An FBO may employ one or one hundred workers. The two-person business may be conducted from a small hangar or shop with an office and a pilot's lounge, whereas an employer of a hundred people would have an impressive establishment consisting of shops, hangars, offices, classrooms, and showrooms where new aircraft could be purchased. The FBO may employ flight instructors, aviation mechanics, salespersons, and office personnel. The owner might also operate a small aviation mechanics training school, supervise the work of mechanics, and arrange for ground transportation and overnight accommodations for general aviation pilots and their passengers.
The size of an airport facility depends on the FBO's business ability, experience, amount of capital invested in the business, and willingness to work hard. Many operators start out working alone, then gradually build up a staff as business grows. Eventually some develop sizable operations that offer everything the owner of an airplane might need: aircraft sales, pilot instruction, aircraft fuel and parts, air frame and power plant maintenance and overhaul, and instrument repairs. In addition, FBOs may have one or more airplanes of their own that enable them to offer air taxi service and charter flights.
Many FBOs employ ramp service persons or "line persons" whose job responsibilities are to greet arriving airplanes, guide them to parking spots, help the pilots tie down or park the aircraft, fill the tanks with gas, check the oil, vacuum the cabin interior, wash the windshield and windows, and report to the owner any damage or problems that were observed. If you are in your teens this is a good way to enter aviation and start your career by working part-time under an FBO after school, on weekends, and during summers. Perhaps you could use your salary to finance flight training or study for your mechanic's rating. A line person's job can lead to many aviation careers associated with airport management or to positions as aviation mechanic, pilot, or even air traffic controller.
Moving from the small fields with their FBOs to the larger airports served by major air-line, we will consider some of the principal careers in airport operation and management that may interest you.
THE MAJOR AIRPORT IS MANY THINGS
In the transportation world today, there is nothing quite as exciting as an airport! Imagine a major field like Atlanta's Hartsfield International, Chicago's O'Hare, Los Angeles' International, New York's Kennedy, or Dallas/Ft. Worth's huge new facility where thousands of people work and where just as many come and go each day as flight after flight takes off and lands with a regularity and precision that seems like the most normal thing in the world. Meanwhile a constant stream of buses, automobiles, trucks, and vans rush across the vast network of roads while all kinds of tractors, jeeps, baggage trains, gasoline trucks, and other vehicles scurry between terminals and hangars as they service the fleets of aircraft and carry airline employees from one place to another. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about these airports is the way all the different functions mesh and work together to help produce what we commonly think of as air transportation. Few people are aware of how complicated an airport really is or of the many organizations that combine efforts to make it function smoothly.
We are now familiar with the airlines and how their employees function at the airport as they take care of the passengers, handle the baggage and freight, and service the aircraft. The men and women in the air traffic control tower are also very much a part of the airport, although they work apart from the terminal and hangar areas. The stores, restaurants, coffee shops, barber shops, car rental agencies, and other concessions that cater to travelers in the terminals provide essential airport services too. Finally, there are the terminal buildings, hangars, roads, landing strips, and ramps that are maintained by the airport management. Actually the airlines, the restaurants, and other concessions rent their space from the airport, which are the landlord and owner of all the facilities. The individual responsible for the overall operation of an airport is the director, a job that carries a tremendous responsibility, as we shall see.
THE AIRPORT DIRECTOR
A director of an airport serving major airlines should have a college degree in one of the following areas: airport management, business administration, public administration, aeronautical or civil engineering. Airport managers themselves have rated as "very important" the following education subject areas: public relations, air transportation, business management and personnel administration. If your goal is to head up a large airport someday, it is not too soon to start thinking now about how to prepare yourself for that big job!
To reach the top position in a major airport one must have had prior experience as a director or assistant director at an airport. Directors of small airports may qualify in some cases (even though they have only a high school diploma) if they hold a pilot's license and have had three to five years' experience in several types of jobs associated with airport services such as superintendent of maintenance, assistant to the airport director, or fixed base operator. An airport director must be familiar with state and federal air regulations-especially those pertaining to airports-zoning laws, legal contracts, public relations, use of airport equipment, the proper handling of aircraft, and airline operations. He or she must have administrative and leadership qualities, ability to get along with others, tact, initiative, and good judgment.
An airport director has been described as "a mixture of aviation expert, real estate operator, construction engineer, electronics wizard, management genius, and politician." Perhaps this is because the director is expected to be knowledgeable about almost everything pertaining to an airport. These are the principal responsibilities:
- administering the overall management of the airport
- training and supervising the employees who report to the director
- setting up the airport budget
- keeping records and making required reports
- planning and supervising maintenance programs
- negotiating leases with tenants such as airlines, concessionaries, and aircraft repair stations
- making and enforcing airport rules and regulations
- promoting the use of the airport
- surveying the future needs of the airport
Many universities offer degrees in airport administration, public ad-ministration, business administration, and aeronautical or civil engineering. Some also offer flight training, which, in conjunction with airport administration courses, provides an extensive knowledge of aviation and the role of the airport.
There are only approximately one thousand airports employing full-time directors. Therefore, it is only sensible to consider jobs that are attainable on the director's staff and that can also offer highly rewarding careers.
AIRPORT JOBS
The usual duties expected of a controller, personnel manager, public relations director, treasurer, secretary, typist, clerk, receptionist, and switchboard operator are performed by office personnel on the airport director's staff. An assistant director carries out many of the administrative duties and may be in charge of all the maintenance and other employees, as well as responsible for airport tenant relations. Depending on the size of the airport, educational qualifications for the assistant director's job range from a high school diploma to an engineering degree. Larger airports would look for three to seven years of prior engineering and computer experience in a job applicant.
A crew of service specialists works under the direction of the airport manager, the assistant, or the engineer. The crew may do one or more of the following: operate snow removal equipment; cut grass and maintain shrubbery; fill holes and level low places and bumps on runways and taxiways; service runway lights and replace defective fuses and lamps; maintain electrical service; paint buildings; do general carpentry work; and clean the building interiors and exteriors. At a large airport there would probably be an airport electrician and assistants, a carpenter and assistants, and members of other trades and crafts, whereas at a small airport one or two employees might perform all of these jobs, or the manager might contract with an outside maintenance service to do this work.
Among the safety and security employees are trained firefighters and rescue workers who are always on duty ready with their fire-fighting and crash rescue equipment. Some of these employees may also be required to inspect the airport for fire hazards and report violations of airport fire regulations. Previous experience as a firefighter would be desirable to qualify for this work. Security guards may need prior experience to be considered for openings.
Information about job opportunities at an airport can best be gotten from the "Help Wanted" advertisements in your newspaper and by visiting the airport. At the director's office ask how you may apply for employment. If it is a small airport the director or the secretary will probably talk with you, but in the case of a large facility you can expect to be referred to the personnel department.
When you seek employment at an airport remember that the concessions mentioned previously also offer job opportunities and a possible way of getting your start at an airport.
THE OUTLOOK FOR THE FUTURE
Forecasts for the future in air transportation predict large increases in the number of passengers and air-freight tonnage, as well as the use of general aviation aircraft. Existing airports will have to be enlarged and new ones built. As new airfields open, there will be need for additional fixed base operators with resulting employment opportunities for a wide range of skilled men and women. All this spells more openings for those interested in pursuing a career in some phase of airport management, or in any of the other positions mentioned above.
Having concentrated on the flight and service end of the business, it is now necessary to shift gears. The balance of the book is devoted to that part of the business that is mostly invisible to passengers and shippers, the innumerable but essential office jobs.
