Tag: Major Airlines

Why Women Make Great Airline Captains

Posted on by rbaliatico
women
Katie adding hours by flying her Piper with another pilot working towards his ATP.

Why Women Make Great Airline Captains

Throughout the history of aviation, pilots have always been celebrated and revered for their skill, intelligence, and courage. While the image of the classic airline pilot is often portrayed as male, the truth is, women have been flying since the earliest days of aviation. Even though they were once marginalized and even excluded from flying, women have persisted and proven that they are not only capable of being pilots, but exceptional ones at that. Here’s why women make great airline captains:

  1. Attention to Detail: Piloting an aircraft requires meticulous attention to detail, from pre-flight checks to reading instruments and responding to changing weather conditions. Many women naturally excel at tasks that require detailed attention and precision.
  2. Communication Skills: Effective communication is essential in aviation, especially during critical phases of flight and emergency situations. Women, often touted for their communication skills, can articulate their thoughts clearly and precisely, ensuring the safety and coordination of flight operations.
  3. Emotional Intelligence: A good captain isn’t just skilled in flying; they’re skilled in managing a crew. Women often score high in emotional intelligence, allowing them to understand, empathize, and react appropriately to the needs and feelings of their crew, thereby fostering a positive work environment.
  4. Risk Assessment: Multiple studies suggest that women, on average, tend to be more risk-averse than men. In the context of aviation, this translates to a more cautious approach to safety and decision-making, ensuring the wellbeing of passengers and crew.
  5. Diversity of Thought: Having a diverse set of pilots, including women, brings a broader range of perspectives and experiences. This diversity can lead to more robust problem-solving and decision-making in challenging situations.
  6. Adaptability: Women in traditionally male-dominated professions often have to adapt and learn quickly to thrive. This adaptability is a valuable trait for airline captains who often face unpredictable situations that require quick thinking.
  7. Role Models for the Future: Having women in leadership roles such as airline captains can inspire a whole new generation of female aviators. They stand as testament to the fact that with determination, skill, and passion, any gender barrier can be overcome.

In conclusion, while both men and women possess the qualities to be exceptional airline captains, it’s essential to recognize and celebrate the unique strengths that women bring to the cockpit. As the world pushes for more gender equality, it’s crucial to support and acknowledge the tremendous contributions of women in aviation. Their presence not only ensures safe and efficient flights but also paves the way for a brighter and more inclusive future in the skies. That’s it for today, until next week, Be Social, Fly Private!

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Private air charter has many challenges

Posted on by rbaliatico

private air charter                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Private air charter has many challenges ahead. Pictured above is one of our Managing Partners, Katherine Koch, my darling wife and future commercial ATP pilot. Unfortunately she only represents a small number of future commercial pilots headed towards the private air charter industry or a major commercial airlines. The pilot shortage is private aviation’s number one challenge, further exacerbated by competition for pilots from airline and freight operations. The airlines are offering huge sign-on bonuses, great work schedules, amazing benefits packages, and lofty annual salaries particularly for anyone experienced enough to graduate to the left seat of these jets. After forcing early retirements during the pandemic, the majors are desperately playing catch-up in this highly competitive industry. Upward mobility was already accelerated before the pandemic but now in the aftermath pilots are upgrading at minimums and jumping from regional to major airlines with unprecedented speed. There is a huge presence in aviation schools by most of the regional airlines that feed these major carriers, something we are not seeing enough of by the private air charter industry. It is a major challenge among many others we will discuss further in this article. In this article, we will take a quick look back 5 years ago at the challenges to private air charter that have shaped the current industry. In next week’s post, we will take a deeper dive into the current private air charter industry.

The private jet charter business had its fair share of problems like any other industry five years ago. Staffing was an issue but not to the extent it is today. Other factors overshadowed the issue back then. A lot of air charter companies didn’t have enough foresight and planning skills. Many wound up with negative budgets by spending way more than they were taking in. Debt had a way of getting out of control especially when the tempting business and lucrative opportunities of private jets blinded many before it was too late. Lawsuits from unhappy flyers, ex-employees, competing companies, and even the government were also mounting. Lawsuits can easily ground even the best private aviation organizations. Even airports caused operators location issues as many towers lost their funding and were decommissioned or were under pressure from localities looking to take the land and develop it for housing.

Further, it is easy to see the operational inefficiencies of the management of emptylegs. Many flyers don’t even know what an emptyleg is, and, worse, are often unaware they are paying for them.  For example, let’s say a flyer is in New York with a business need in Chicago but the operator’s plane is in Houston. The plane first has to be flown from Texas to New York most likely empty. Then the plane picks up the passengers to bring them to Chicago, but the flyer isn’t leaving anytime soon because they are in town for a business conference. For many reasons the plane and crew may have to go back to the home base and depending on demand may be flown back to Texas empty without passengers. Guess who pays for all that flying? You got it: most of the time its the flyer who booked the flight! What the flyer sees as one flight from New York to Chicago may actually be three flights. Add in a broker fee, flight card membership, et cetera, and you’re looking at footing a pretty large bill. Sometimes operators have to absorb the costs of of the empties, cutting into their margins. With this simple example, you can see how inefficient and complex the business can be. Keep in mind this was the common structure five years ago and there are many new aspects to this “empty flying” we will discuss in our current look at the industry next week.

Five years ago, there were all kinds of new apps that were funded by all types of investors. Some of these investors are famous and some are very rich and influential.  Memberships with those companies and cost of flights had nothing to do with actual costs and profit margins. Some operators intentionally operated at a loss for the sake of customer acquisition, particularly for influencer types of flyers. Investor money covered the differences (losses) as the invested parties wagered for a huge IPO in the future in hopes of reaping a bigger ROI. Unfortunately, that often didn’t happen. Wall Street loves revenue, profits, and earnings per share, something these apps and operators had no way of showing.  Add in fluctuating fuel prices that made planning and forecasting impossible; operators often have little power over fuel prices and can get caught in the crosshairs of government policies. Many of these operators agreed to fixed hourlies to get clients for these new apps, cutting their margins and making them ripe for failure.  Adding in rising insurance costs and the overall expenses from the certification process to make an operator a FAA 135  compliant operator, many operators were headed to bankruptcy court or being purchased by larger operators. This trend of consolidation really started in the last five years and we are seeing it continue today. Back then many operators were inefficient in the overall day to day operations of their charter businesses and positioned themselves for takeover bid or overall failure of the business. 

It truly has brought us to this point today and the writing is on the wall for this upcoming year. With the realities of recession, production delays due to supply chain issues, and many aspects of our industry we will touch on next week, it is clear that what we do today will shape the future of the private air charter industry. There is a lot of opportunity, and many large private air charter operations are well positioned for dominance, but this industry’s growth potential still dwarfs the number of players on the field, leaving more cake than crumbs for the smart operator and people serving them.

The Japanese have a concept called Kaizen referring to business activities that continuously improve all functions and involve all employees from the CEO to the assembly line workers. Kaizen also applies to processes, such as purchasing and logistics, that cross organizational boundaries into the supply chain. It is something the industry needs to embrace and we will explore this too next week. 

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You Have Grown Tired of Commercial Flights

Posted on by rbaliatico
grown tired of commercial flights, successful
One of the Most Popular Entry Level Business Jets – Phenom 300E

You have finally decided it makes sense to consider buying a business jet. It would take several blog posts to cover all the options in front of you if this the path you and your company are on, but lets take a look at where to begin. For the sake of keeping things simple, lets assume you are very successful as is your business and you have grown tired of commercial flights and all their shortcomings. You went from flying main cabin economy or premium economy (ooh extra legroom) to Business and First Class in your overnight success story. Then the recent pandemic tore threw the industry causing early commercial aviation retirements and all types of inconveniences you are not happy with nor will you accept. At American Airlines they had 39,000 pandemic related early retirements many of whom were pilots, and that’s just at American Airlines. There is a huge shortage of pilots in the world with the demand nearing 40,000 to 50,000 needed during this decade alone. That’s why I outlined the long path to the left seat in our last blog post, so you can see the many challenges ahead of you. Commercial flying isn’t going to get better anytime soon and you know it. That’s why you looked at your business or businesses, net worth, and got the idea to buy a jet to complete your future business trips. Maybe by now you have charted a private jet for one of these and loved it. No TSA lines to get on, delayed flights, or cancellations that make no sense. A beautiful drive to the FBO and tarmac, quick exchange to the airplane interior, and that fresh chilled cloth to wipe away the days stress. But is this Phenom 300E even in your budget if you decide to purchase? How do you buy it, via a fractional?

Fractional jet purchases are where you pay for a portion of the plane with other like minded jet owners. You don’t need a plane all the time, so sharing with other owners makes sense. Your cost for this is less, but somewhat restrictive. You still might have to deal with delays due to mechanical issues like you would with owning the entire plane or have to deal with blackout dates. Buying a jet non-fractional, has many options to consider too. Size of plane to meet your needs, how it will be flown, where it will be hangered, crewing the plane, etcetera. You most likely will turn to a management firm for this and they will also talk to you about possibly chartering out the plane for the times you wont need it. I can go into great detail on this subject but its more suited towards a future post.

The point is that it makes more sense to charter for a while first. Many people like you come to this realization and typically turn to either a broker or maybe a paid service. There are many paid services today for private jet travel. Some are very slick and effortless which usually matches their respective membership fees and/or jet card programs. The more you pay, the better they typically will be at least in reliability or fleet access. This wont save you money, it will save you time, hopefully, as the real hourly cost to fly will be considerably higher than if you had just called a charter operator and booked the flight(s) yourself. You are still way better off going this route first prior to making that jet purchase. It will ensure you know exactly what you need and what makes sense. Done correctly, your future jet purchase can then be quite a good investment, especially if you take the time to charter first and explore your options. The new private jet owners we have helped navigate from private jet charter to ownership, find themselves in great positive equity positions with their newest acquisition, and are already looking for their next plane purchase. But it still makes sense to start the journey via charter with a reputable service that can guide you along the way. Like I already mentioned these companies have all kinds of private jet programs, Apple and Android apps, some even have their own planes to choose from. They are all pretty good at what they do. The better they are, the more they charge. For most of us, its not about price anyway, its about service and maybe nice perks or upgrades. You have to start somewhere because commercial flying is not worth your time…period. Even if you are currently flying on private jets with a membership or via a broker, its time to really look at the industry, how and why it operates, and are you getting what you pay for.  What are your true hourly costs per aircraft category? Will changes in the economy with inflation, a recession, be the time to rethink your business and even your leisure travel? Finally, how comfortable are you with your current broker or paid service, and more importantly, how safe are you flying?

Just a week prior to the writing this post we lost the founder and CEO of RSG Group and Gold’s Gym, Rainer Schaller. All we know is that he was in a private plane (Piaggio P180 Avanti) with 5 other people in Costa Rica. We don’t know the details of the crash, but as a company we make it our business to be sure we have an immediate handle on what might have happened. It will take years to discover any possible issues with the specific plane, but its data our clients expect us to be on top of. Large corporations will not fly executives in specific manufactures planes after hearing there was an incident in one. Many times it has nothing to do with the quality or safety of the jet, but it wont matter as perception often trumps reality. In the meantime, we will end our post here and send our heartfelt sorrow to the families and friends of those aboard that flight. Next week we will delve further into the Private Jet charter Industry and discuss specifically the inefficiencies they work with.

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