Careers

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 […]

“The wings are like an extension of my arms,” Red Bull Aerobatic Pilot Kirby Chambliss says. “I wanted to be the best in the world, and when you want to be the best in the world at anything, you’ve just got to practice more than anyone else.” Red Bull Aerobatic Pilot Kirby Chambliss practiced three […]

As a flight instructor, parents often ask me how they should encourage their children who show interest in aviation. My favorite answer? Send them to an aviation-focused school. These schools are located in every corner of the nation, and they are fee free, public education institutions. They aren’t necessarily new, either. Aviation High School in […]

It took Amanda Larson only a couple of course corrections to arrive at the career of her dreams, finding challenging and rewarding work in the aviation field while serving the public and her country. A small-town Minnesota native, Amanda was studying political science at the University of North Dakota (UND) when her path took its […]

An uncertain path to their career goal may stunt some students’ dreams of becoming airline pilots, but programs aimed at addressing looming crew shortages provide all but guaranteed routes to the flight deck, if you have what it takes. “Everyone is feeling the effects of the pilot supply issue, to the degree many airlines are […]

Bobby Breeden’s great-grandfather dreamed of becoming a pilot and exploring Alaska, passions that inspired Bobby’s father, Bob, who today flies bush airplanes and develops real estate in the Last Frontier State. Now Bobby, an Unmanned Aircraft Systems Science (UASS) student, has put his own short and sweet stamp on that legacy: He’s a four-time winner […]

Airline Transport Pilots (ATPs) outnumber Certified Flight Instructors (CFIs) by better than 3 to 2 (152,933 to 100,993 at the end of 2014 the FAA says). That gap may narrow as rules adopted in 2013 mandate U.S. airline pilots possess an Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) rating, which in most cases requires a minimum of 1,500 […]