Careers

It is a parent’s greatest quest: finding an activity that a parent and teen can do together. If the activity benefits the community, builds character and promotes usable skills, well, even better. If it also happens to fascinate both the parent and teen, well, then you’ve got an experience they’ll both cherish. The United States […]

In what must have been a desperate attempt to meet gender quotas, the FAA hired me as an inspector in the Chicago O’Hare Air Carrier District Office in 1980. Six months later, somebody realized I knew absolutely nothing about jets or air carrier operations and farmed me out to the DuPage General Aviation District Office (GADOs then, […]

“Everybody should learn how to fly aerobatics, because it makes you a better pilot, a more disciplined pilot,” Oracle Aerobatic Pilot Sean D. Tucker believes. Tucker’s own fear of flying inspired him to become an aerobatic pilot.

“Let’s go. It’s time.” With this self-admonition, I stood up, glanced in the mirror, straightened my tie and left the hotel room. It was only a quarter to 7, but there was no way I was going to risk being late today. To my surprise, the lobby was already filled with 22 men and women […]

Contrary to popular belief, Lorem Ipsum is not simply random text. It has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature from 45 BC, making it over 2000 years old. Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, […]

At Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum, young children learn about the history of aviation and the activity of flying. “Kids are like film. All they need is exposure, and something beautiful develops. Aviation is that exposure,” Robin Petgrave, founder and executive director of Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum believes. Watch and be inspired by the following video about this […]

Safety management systems (SMS) — if someone in aviation whispers these three words in your ear, then it is time to sit up and listen. It’s a newly defined career in aviation — SMS director — and one that is growing quickly. A search on LinkedIn for “SMS officer aviation” lists SMS experts in companies […]

When you meet American Airlines Miami-base Chief Pilot Capt. Brian Beach, you know he likes his job. Watch him interact with a few of the 2,300 pilots he leads and you’ll begin to think that Beach is good at his job too. You’ll have to get up pretty early in the morning to catch him […]

New England Airlines, which flies between Westerly, Rhode Island, and Block Island, Rhode Island, with six- and 10-seat aircraft, is one of many tiny scheduled airlines that fill specific transportation needs throughout the U.S. Director of Operations Bill Bendokas and his wife, Lois, both Block Islanders, started the airline in 1970. It is one of […]

Pam Choi recalls her answer, soon after graduating from the FAA Academy, when the tower chief asked what best prepared her, a former waitress, to be an air traffic controller (ATC). “I said, ‘I’m guessing ATC is very similar to waiting tables: You’re either very busy or very slow, you have to be polite and […]