Careers

For Richard Johnson, the path to a career at Boeing took patience and time-management skills. The production pilot worked as a flight instructor while simultaneously earning his engineering degrees before landing his job. Now, the sun is always shining at 41,000 feet in Seattle for the engineer and pilot. See what kind of advice Johnson […]

Day six of 10 in Miami Lakes, Florida, didn’t hold much promise for flying, but it did provide a chance to do some laundry. The crew hotel wasn’t five star, to put it kindly, and it wasn’t anywhere near anything to eat or do. It was hot. Armed with a roll of quarters, I loaded the […]

Throughout the years of my musings with this magazine, I have espoused the attribute of mundane in regard to a safe and successful airline trip; the simulator is reserved as the venue for the exact opposite. None of my colleagues would wish for an inflight malady just to quell the monotony, but there are moments […]

Airport managers oversee all facility activities, from air operations to human resources and administration, in addition to ensuring compliance with TSA and FAA regulations. Jeff Price, a professor in the department of aviation and aerospace science at Colorado’s Metropolitan State University, explained the career path to running an airport. Price also heads Leading Edge Strategies, […]

Boeing announced that it is issuing a series of grants totaling $6 million to educational institutions in Washington state. While the donation is generous, there is a strategy behind the company’s benevolence. Boeing is preparing for a major retirement wave in its Washington-based facilities and is therefore getting involved to ensure that there will be […]

U.S. Coast Guard Search and Rescue (SAR) pilots provide assistance to individuals in distress in maritime environments, and also perform drug interdiction and national security missions. The HH-65 Dolphin and MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters are the Coast Guard’s primary Search and Rescue platforms; fixed-wing aircraft are also utilized. Lt. Cmdrs. Mike Baird and Ron Bledsoe, both […]

Aviation Maintenance Technician Aviation maintenance technicians maintain, service, repair and overhaul airframes, power plants, avionics and aircraft instruments. Boeing projects 600,000 AMTs will be needed by the airline industry alone over the next two decades. Some 170 educational institutions offer two-year or four-year training programs qualifying graduates for FAA airframe and power-plant certification, the gateway […]

Despite the FAA’s early-August job-vacancy announcement seeking candidates to fill 1,400 trainee controller openings, an effort that netted the agency tens of thousands of applicants, the agency said it won’t overlook another possible pool of ATC experience. The agency took the somewhat unusual step last week of publishing a job announcement specifically aimed at men […]

The flying Franklins started with Kyle’s grandfather, Oliver Gene “Zip” Franklin, who bought a 1929 Doyle Special at the age of 16. The eldest Franklin mainly used airplanes as farm equipment to fly between two family ranches, and he had his son Jimmy with him in the cockpit while still in diapers before the lad […]

Director of Aerospace Program Management Directors of aerospace program management lead major product and project-development programs, from satellite and communications systems to aircraft and avionics platforms. They work for aircraft or engine manufacturers, or defense, telecom or other aerospace-related employers. Directors are responsible for developing budgets and timetables and ensuring programs meet both. A bachelor’s […]