Making Flight Departments Safe Makes Them More Efficient, too
Dec 13, 2007 :: Second Nature SafetyNatural born pilots, or at least those who work hard at projecting that image, will tell you that they knew they had “the right stuff” the very first time they got behind the controls of an airplane. They felt at home, comfortable, in charge—not to the point of cockiness, but surely to a level of confidence that made them feel that flying wasn’t something to be learned as much as an innate ability that only needed to be unleashed. To them, safely operating an airplane is, and always has been, something as normal as walking. That’s what they say, at least—with a practiced nonchalance.
Take the same calm, capable, and confident captain of the air and ask him or her to establish, manage and maintain a safe and efficient flight department and the practiced nonchalance is likely to disappear in a hurry. For a lot of pilots who think flying is easy, managing a budget, maintaining and operating a corporate fleet, overseeing a staff of professionals and complying with all the attendant regulations, running a flight department is about as natural as trying to teach a fish to ride a bicycle!
Fortunately, there are things that piloting an airplane and directing a flight department have in common…and there are resources available to help pilots recognize those similarities and navigate the ground-bound side of aviation as well as they do the skies.
“Basically, piloting an airplane and managing a flight operation both start with a focus on safety, the reduction of risk and adherence to a set of well-defined standards,” says Don Baldwin, former Aviation Director at Coca Cola and Texaco. “It’s just good business practice to create and maintain standards, whether you’re operating a manufacturing operation or a flight department. Pilots are used to going down a cockpit checklist every time they fly so creating checklists for managing safety and building a safety culture in their flight operation doesn’t seem foreign to them,” he adds.
Baldwin, who is now CEO of Baldwin Aviation Safety & Compliance, a firm which assists flight departments in safety management and complying with government regulations, says that he and his staff are increasingly being asked to assist new and expanding flight departments in keeping track of the myriad of requirements that come with operating aircraft in the nation’s busy skies. “Our primary mission is safety enhancement, but we find ourselves providing ongoing support and resources to help flight departments develop everything from flight operations manuals, training schedules, and emergency response plans to human resources policies, regulatory compliance and standard operating procedures.”
While Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board statistics indicate that aviation safety has, for the most part, improved steadily over the past decade, a number of factors which could influence that trend can’t be ignored. They include the fact that many of the most experienced pilots, the Baby-Boomers, who in large numbers were trained by the military, are retiring. Yet student starts for new pilots aren’t keeping pace even as the number of new aircraft models at both ends of the product spectrum—from light sport airplanes to high performance business and transport jets—continues to grow. The experience level of the overall pilot population is declining. That puts pressure on existing professional pilots to do more than just fly.
A solid decade of economic growth has certainly stimulated the markets for all types of aircraft and the establishment of corporate flight departments, too. More traffic, the presence of more aircraft with state of the art technology and expanding capabilities, and an obvious need to modernize an outdated air traffic control system are all considerations that could impact aviation safety, as well.
“This type of environment, which dictates a need for professionals who can keep a lot of balls in the air—not to mention airplanes—makes it imperative that flight departments ensure that their personnel receive regular training, that the operation complies with mandated regulations, and that they monitor and maintain levels of performance. It makes operating a flight department a challenge for even the most organized and proficient manager. When you throw in the requirement to get into the left seat and fly the boss halfway around the world to a meeting, it’s easy to see why a lot of flight department managers are looking for ways to supplement their existing manpower,” Baldwin notes.
Turning some of the non-flying elements of the operation over to professionals, especially ones with years of experience addressing the same challenges, can actually provide an economic benefit. “If you factor in the amount of money you save by avoiding an incident that damages an aircraft or an accident involving injuries and it’s easy to justify obtaining help in such a key area,” he adds.
“Safety isn’t an option,” Baldwin points out, “It has to be standard equipment in today’s full service flight department. And, even if an operation has been able to get by with what could best be termed ‘part-time’ or contract help in the past, that approach won’t be sufficient in the future. The FAA has already issued an Advisory Circular (120-92) that introduces the concept of a Safety Management System to aviation service providers and it’s obvious that specific mandates will follow. Flight Departments need to be able to answer four questions if they’re going to be prepared for what’s ahead:
1. Do you have a safety management program?
2. Do you have a current flight operations manual?
3. Do you have the resources necessary for safety management?
4. Are you prepared in the event of an accident or incident?
It’s in everyone’s interest for the flight operation to have these resources in place…and to have a well-established safety culture. The goal of any flight department should be to make sure safety comes naturally,” he concluded. That’s not something you can ever be nonchalant about, he might well have added.
