HOT CAREERS
Business Class Fuels Aviation Dreams
By Robert Ross
In 2004, when rising fuel prices forced many U.S. airlines to cut back flights,
pink-slip employees, and sink deep into debt, Southwest Airlines remained in
the black and in the air.
The carrier did it partly by hedging fuel prices – arranging a year earlier
for oil suppliers to cap their jet fuel prices at $24 per barrel in 2004, compared
to the $55-plus per barrel that other airlines were paying.
Embry-Riddle
College of Business
"many young people
who dream about a
business career
are surprised to learn
about the opportunities
in the aviation industry.
And they’re even more
surprised to learn that
the world’s best-known
aviation-related university
has a business college
and that Embry-Riddle
business professors
have authored
6 of the
leading textbooks
in their
field."
-- Dan Petree, Dean
College of Business
Meet business alumni
Fancy maneuvers like hedging are not executed by pilots, air traffic controllers,
or engineers, but by those who calculate how to earn money, spend it, and save
it. The people in business class, not the cockpit.
"An enterprise has to make money if it is to last," says Dan Petree, dean
of Embry-Riddle’s College of Business. "Without business people, pilots, engineers,
and scientists wouldn’t have jobs. People in finance get the money to buy the
plane, risk managers insure the plane, and operations people decide which plane
to deploy."
Like Managing a Small Town
Management and business professionals are needed in all areas of aviation,
as well as in other transportation sectors.
A look at some of the jobs:
 Airport managers are like the mayors of small towns, says
David Byers, assistant professor of management, marketing, strategy and operations.
“The airport is the community’s gateway to national air transportation and
also the first impression visitors get of the community,” Byers says. “There’s
a lot going on. With all the responsibilities an airport manager carries ,
one slip and someone could get hurt.”
At the entry-level, operations agents oversee airfield and terminal activities,
supervise the maintenance of equipment, facilities and grounds, and respond
to security and emergency needs. At a higher level, airport
managers oversee
the entire airport, from administration to training. They also prepare budgets,
control costs, pay employees, and oversee business development and airport
expansion projects.
Airports are complex, multimillion dollar businesses, like upscale malls.
"In one Japanese airport, I saw day spas where you can get massages," Petree
says. Some airports, he adds, earn enough from tenant leases they can afford
to attract new airlines by waiving their landing fees.
Airport planners and designers work with several airports
at a time, all in different stages of development, from preparing a 20-year
master plan to building a new runway. Planners’ activities range from airport
layout drawings and land-use planning to noise and environmental analyses.
People who thrive as airport managers and planners have strong communication
skills, enjoy working with people, and love the diversity of daily activities
that come with their jobs.
 Time, Money, and Tactics
Operations managers hold a variety of jobs with airlines
and airports, where they make decisions about short-term planning and scheduling.
For example, they schedule airline crews, taking into account complicated labor
and management rules and costs, and devise passenger boarding schemes, aircraft
routing, and flight schedules.
"People don’t understand how much planning and modeling goes into airline
operations," says Massoud Bazargan, associate professor of business, who conducts
operations research. His Aviation Operations Simulation Laboratory at Embry-Riddle
uses sophisticated simulation software to devise and evaluate operational strategies
and processes for airlines and regulatory agencies.
Financial analysts conduct research, such as a cost-benefit
analysis of extending an airport runway, and recommend policy options to their
employers. People with good financial and accounting reporting skills are in
high demand in the aviation industry.
The field is ideal for people with good quantitative and communication skills,
says Sunder Raghavan, assistant professor of finance, but " even
students who are shy and introverted but have good quantitative skills have
no problems getting jobs in the industry."
Raghavan, who specializes in fuel hedging, financial and economic aviation
theory, financial distress and bankruptcy, and econometrics, says most of his
MBA students are offered jobs paying $65,000-$75,000 before they graduate.
Embry-Riddle
Business Degrees
Strategic
planners think long term about opportunities and
threats facing a firm and how it can use its strengths to deal with them, says
Dawna Rhoades, professor and chair of management, marketing and operations,
and an expert in strategy and international aviation management. "This is vital
in the aviation industry, because it faces so many challenges," she says.
At airlines and air cargo companies, strategic planners analyze and plan
routes, fleets and fleet match-ups, airline/airport issues, and bilateral deals
with other air carriers. At airports, they work on the larger transportation
systems that get people and cargo to and from the airport. They also work as
consultants.
"All managers work in strategic planning," she says, "but a great plan with
poor implementation is worthless." She says people who can think broadly about
issues, deal with rapidly changing conditions and cultures, and follow through
with plans make good strategic planners.
Air Taxis to Space Tourism
In addition to today’s opportunities, several emerging segments of aviation
and aerospace will require the talents and skills of business graduates for
years to come.
Airports : The International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO) expects worldwide travel to double in 25 years, increasing demand on
hub airports and requiring alternatives to handle the congestion. Airport managers’
roles will become more complex, involving issues of efficiency, business development,
safety, and security.
Very-light jets : Industry watchers expect some of the market
for air travel to shift to the new very-light jets now being introduced. There
will be jobs in manufacturing of the jets, as well as with light-jet air taxi
services, where managers will be needed to operate these assets efficiently,
safely, and profitably.
Space : Wealthy individuals have already begun paying to
go into low-Earth orbit for up to a week. The moon could become a way station
and launch site for space travel and a place to manufacture parts for space
probes. Researchers also will need to develop and maintain sustainable living
conditions and create fuel on the moon.
Yet even with ventures that are yet to exist, Embry-Riddle business students
are uniquely prepared to make them succeed. Business fundamentals, in-depth
case studies, and immersion in an aviation environment give them an insider’s
way of thinking about the industry.
"Aviation functions because different elements come together," says
Shaun Londono, an aviation planner who earned a B.S. in aviation business and
MBA in airport planning and design at the university. "One of the most important
skills I gleaned from Embry-Riddle is the ability to think critically and decisively."
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