Premium on Safety - Issue 36, 2020 - 3

FOCUS POINT
Some companies, such as Hillsboro Aero Academy in Hillsboro,
Oregon, and venerable ERAU are updating their piston trainers
with diesel-driven (and less expensive Jet A consuming)
versions. Other longstanding programs are expanding their flight
simulation offerings with Redbird, Frasca, and other products
and upgrading their fleets, but they too are under pressure to
staff up with instructors. They are aggressively hiring CFIs.
Tuition assistance during training in the U.S. is quickly
becoming the norm. Major airlines are coming onboard and
several large regional carriers with flow-through agreements
to major U.S. airlines (including Horizon, Skywest, and PSA
Airlines) have developed programs for reimbursing trainee
pilots who commit to a work contract with them. Incoming
pilot classes at the airlines are beginning to fill with prequalified candidates as a result.

BEST PRACTICES

What does that mean for business aviation? For the moment
supply and demand are balanced, but will that hold now that
the airlines are upping the ante with tuition reimbursement in
exchange for employment commitments? It may be that business
aviation needs to step up its game to make sure that it, too, can
recruit the best candidates into its open flight crew professional
positions. There are scholarships specifically tailored for business
aviation training available through the NBAA and WCA, among
other organizations, and nearly every pilot-oriented organization
has a youth outreach arm actively recruiting the next generation.
Is it enough? Time will tell.

- Amy Laboda, managing editor, USAIG Premium on Safety
newsletter

FSI is working to develop Master Aviator recurrent training.
"People want more," Gross said.

question started the change. The industry was asking for it
so we made those adjustments," he said.

While the FSI program is specifically for pilots, the National
Business Aviation Association's (NBAA) Certified Aviation
Manager (CAM) program attracts a broad range of
candidates. NBAA has been offering the CAM program for
years and in July plans to roll out an offshoot, Six Months to
CAM, which offers a streamlined study process and online
study groups to help candidates maximize their efficiency
and achieve certification more quickly.

About 50 to 70 candidates take the CAM exam each year,
but Austin expects that to increase after Six Months to CAM is
launched. The candidate pool is extremely diverse and covers
both aircraft operating members and business members,
Austin said. "Over the years, we have seen new candidates
come in from the administrative side, operations, schedulers,
dispatchers. We have lawyers. We have tax advisors. We have
CFOs. The range of current CAMs and candidates ranges the
entire spectrum of business aviation," he said.

CAM is designed to help identify qualified professionals
to lead flight departments and can be used as a tool for
succession planning.
Development of the program started toward the end of
the 1990s and the first exam was administered in 2004, said
Tyler Austin, NBAA's senior manager, certification.
To sit for the exam, a candidate must have at least two
years of business aviation experience, two signed letters of
recommendation, and have accrued a minimum number of
points in the CAM points system. Points are awarded in four
categories: employment history, formal education, licensing
and certification, and continuing education.

ASI's Understanding eAPIS:
A Pilot's Guide to Online
Customs Reporting

The certification process tests a candidate's knowledge and
experience in five subject areas: leadership, human resources,
operations, business management, and technical and facilities
services. CAM is accredited by the National Commission for
Certifying Agencies.
CAM originally was envisioned for aviation management,
but over the past decade NBAA broadened the horizon
"because we knew that business aviation needed a
credential for future managers, and when you think of
current and future managers, they're not all pilots. They
really cover the entire spectrum of our diverse industry,"
Austin said. "It isn't a surprise now, but it certainly was a
surprise back then when they started and a lot of people
were saying, 'I really need or want a credential that shows
I'm ready to manage to lead a team. Is this for me?' That

Six Months to CAM includes a detailed six-month study
outline; a self-assessment tool to help candidates identify
strengths and weaknesses; domain specific content; digital
study groups with peers on the same exam schedule;
scheduled calls with industry subject matter experts; and
webinars covering topics such as study best practices and
how to break down test questions.
Beyond FSI and NBAA there are organizational Safety Stand
downs and conference education sessions, and anyone
eager to move from the left seat to an executive position in
a flight department should be encouraged by the company
to pursue a Master's in business administration, finance, or
an advanced aviation degree as those provided by EmbryRiddle Aeronautical University's online worldwide campus,
University of North Dakota, and other well-known schools
with vibrant aviation degree programs (the University
Aviation Association, www.uaa.aero, has a list).
Employees who have established growth paths in their
positions tend to stay longer and be loyal. It benefits
companies to consider making "masters" of their aviators,
mechanics and safety crew.

- Frank Jackman is an aviation journalist and
communications professional.

http://www.uaa.aero

Premium on Safety - Issue 36, 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Premium on Safety - Issue 36, 2020