API In the News

Employers are using benefits and incentives as creative retention tools to hold on to business aviation professionals.        As some business aircraft pilots continue to pursue what they believe to be greener pastures with the airlines, business aviation employers are increasingly looking to new incentive programs and implementing other job-related benefits to attract and retain qualified industry professionals. “Companies are getting creative,” said Sheryl Barden, president and CEO of the recruiting firm Aviation Personnel International. “One company recently purchased a small airplane for employees to use on a recreational basis, while others now offer company cars to their pilots. Another is looking at how to help employees pay off their student loans.” Business aircraft operators may also counter perceived airline perks, such as guaranteed days off and fixed schedules, by appealing to those with a sense of entrepreneurialism who appreciate a diverse and ever-changing work environment. This article was originally featured in the Nov/Dec 2019 issue of NBAA’s Business Aviation Insider magazine. Please visit NBAA.org or download a copy here.

New Board Leaders Take Office at NBAA’s Annual Meeting

Las Vegas, NV, Oct. 23, 2019 – The voting members of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) today re-elected two individuals to the association’s Board of Directors during an annual meeting held during NBAA’s Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE). Additionally, Elizabeth Dornak, of DuPont Aviation, succeeded Gen. Lloyd “Fig” Newton, of L3 Harris Technologies, Inc., as chair; also, Monte Koch, of Falconshare LLC, will serve as NBAA’s new vice chair/treasurer. Leadership on NBAA’s Advisory Council, formerly known as AMAC, also changed today, with Sheryl Barden, of Aviation Personnel International, replacing Todd Duncan, of Duncan Aviation, as chair, and David Davenport, of FlightSafety International, becoming vice chair. As leaders of the Advisory Council, Barden and Davenport will serve as the Business Member Advisors on the board of directors. Sheryl Barden has spent a lifetime in aviation, having grown up in and around the business aviation recruiting firm Aviation Personnel International, where she now serves as the company’s president and CEO. Barden is a leading authority on hiring and leadership development practices, and is a frequent industry speaker. She is an active member of the Society for Human Resources Management, Flight Safety Foundation, Women in Corporate Aviation and the International Women’s Forum. She earned an MBA from the Masagung School of Business at the University of San Francisco and a bachelor of science degree in management, with an emphasis in personnel management, from Pennsylvania State University. She has been a member of the board since 2017, and her term as Advisory Council chair will conclude in 2021. See full press release  

Faced with an aviation pilot shortage and reduction in technical professionals in the near future, the aviation industry isn’t sitting on the ground. It’s going wheels-up for the future. A recently published report by the Boeing o. stated that over the next 20 years, “804,000 new civilian aviation pilots, 769,000 new maintenance technicians and 914,000 new cabin crew will be needed to fly and maintain the world fleet… The forecast is inclusive of the commercial aviation, business aviation and civil helicopter industries.” “We call it a ‘talent gap,’” said Sheryl Barden, president and CEO of San Francisco-based Aviation Personnel International, which helps corporations and high-net-worth individuals find permanent professionals to fly, maintain and protect the value of their business aviation assets. “Everyone is competing for a finite amount of talent and trying to hold onto the talent they have,” Barden added. “The problem is, we can’t make aa pilot overnight. We can’t make one that fits the requirements in a year or two.” To retain existing aviation staff, business owners are offering higher compensation and better benefits packages, including increases to 401(k) contributions. Barden estimated that pilot compensation has increased in “double-digit percentages” over the last three years. Some companies are increasing pilot head count, which allows for flex-time and time off for regular staff. By Doug DeLoach,  Contributing Writer, Atlanta Business Chronicle Read the article Download the PDF

Happy with your flight crew? Then you’d best be prepared to take action to keep them. We are now in the third year of an unprecedented shortage of pilots, and the situation is not going to get better quickly. What can you do to ensure that your NextGen pilots stay with you, and that new pilots will be in the pipeline when your current pilots retire? In “Sticky Business,” Sheryl Barden tells you six ways to find and keep new pilots. Download the PDF.

In the February 2019 issue of Business & Commercial Aviation, editor Bill Garvey sat down with API CEO Sheryl Barden and asked her his "fast five" questions regarding the business aviation industry. Topics included resume writing, college degrees, projected industry growth, the pilot shortage and compensation. Read the article here or visit aviationweek.com/fastfive.

One key challenge facing the industry – how to attract and retain business aviation pilots – was again front and center at a recent day-long meeting attended by a diverse group of experts and a number of NBAA committee leaders and staff. The pilot issue is part of NBAA’s overall focus on workforce development concerns specific to business aviation. The many flight departments that understand the importance of quality-of-life concerns and have a supportive company culture – and thereby have attracted a certain kind of pilot to their ranks – still need to pay close attention to compensation, warned NBAA Board member Sheryl Barden, president of Aviation Personnel International. “With the unprecedented demand for pilots, companies will have to pay their pilots well to keep them. You can’t move the needle in your own operations if you are not willing to address the compensation issue.” Read the full article here.

          What more can business aviation operators do to increase job satisfaction and retain their staff in the long term? In the January 2019 issue of Business Airport International magazine, Saul Wordsworth asks API's CEO Sheryl Barden and other aviation hiring experts to share their opinions on workforce retention strategies. Read the PDF here