Expert: David A. NewMyer - 8/5/2003

Question
Sir, I am looking for information on continueing my career in aviation. That is if I should, and in what field? Some history, my first job out of high school was ramp service for a company that handled domestic and international carriers. After several years of that I began working aircraft manufacturing in a preflight / delivery shop. I was re-deployed in 2002 and went to work for a company that serviced escape slides. In 2003 I was let go due to declining work from that company and find myself pondering what next? I have a strong passion for aircraft, and would like to remain in the industry. I am interested in crash investigation, ATC, and almost anything related to aircraft operations. I would be greatful for any suggestions. Thank you.  

Answer
Hi, Stephen:

Nice to hear from you....I will try to assist!

The key thing for you to consider is that, in addition to work experience, what other qualifications to you have to offer to an employer?  That is, do you have a BS or BA degree or higher?  Also, do you have a military aviation background.  You did not mention either, but, I thought I would ask just to make sure.  The degree is important in that you will be competing with a lot of people who DO have a degree.  The military experience could be important, particularly for working with aerospace manufacturers who make aviation equipment for the military.

As for WHERE the hot possibilities are, here are a few companies or industry segments that are doing well:

1.  As noted above, the military side of aerospace/aviation manufacturing (Boeing-St. Louis or Boeing-Philadelphia, for example, as well as Lockheed-Ft. Worth);

2.  Low cost airlines such as American Trans Air (Indianapolis), JetBlue (NYC), AirTran (Atlanta), and Southwest (Dallas) are all doing well and are hiring.  Southwest added over 1200 employees last year, as an example.  Also, JetBlue has well over 100 aircraft on order for future expansion.

3.  Fractional ownership corporate aviation companies such as Netjets (also called Executive Jet), Columbus, Ohio, have done well.

4.  Some parts of general aviation in general are doing well such as corporate flight departments and some Fixed Base Operator chains, especially those that serve corporate jets.

5.  Finally, some parts of government-related aviation are doing well, too.  TSA has been added as a government-related aviation segment of employment since 9-11, which has added about 50,000 jobs to this section.  Also, airport management and planning has done well.  Finally, you mentioned Air Traffic Control and that field will be looking for people to hire over the next decade as the controller workforce ages and retires.  The FAA has over 50,000 people working for them, of whom well more than half are controllers or controllers in training.  Watch hiring age limits there, however.

As far as crash investigation, that is a very small field and the people who work in the field have a very long list of credentials including work in military crash investigation.  They are also almost always certificated pilots or aviation mechanics, so that they can add their aviation expertise to the investigation discussions.  The best way to enter the aviation accident investigation field is via employment as an Aviation Safety Inspector at a Flight Standards District Office of the Federal Aviation Administration.  Those jobs, as noted above, require FAA certification as a pilot or mechanic AND significant experience with those certificates (a minimum of 1500 hours as a pilot, for example).

For more information on jobs available out there, check out:

1. Air Jobs Digest, a monthly newspaper format publication.  Call 1-800-AIR-JOBS for a three month subscription, which costs $49.  Lots of jobs are listed in many parts of aviation.

2.  Also, check these websites:

www.aeps.com

www.aviationemployment.com

www.ultimateaviationlinks.com

www.avcrew.com

I hope that this helps!  Best of luck to you,

David A. NewMyer, Ph.D., Professor and Chair
Aviation Management and Flight
Southern lllinois University Carbondale
http://www.aviation.siu.edu