API In the News

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

I was in a deep leather chair on the fourth floor of the University Club on San Francisco’s Nob Hill viewing a downtown obscured in a smoke haze generated by the terrible Camp Fire, still smoldering 150 mi. to the northeast. At long last, it was finally raining.

From aircraft maintenance to pilots to dispatchers and more – the career prospects in business aviation are endless. That was the message industry professionals had for area college students who came out to the Northern California Business Aviation Association’s (NCBAA) annual Career Day, held Sept. 5 at San Jose International Airport, prior to NBAA’s San Jose Regional Forum on Sept. 6. Sheryl Barden, president and CEO of recruiting firm Aviation Personnel International, said the industry is “hungry for young talent,” and she urged students to start making contacts now while still in school. She congratulated them on taking the first step, by coming to the NCBAA Career Day, but there’s more the students should be doing. For example, she said:

• Build your personal brand through a professional social media preference
• Create a simple business card to hand out at events
• Follow up with people who give you their business card
• Create a resume and website that talks about who you are
• Ask local operators for informational interviews

Read the full article on NBAA.org.

YOUTH MOVEMENT: Millennials are a new breed of private jet flyer. These experience-driven young professionals expect their journeys to be high tech – from booking systems through to inflight services and connectivity. In this article, API's Sheryl Barden talks about the demand for inflight connectivity among millennial travelers as well as how the business aviation sector can help attract millennial aviation professionals.

Read Kari Allen's article online, which was featured in the April 2018 issue of Business Airport International. Or, download the PDF.

When a proposal for handing control of the public’s aviation system over to a private entity was recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, Sheryl Barden, president and CEO of Aviation Personnel International, recently implored concerned stakeholders to utilize NBAA’s “Contact Congress” resource to oppose handing control of the nation’s airspace over to a private entity. “H.R.2997 proposes to strip control of aviation-system oversight from the public's elected representatives, and essentially hand control of the system over to a group of private parties, largely unaccountable to Congress," Barden wrote in an email she sent to thousands of clients and other contacts. "We want everyone who cares about the future of business aviation in the United States to contact their elected representatives in the U.S. House and Senate and let them know we oppose a privatized ATC system.” Barden, who has also been active on the issue as a member of NBAA’s Associate Member Advisory Council, further encouraged citizens to phone their elected officials, and take to social media with a clear message against ATC privatization: “Our airspace is public, not private.” To add your voice to the opposition, use NBAA’s Contact Congress resource To see the original article, visit NBAA's website.