Generation gradient

Awareness of generational differences among aviation personnel isn’t an exact science, but it has significant implications for performance, management and, in the end, safety throughout the industry. Just as CRM revolutionised flying in the 1980s, Asiana 214 and the recent pilot cockpit lockout on an Air New Zealand flight highlight the need for a renewed emphasis on understanding and compensating for generational differences in the cockpit and at maintenance facilities.

It suggests a conform-or-don’tjoin paradigm.

Millennials pursuing an aviation career are well educated and eager to gain new skills and knowledge.

We’re situationally aware, but communicate differently; valuing discussion, while requiring more explicit direction and feedback.

The biggest challenge is building methodology around distraction training that challenges Millennials acting as pilot flying (PF), pilot monitoring (PM), or on the ground as AMEs to remain alert.

This is an interesting juxtaposition to comments recently made by principal of an Australian flying training college who believes: “there is no Gen-Y (type people) in aviation, except for the passengers.

The ability to always think ahead,verbal communication and personal presentation are some of the many attributes expected from competent pilots. Unfortunately, these do not seem to rate as important traits. ” Largely unhelpful, the comments suggest an ostracising legacy conform-or-don’t-join paradigm. It is also a profound generalisation that underestimates a group of people already contributing to the aviation industry workforce.

Mont Smith, director of safety at the Air Transport Association and Mitchell Morrison, executive officer of the Coast Guard Air Station in Sacramento wrote an extensive paper on generational behavioural science for the International Society of Air Safety Investigators (ISASI). They observe that the most effective pilot and LAME managers of Millennials “demonstrate a set of three core behavioural competencies essential for effective management: adapting, communicating, and envisioning. ” Sheryl Barden, CEO of Aviation Personnel International and also a member of the National Business Aviation Association Management Committee in the US recognises that incorporating the capacity to deliver the recognition Millennials demand is challenging and can be off-putting to managers of older generations, but she says “it keeps them [Millennials] engaged and secures buy-in to the structured culture in the flight and maintenance departments. ” Barden says she has seen other benefits flow from this. “Millennials bring incredible skills and innovation to the teams they join. ” One of the reasons multicrew pilot licence (MPL) training has been so successful for Millennials is that it builds self-confidence through teamwork, and incorporates significant threat and error management training to counter distractions. It gives theflexibility to be creative and flexible within the bounds of a structured culture, with the opportunity for continuous feedback.

Delta and JetBlue have recognised that engaging – not fighting – Millennial traits has led to more effective workforces. Their mentoring programs recognise that many older workers derive satisfaction from being able to give something back to younger employees. Adapting flying and maintenance training material with diverse modalities has also improved training engagement at the carriers.

Success has encouraged a number of regional operators across Canada and the US to implement similar changes. Back home, an overemphasis on cost and a perceived lack of loyalty means local operators aren’t introducing similar programs.

From an engineering perspective, one recently finished apprentice aircraft maintenance engineer (AME) said: “In my [job] hunt, I found a rather disappointing theme: almost every operator from the airlines to the regional operators and even down to the bug-smashing GA operators, want LAMEs, not AMEs. ”

In a cash-strapped industry, it’s a no brainer.

You get a better return by hiring a licensed aircraftIn a cash-strapped industry, it’s a no brainer. maintenance engineer (LAME) who can do the work and certify it at the same time. The alternative is to hire an apprentice AME who requires five years of training for non-certifying work, and may walk away at the end.

The choice has detrimental ramifications for those training to replace a rapidly-ageing workforce. It’s also a time waste for those in training. Time, our AME notes, “that young AMEs like myself could spend working, studying and gaining experience on the tools to gain a licence. If the industry at large recognised that today’s AMEs are tomorrow’s LAMEs, then chances are there’d be plenty of jobs out there for young up-and-coming AMEs to step into and continue their careers. ” Australia needs a unified industry approach to training and generational issues. An approach might include the creation of behavioural frameworks, resource sharing, or incentives for regional operators seen to be actively driving innovation with multimodal training programs and mentoring for Millennial employees. Whatever the approach, it requires support from the top. Influential bodies outside the education sector like the RAAA are well placed to envision operators to break the legacy ‘conform or don’t join’ paradigm.

For all its innovation, elements of the aviation industry remain stubbornly stuck in the past. The generational challenges we face could be an opportunity, but to create the opportunity requires a change in leadership behaviour and a willingness to adapt. With US airlines making positive first steps, it’s time for the industry here to accept the situation that confronts us before we run out of time, and talent.

#avgeek: The perfect capture

Enthusiastic aviation photographers used to be confined to airshows and the fences around runways. The advent of social media and cheaper camera equipment saw aviation photography cross into the mainstream. The genre has garnered a wide audience and fast growing community captivated by clean lines, interesting design, and rich textures that can be captured in unique images.

Shooting aircraft is fun because it’s challenging – they move fast, in bright backgrounds, all the while you’re trying to keep your camera steady. Seth Jaworski, an AA photography contributor, insists everyday out photographing is a learning experience.

But as commonplace as the aeroplane might be in our lives today, people still give strange looks when you say you’re an aviation photographer. “I guess because it’s not the usual genre, but they change their mind a little after they’ve been close to a taxiing 747 and seen it takeoff from close range,” Jaworski says.

One of the great things about aviation photography is that it requires little gear, and you can get started with a basic point and shoot.

A standard Canon or Nikon DSLR with a couple of kit lenses (a wide angle and a zoom) or a digital compact like the Canon SX series is a great place to start.

“Choose a sunny day, use a fast shutter speed (1/500), keep your ISO low, and practise tracking the aircraft and consistently keeping it in the centre of the frame. ” Panning is simple, but requires practice to master keeping pace with the speed of the moving subject – as far as the camera is concerned, the subject is not moving.

Light is how you bring romance to aircraft – “strong golden early morning light can make an otherwise mundane picture of a taxiing aircraft really pop. ” Try using backlighting through the canopy or cabin windows to enhance the photo.

Use clouds and inclement weather. They add interest to any picture, and are essential when shooting jets, because without a prop, you need clouds to give a sense of motion in a still capture.

Says Jaworski, “cloudy skies, while not ideal, can still give some nice contrast and texture to an image. It can also even out the light, so in some cases you can get away with taking shots that would otherwise be backlit on a sunny day. Rain, fog, high humidity and high winds can create some really unique images so don’t be put off if it’s not a bright, sunny day. ” Use the airport environment. Line-ups of tails, the control tower, or runway markings – “be aware of those elements and try to think of a creative way to incorporate them into the images. ” In our imagination aircraft are moving fast as they fly. In a still capture they’re frozen in time, so you need to give them motion. If an aircraft is parked, shoot up from a low vantage point – this takes in the belly and the sky and positions the aircraft back up where they belong, in the sky.

As you build confidence lower your shutter speed to give motion. Shooting at slower shutter speeds results in more motion blur and a heightened sense of speed and power.

Somewhere between 1/125 and 1/250 is a good speed for propellers to blur the prop and give them back their turbo. To make helicopters look truly natural go even lower than this.

Above all, get to know the aircraft, and pilots.

The atmosphere of a 747 in full reverse on a wet runway creating huge clouds of spray is only part of the story. Planes are about people, remember that and the sky is the limit.