-Canton Airport includes a rare B-26 Martin Marauder restored by volunteers. This is shown in the background with a US flag and Blue Angels jet in the foreground.

When I began the technical writing phase of my career, in 1997, I joined Jeppesen’s Aviation Courseware Development department. Led at the time by editor Pat Willits, ACD had the responsibility of producing Jepp’s distance-learning flight instructor refresher clinic (FIRC), delivered on VHS cassettes for $199 (plus tax and shipping).

The FIRC allowed instructors for the first time to complete their every-two-years certificate renewal without having to attend an in-person or “live” FIRC, which were held over the course of two days (16 training and testing hours total), in hotel conference rooms across the U.S.

After securing my initial CFI certificate in 1993, I renewed first by getting my CFI-Instrument in 1994, placing my renewal on its current even-years rhythm. For my first renewals, I attended AOPA’s live FIRCs, where I enjoyed meeting fellow instructors and sharing stories and best practices as well as a laugh or two about the commiserate moments of working with student pilots.

After a year or so at Jepp, I was promoted to Assistant Editor, and tasked with acting as its Airman Certification Representative (ACR), responsible for the physical review and signing of every FAA 8710 form that came in with the FIRC completion before the CFI’s new certificate could legally be issued. Every week I’d go upstairs to the customer service area and sign roughly 50 to 100 of the forms.

My first brush with aviation fame came when I signed Patty Wagstaff’s 8710.

Jepp went on to develop and produce in concert with AOPA the second online FIRC to gain approval from the FAA, and I was part of the team that put it together. With online FIRCs now composing the grand majority of CFI renewals, the live FIRC has all but vanished. Most instructors just “get it done” every two years, take in the minor and major updates to the regs and processes, and honestly probably retain little else from the exercise. The FAA requires the 16-hour training curriculum, and while providers strive to keep us entertained whilst sitting in front of the laptop or clutching an iPad for that period, it’s probably not something most of us would choose to participate in, given the choice.

We still find more meaning in connecting face to face.

The Douglas C-47 Ruptured Duck has no engines in its nacelles as it stands outside the MAPS Museum at the Akron-Canton Airport in Ohio. Gray skies in the background.
The Douglas C-47 Ruptured Duck has no engines in its nacelles as it stands outside the MAPS Museum at the Akron-Canton Airport in Ohio. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
A panel on mental health for pilots at NAFI Summit was moderated by Dr. Victor Vogel, and included Federal Air Surgeon Dr. Susan Northrop, former NTSB member Greg Feith, and Dr. Tony Reed, with Samantha Bowyer behind the podium.
A panel on mental health for pilots at NAFI Summit was moderated by Dr. Victor Vogel, and included Federal Air Surgeon Dr. Susan Northrop, former NTSB member Greg Feith, and Dr. Tony Reed, with Samantha Bowyer behind the podium. [Credit: Julie Boatman]

For Monday and Tuesday of this week, I attended the Summit hosted by the National Association of Flight Instructors. NAFI’s two-day conference this year, at the MAPS Museum at the Akron-Canton Airport (KCAK) in Ohio, featured about… 16 hours of presentations on a buffet of topics eerily similar to those covered within a standard FIRC TCO (training course outline).

The Summit kicked off with presentations from FAA AFS-810 manager Everette Rochon on the Part 141 Modernization rulemaking group progress, and two panels, one gathering experience designated pilot examiners (DPEs) Karen Kalishek, Katie Sample, and Jason Blair, and the mental health one moderated by Dr. Victor Vogel, with Federal Air Surgeon Dr. Susan Northrop, Greg Feith, and Dr. Tony Reed.

Head of FAA AFS-810 Everette Ruchon presented at the NAFI Summit on the progress on Part 141 Modernization. Everette stands behind a podium in front of a large US flag.
Head of FAA AFS-810 Everette Rochon presented at the NAFI Summit on the progress on Part 141 Modernization. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
ERAU professor Samantha Bowyer outlined the changes brought into reality by the passing of MOSAIC for pilots and aircraft certification. She stands in front of a podium with a presentation displaying slides on the wall in the background.
ERAU professor Samantha Bowyer outlined the changes brought into reality by the passing of MOSAIC for pilots and aircraft certification. [Credit: Julie Boatman]

Martha and John King (whose Kings Schools online FIRC I’ve taken many times) led a talk on risk management, with easy mnemonics to use on the flight deck to enable solid aeronautical decision making. Samantha Bowyer, professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, outlined the changes brought forth by the passing of the MOSAIC ruling for pilot and aircraft certification, with a lively Q&A trying to find clarity on the topic. And Dr. Reed walked instructors through the ways they can make lifestyle changes to support their own physical health.

Day Two featured more breakout sessions, with great choices to select from, including how to ensure the first hours of training connect with the prospective student, as well as the use of AI in training, implementation of sims within a course syllabus, and a deep dive on spins, slips, and skids. Mental health was addressed in more detail by Dr. Rob Zeglin, and Judge Couch zoomed in remotely to illuminate the process behind the NTSB’s Office of Administrative Law and how to mitigate and protect against certificate actions as an instructor.

Martha and John King presented at the NAFI Summit on their experience and how it relates to teaching sound aeronautical decision making and risk management. Martha stands to the left of the podium with John to the right, in front of a large US flag.
Martha and John King presented at the NAFI Summit on their experience and how it relates to teaching sound aeronautical decision making and risk management. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
NAFI's Paul Preidecker and Karen Kalishek give closing remarks at the NAFI Summit 2025 in Ohio. Paul stands to the left of the stage and Karen is on it.
NAFI’s Paul Preidecker and Karen Kalishek give closing remarks at the NAFI Summit 2025 in Ohio. [Credit: Julie Boatman]

All in all, with the exception of the TSA training session, I felt nothing was missing from the program that would preclude it counting as a CFI renewal. NAFI currently gives FAA WINGS credit for the session, which helps a pilot complete ongoing training in lieu of a flight review, but it would gain a lot of value for attendees if the Summit could become, yes, an in-person FIRC for its investment of $300 to attend.

It certainly gave that value to me.

But the best part of the event came in the new connections I forged with fellow instructors, and the longtime friendships we have kept in the industry over the years. In those in-between moments, sitting around a table of 8 with a standard Midwestern buffet lunch, I met CFIs from around the country and across the globe, and understood again how much we have in common, and how much we can learn from each other, simply by taking the time and listening.

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Oshkosh 2025 Day Two: MOSAIC Rule

After 17 years of personal frustration with the hits and misses of the light sport aircraft category and sport pilot certificate, relief lies in plain sight. In fact, in about 3 months, I’ll have the ability to fly both airplanes I frequent—a Lockwood AirCam and a Cessna 182 under the FAA’s revised sport pilot privileges—announced with the confirmation of the MOSAIC final rule on Tuesday at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

That means (since I currently hold a higher level of pilot certificate) I can fly those aircraft with a valid driver’s license, rather than a medical certificate. This is a game changer for a lot of folks—and not just the senior cadre of flying friends I’ve accumulated over the years.

Table 9 Summary of Changes to Sport Pilot Privileges released by the FAA this week with the confirmation of the MOSAIC final rule. [Courtesy of the FAA/EAA]

Aircraft certification rules also open up with the launch of MOSAIC, including removing the weight limit imposed by the original LSA classification (1,320 pounds for land-based airplanes), no limit on number or horsepower of engines, and the expansion to four seats (though the pilot flying under sport privileges must stick to just one passenger). The upper limit for the stall speed for airplanes also expands, to a VS1 of 59 knots CAS, opening up not only the Skylane but a host of other single- and light twin-engine airplanes I have in my logbook.

I’ll write more on these memories at a later date, but the removal of the weight limit would have allowed Cessna much more flexibility in the design of the Skycatcher, and I argue would have made it an even better airplane, performing far better in the marketplace.

A host of already CS 23 certified airplanes (under EASA) are poised for deployment into the U.S. market too as a result, including the Elixir two-seat training airplane that also announced Part 23 certification this week (understanding that with that milestone passed, it can be flown by private pilots ahead of MOSAIC implementation).

The playing field just opened up significantly, with the cost to entry lowered substantially at the same time.

I cannot overstate how critical these changes will be in assuring the health and accessibility of general aviation as we integrate new technologies and ways of flying into the mix. I’ll see you in these new, blue skies!

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An SFAR Signed at NBAA BACE 2024

The machinations of rulemaking crank through on often mysterious schedules…and we’ve collectively as an industry both suffered and been rewarded as of late with the timeliness of FAA process.

But the stars aligned for NBAA’s team in particular on Tuesday at BACE in Las Vegas, as the FAA released the SFAR (special federal aviation regulation) governing the new powered lift category just in time for administrator Mike Whitaker to sign it into action after his appearance with NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen at the morning keynote. You could practically hear them popping corks in the D.C. offices all the way to Vegas.

This was the big news I’d alluded to in yesterday’s post. Yes, we have witnessed a milestone in the aviation story.

Mike Whitaker, FAA Administrator, delivers the great news on the SFAR on VTOL aircraft to Ed Bolen, president and CEO of NBAA at BACE 2024 Tuesday morning. [Credit: Julie Boatman]

The SFAR on Powered Lift

The ruling and its amendments outline the parameters for pilot certification, operating rules for powered-lift ops, and give guidance on how those aircraft will integrate into the national airspace system (NAS) with fixed- and rotor-wing aircraft. The rules are performance-based, for the most part, which means they generally tell OEMs and operators the metrics they need to achieve rather than prescribing strictly how they will achieve them.

That’s fantastic news for contenders in the market such as Joby, Archer, Lilium, and others who are well on their way into flight testing conforming (or near-conforming) initial production models, standing up the lines to make them, and building out training and support infrastructure.

JP Stewart and B.Marc Allen deliver the latest updates on the E9 hybrid electric STOL aircraft program at NBAA BACE 2024. [Credit: Julie Boatman]

Electra Aero and eSTOL

But wait… there was more in store yesterday in terms of truly new aircraft program updates. Though their big reveal of the E9 “G0” test article won’t take place til November 13, Electra Aero’s J.P. Stewart and B. Marc Allen walked the media through the progress of the two-seat demonstrator and its test campaign underway in northern Virginia.

As a fan of short takeoff and landing (STOL) airplanes, I love this concept, which uses blown and distributed lift to enable super-slow takeoff and landing speeds, bringing those distances reliably under 150 feet. Stewart reported that they had the airplane down to 22 knots in flight—and they haven’t found the stall speed yet.

Think about that for a second. I can’t wait to witness the 9-seat version flying, likely next year.

Bombardier founder Laurent Beaudoin and chairman Pierre Beaudoin of Bombardier with Lisa Stark receiving the Meritorious Service Award at NBAA BACE. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
In a conversation with Joby Aviation’s Bonny Simi, Neil de Grasse Tyson shows a letter from Orville Wright in highlighting the exponential nature of progress in the aerospace industry. [Credit: Julie Boatman]

Inspiration… in Great Leaders

The other keynotes also touched the SRO audience at the morning session. First, Laurent and Pierre Beaudoin, the father-and-son leaders of Bombardier, received the Meritorious Service Award from NBAA for their dedication to building a benchmark airframe OEM out of a company that manufactured snowmobiles in Quebec in the 1960s.

And Joby’s Bonny Simi—riding a serious high with the SFAR now enabling her to press forward in defining ops and training for the eVTOL OEM—delighted in her conversation with astrophysicist/personality Neil deGrasse Tyson. We all did. Tyson managed to paint with words the picture of his 9-year-old self first seeing the stars inside a planetarium, and feeling so moved that he would make astrophysics his life’s work. I’m putting his book, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, on my reading list. It’s one of Bonny’s faves, she says. Good enough for me.

The Bombardier Challenger 3500 at NBAA BACE 2024. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
Wiglets form one key part of the wing design on the Challenger 3500 that enable its legendary smooth ride. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
The Nuage seating highlights the updated interior on the Bombardier Challenger 3500. [Credit: Julie Boatman]

Inspiration… in Great Airplanes

In the afternoon, I made it out to the static display at Henderson airport (KHND), to meet up with Bombardier’s comms team for an introduction to the Challenger 3500. With this update to the legendary CL-30 type, Bombardier has made a workhorse of the corporate fleet into a thoroughbred. I don’t usually turn right upon entering a business jet, but I needed to try out the Nuage seats that line the bright, well-windowed cabin.

But I didn’t get too comfortable, because demo pilot Mark Ohlau had a tour ready for me of the Collins Pro Line 21 Advanced integrated flight deck. I nestled into the left seat behind the significant and traditional leather-covered yoke, and he walked me through the pilot-centered “dark cockpit,” so well organized that it doesn’t need an overhead panel. Ohlau especially likes the MultiScan weather radar, which has enabled his trips all around the globe in the airplane—including a recent bucket-list approach into Paro, Bhutan.

Stay tuned for a full pilot report to come…

The Arrivée Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet on the static display at NBAA BACE 2024. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
The Multi-Mission Daher Kodiak 900 Apex on the static display at NBAA BACE 2024. [Credit: Julie Boatman]

I visited other favorite airplanes on the display, in particular the latest Cirrus SR G7 launch edition, and the SF50 Vision Jet Microsoft Flight Sim edition, in honor of its inclusion in the latest release of that software. I also took some time to admire the latest Daher Kodiak 900, the multi-mission APEX version, with a digital camo paint scheme to suit its Swiss-Army-knife capabilities in the field.

Looking forward to my Day Three at the show…prepping for the Climbing.Fast panel with business aviation leaders who champion the sustainability cause. That facet of BACE kicked off Tuesday morning (early…yawn!) with a panel update co-hosted by GAMA.

I get up that early just to see what stylish (and sustainable?) ensemble Embraer’s Michael Amalfitano has pulled together… always check the socks.

The media breakfast on Tuesday championed the Climbing.Fast. program and progress made on various pillars of the push to net-zero emissions by 2025. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
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EAGLE Rides a Bit of Turbulence at Oshkosh

While a record number of folks flew in to Oshkosh, the forum wasn’t quite full for the EAGLE (Eliminate Aviation Gas Lead Emissions) briefing at 10 am on Monday, July 22. But a couple hundred interested parties (pilots) did show up—and they were in for quite a review, punctuated by events unfolding throughout the week at EAA AirVenture. To review, EAGLE’s goal is to eliminate the use of leaded fuels in piston-powered aircraft in the U.S. by the end of 2030.

In the briefing, the FAA and industry consortium put representatives up on the forum stage, including co-chairs Curt Castagna, of the National Air Transportation Association (NATA), and Wes Mooty, acting administrator on certification for the FAA. Walter Desrosier, GAMA’s technical lead on fuels, presented as well.

Walter Desrosier of GAMA presents on the long list of required materials testing in the path to approval for a fuel. [Credit: Julie Boatman]

Desrosier gave an in-depth look at where each of the candidate fuels are on the path to the marketplace. But even the “big picture” simplified version of that path appeared more complex than has been perhaps sold to constituents.

Three candidate fuels remain in the mix: 

* GAMI’s G100UL, which has an STC but no ASTM specification acceptance

* Swift’s 100R, which is undergoing concurrent STC and ASTM compliance testing

* LyondellBasell Industries’ UL100E, going through the Piston Engine Aviation Fuels Initiative (PAFI) program, which progresses towards ASTM acceptance and fleet authorization

After compliance is unlocked, the stakeholders in the supply chain must accept it along the way: aircraft and engine OEMs, fuel distributors, FBOs, aircraft owners/operators, and pilots.

Dan Pourreau, of LyondellBasell Industries, maker of UL100E currently going through the PAFI process, led a separate presentation later in the week. In it, he noted that a true drop-in replacement for 100LL was quickly passing from reality. One reason? The MON (mean octane number) of 100LL with which many high-compression engines were certificated is roughly 104, and may be as high as 106. 

The best that unleaded fuel can do with non-lead boosters has been around 100 MON. That means that if an engine cannot accept the 100 MON, it may need mods to its operating conditions, such as cylinder head temperature limitations (“paper mods”), or further mechanical or technical mods.

Materials Testing?

There’s another concern raising a specter over the viability of GAMI’s fuel in particular. And that has to do with the materials testing that earlier candidate fuels in the PAFI program failed to pass. When you put fuel into the wing of an airplane, you pump it into a tank and start its journey through a system that includes elastomers (O-rings, hoses), metals, rubbers and other bladder materials, plastics, sealants, and paint. You have the certified fleet to consider when walking through the potential interactions—and then there’s the experimental fleet.

During Desrosier’s presentation, he popped up a Materials Compatibility Testing Matrix slide listing an outline of the materials that EAA has put forward through the EAGLE consortium for consideration in the process of ensuring a candidate fuel won’t negatively interact with anything it comes into regular contact with. While the OEM holds responsibility for testing certified aircraft (including its legacy models), the individual builder must test their own.

So, one of the 2,846 showplanes on EAA’s display last week drew my interest as a result of this question: the Beechcraft Baron that the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) is using to demonstrate to its members the high-octane unleaded fuels vying to replace 100LL. I’d have reason to take a close look at it as the week wore on—Oshkosh often serves as a proving ground for new designs and technologies, in that they must sit out in the sun, wind, and storms for more than a week in many cases. That’ll test anyone’s material makeup.

AOPA flew the Baron to the show with GAMI’s fuel powering the left engine. As the week wore on, two things raised questions in the area of materials compatibility—though nothing is conclusive yet. The first one feels perhaps cosmetic: the stain growing on and around the fuel cap on the left main tank where white paint had been previously. 

The fuel cap on the left main tank of the Baron flown by AOPA for unleaded fuels testing. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
Sludge weeping from seams under the wing of the Baron at the AOPA exhibit. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
Reaching a low point in the wing, perhaps, the substance had the appearance of oil but smelled more of sealant. [Credit: Julie Boatman]

The second one feels more onerous, though we don’t yet know what the cause is. A line of oil-colored sludge reeking vaguely of sealant seeped from the seams underneath the wing, at low points near where the tank sits inside the wing. I crawled under to take a look myself, and it was there for all to see. Until the source of the sludge is inspected, however, its origin is inconclusive. Stay tuned for more as other results of long-term testing/demonstrations come to light.

We Have a Mixing Problem

The FAA recently published data that indicates GAMI’s fuel uses m-toluidine, an aromatic amine, as an octane booster. Not only does this set of chemicals potentially pose materials compatibility problems, but it also raise the problem of intermixing in the field—or within a tank. For its part, Swift Fuels has stated that any fuels containing aromatic amines cannot be intermixed with any Swift Fuel, including the 100R. 

LyondellBasell reported that its fuel will be fully miscible with 100LL, since it runs very close to the leaded fuel in its chemical and physical properties. But it too is not likely to be mixable with either GAMI’s or Swift’s fuels.

And that prompted me to ask the question at the forum, is there a point at which the FAA and industry will need to get behind one fuel to move forward with—especially since FBOs are unlikely to have multiple tanks to dedicate to unleaded fuels? The market is so small as it is, and the risk of bifurcating it into two or three high octane unleaded fuels doesn’t sit well.

With these clouds on the horizon, the race to field a workable unleaded fuel solution for the GA fleet by 2030 has only intensified. The next EAGLE report will be virtual, in October. I plan to be there—will you?

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What The DC Flyover Meant

The spark of the idea took place more than two years ago—the concept that the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association could organize and execute a mass formation flight over the nation’s most restricted airspace. In commemoration of its 85th birthday, the association did just that, with the “National Celebration of General Aviation DC Flyover” on May 11.

A strung-out gaggle of 54 aircraft—cached in eras and genres from the most classic Beech Staggerwing to the recently debuted Piper M700 Fury—launched from the Frederick Municipal Airport (KFDK) starting at 11:38 a.m. They flew in a distinct trail straight to the heart of Washington, D.C., into the Flight Restricted Zone (FRZ) and through prohibited area P-56 overlaying the National Mall. They took three routes back to Frederick and landed without a hitch.

A secure area had been established on the flight line, with all pilots vetted by the Secret Service and put through extensive background checks. Most aircraft carried at least two people, also having gone through preliminary and on-site TSA screening. I took up friends on the invitation to watch from their hangar near the flight line, and we positioned the golf cart with a good view of the runway—as close as we could get.

The spectacle alone—and the formation logistics—would be worth a round of applause. Just to have 54 aircraft show up and fly, and have the weather completely cooperate, made it a banner day. But after a few days’ reflection, I can’t help but say it goes much further than that.

A number of GA classics, like this 1944 DGA-15P Howard, joined the aerial parade. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
  1. For someone who was working at AOPA on September 11, 2001 (like me), to watch nearly 23 years later a string of former colleagues and friends from around the country fly right into the heart of the “no-fly zone” that has existed ever since that awful day….well, it made me realize what is possible. It took a lot of “trust but verify” to put 54 GA aircraft into that string of pearls—but with concerted effort and the integrity of those making the “ask,” it came to pass.
  2. We’re celebrating another anniversary this year: 30 years since the General Aviation Revitalization Act (GARA) was passed, paving the way for the restart of GA aircraft production by Cessna, Piper, Beech, and others. A tip of the hat to Russ Meyer (former president and CEO of Cessna) and Ed Stimpson (then president of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association) for figuring out the way to make that bill a reality. A “post restart” Cessna 172 took its place in the Flyover—not the fanciest airplane on the lineup, but one of the most poignant.
  3. This week we also saw an amazingly bipartisan effort to pass the FAA Reauthorization bill so desperately needed to free the gridlock in bureaucracy and funding to keep the FAA running. That will support not only those GA manufacturers now producing 4,090 aircraft in 2023, but also the pilots, airports, and technological advances like unleaded fuel that are critical to a healthy GA ecosystem. This time, it also produces a title for general aviation, preserving its seat at the table, for the first time in a bill. And rare for the current state of affairs in Washington, both parties came together to pass the bill through Congress and to the president. It’s still possible to collaborate across the aisle.
  4. And so much more is possible if we keep working together, dreaming big dreams, and innovating our way to solutions. My friend Carlo flew the Hatz biplane he built in his hangar at Frederick past the Washington Monument, the White House, and over the top of DCA on a sunny Saturday in May. You just never know where GA can take you when you believe, and you put in the effort to make it happen.
The open-hangar lunch let us linger after the formations returned. [Credit: Julie Boatman]
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Collaborate Into Action

I’ve spent much of my aviation life with one foot in the future, and one foot in the past.

Most recently, I spent a year and a half working with new pilots just starting their studies towards an airline transport pilot’s license, young people from all over the world, in a new country (to all of us), fighting to perfect their English along with puzzling through General Navigation—one foot in the future, one foot in the past.

At the same time (along with a team of real aviation history geeks), I brought into life the biography of a man, Donald Douglas, who changed our world a hundred years ago, as he graduated from the dewy-new MIT to establish the Douglas Aircraft Company and build the iconic DC-3.

As I continue to field DMs from students, as they struggle and succeed, and as I read news every day of the latest innovations trying to solve our questions of future propulsion, economy, and environmental care—I can’t help but be struck by the parallels back to similar questions Donald Douglas grappled with in the 1920s and 30s, as his wily band of engineers competed, collaborated, and convinced a wary public that flying around the world was not only possible, but safe—and should be something we must keep doing.

Clearly that general public took the bait, because we’re still building airplanes, we’re still needing pilots, and so much of the world’s commerce can happen because it’s possible for me to get on an airplane in Lisbon this afternoon and be in Singapore 26 hours later (with a few hours cooling my jets in Dubai).

A couple of weeks ago, the FAA hosted a symposium in Washington, D.C., seeking to loosen the hairy knot that’s choking the development of the aviation workforce. Because we live in a connected world, I participated in it livestream from my couch via Facebook. 

After conceding that the opening panel reflected the current state of affairs (and politics)—and deftly illustrated that we haven’t yet tackled diversity in our upper ranks—I was encouraged as the day moved on with a variety of thoughtful leaders from around the community floating up idea balloons that deserved more time than the space provided. It reminded me of the similar Pilot Training Reform Symposium hosted by SAFE (Society of Aviation and Flight Educators) in Atlanta in May 2011.

At that conference, we outlined a host of problems to address. Coming off of the worst recession many of us had witnessed firsthand, we discussed the lack of student starts, drop in aircraft sales, and diminishing flight hours all around that hung a dark cloud over the industry—but we were determined to fight these issues. 

The ideas that came from that 2011 event (increase flight instructor professionalism, revamp the testing process, find new ways to market to the next generation) felt solid, but only through the collaborative effort between industry, government, and user groups did we come up with real change. Regardless of how you feel about the new Airmen Certification Standards, they reflect the substantial transformation that can happen when folks set aside their fiefdoms and work to create something new.

And that was the overall message I heard from the Aviation Workforce Symposium this September. We have a new landscape, with airlines around the world clamoring for personnel—not just pilots—and willing to pay for training and better wages to bring them on board. Turns out that when the real pain strikes you, what was once a nagging ache turns into an emergency you must address.

At the symposium, the people who found success in recruiting diverse new entrants into the aviation community (be it pilots, technicians, or the host of support personnel making airplanes fly)—these folks brought up repeatedly the partnerships that had energized the process. The collaborations make it happen. 

Case in point—and one I can relate to, given my recent experience: Students that have come into our training programs in Portugal typically do not have the same experience with the mechanical world that I had as a teenager. When I turned 16, more than 30 years ago, I had a car, and I learned how to change a tire, and an air filter, and the bulbs for my headlights. Today, even in the U.S., where a similar teen could also have access to a car, it might take dropping the entire front end of the car to get to the headlights—we’re so advanced, we’re no longer meant to service our own machines.

As for the young people I’ve mentored in the last two years: They not only may not have ever driven a car before coming to Portugal—some have never ridden a bicycle. It’s far from a lack of intelligence (that same kid could build an app for my iPhone), but a difference in exposure. At the same time, the airlines need more relevant skill in their initial candidates, though there may be less skill coming in the front door, a point brought up by several voices at the symposium.

We fiercely need to innovate and collaborate to attack this lack of exposure. If the flight school, and, subsequently the airline, notes this lack, and in partnership brings training into the high schools, we can solve this pervasive problem—and at the same time the industry gets to take advantage of the inherent marketing that occurs when a child encounters aviation in a natural, practical, relevant way.

We innovate in aviation in a stunning variety of ways, and I feel in my bones we’ll address our issues about fuel, noise, cost, comfort, and safety through evolutions we can’t yet visualize. The first flight around the world, in the Douglas World Cruisers in 1924, resulted from the innovation of the new aviation industry, backed by the support and investment of the Army Air Corps. Doug had witnessed the ineffective (at best) way government worked when unchecked, through his year with the Signal Corps in World War I—but he also knew that serving the greater good through this government contract could have a large financial payoff for his private-sector business.

I’d like to see the action list resulting from the Aviation Workforce Symposium—and determine the project to which I’ll sign my name. If each of us does the same, we can direct the innovation to address our problems.

One action item we can each put into play? Take a cue from entities as diverse as Boeing, Redbird Flight Simulations, and AOPA, and—using the work they’ve done in creating STEM curricula and other programs—help them find traction in our local schools and youth clubs. Supplement this greater action with other gestures to enhance it, such as donating materials and subscriptions to a local youth program or technical college. 

My personal action has been giving support to our local air museum, and mentoring past students (our diverse “flock”) as they navigate their own specific course to an aviation career. Parallel to this? To counter any lack of opportunity, purposefully seek out young people who wouldn’t otherwise get a ride to the airport, and go to them where they are—maybe that kid isn’t watching airplanes from outside the fence because he or she can’t physically get there.

Collaboration wins, but it takes each of us to move the needle forward.