Corporate Aviation Management

5. The Aviaiton Department Structure within the Corporation

5 The Aviation Deportment Structure within the Corporation After the delineation ofspecific management functions and principles there must be a chapter to present a general discussion of how the aviation manager fits into the overall corporate structure and how his or her functions differ from other managers within that structure. Figure 5.1 shows where the aviation department should be positioned in relation to the corporate pyramid. Most people in corporate aviation, especially pilots, like their work and are interested in doing the best they can for their employer. However, in many cases, due to the differences in operating procedures in· nonaviation industries, the manager of a corporate flight operation finds himself or herself in conflict with the corporation's management philosophy. This has been the source ofmany misunderstandings between the two groups: corporate management and flight operations management. In most cases, the company airplane is used to save time, offer convenient schedules, have the proper working environment en route, and eliIl1inate the hassle of airline travel. The busy executive usually has planned a trip for expected business results, and has the desire to get to where he/she CORPORATE STRUCTURE CORPORATE AVIATION OEPARTMENT TOP MANAGEMENT 11 ./ IE: '" AVIATION OEPT. MANAGER . . " ' " MIDDLE MANAGEMENT VICE·PRESIDENTS 11 • • '" GENERAL EMPLOYEES MIDDLE MANAGEMENT 11 . SUPERVISORS 11 • GENERAL EMPLOYEES Figure 5. L The aviation department provides service to top levels of management and therefore usually reports to the highest level in a corporation. Source: AIMS, Inc., Upland, CA 64 Part One: Role, Development, and Function Figure 5.2. Caricature of table of organization. Source: AIMS, Inc., Upland, CA is going on time. A similarity exits in the goal that a pilot has to land his airplane out of a precision instrument approach. By using the company airplane, the executive believes that he/she has chosen the most reliable and expedient form of transportation. An executive 's nearness to the flight operation, and the fact that the operation is part of the company, gives many executives the idea that the only thing they have to do is command and the airplane has to go where they want to go, regardless ofcircumstances beyond the control of the pilot that may prevent the trip from being completed, such as weather, pilot £,tigue, maintenance problems, etc. Figure 5.2 caricatures the authoritarian executive who feels compelled to run everything himself Many anecdotes have evolved from the tribulations corporate aviation department chiefpilot~ and/or managers suffer in their relations with top management . In the same vein, some chief pilots and/or managers have failed to manage, communicate, or plan in such a manner as to give their superiors confidence in their ability to manage. As a result, the aviation department manager or chief pilot loses control of his or her operation. Some of the problems are self-inflicted by the chiefpilots or aviation managers; others stem from executives who are unresponsive to the department's needs. Aviation Department Structure 65 ACTUAL EXAMPLES OF MANAGEMENT CONFLICTS A midwest operation had a large pilot turnover due to a very religious CEO who tried to force pilots to make approaches below minimums or to land at inadequate airports. His excuse was that the Good Lord would protect airplane and pilot. At Washington National, while in line waiting for takeoff, the CEO, being worried about making his appointment in Chicago , went to the cockpit and tried to force the pilot into going around the other airplanes in line for takeoff The vice-president of a large corporation was very disturbed because the pilots would not land at his home town, where the airport runway was too short for the equipment being flown. An executive arrived at the airport with excessive baggage and one extra passenger, and asked the pilot to put the extra passenger in the unauthorized jump seat. A Texas operator always landed at the Chicago lakefront airport. On a particular trip with weather below minimums, the pilot diverted to O'Hare. The chairman was livid and hired a consultant to tell him what was wrong with his operation. The consultant found that the pilot never told his boss that Meigs Lakefront Airport did not have a letdown procedure and that the runway was too short to land his jet on a wet runway. An altitude-alerter ring was demonstrated to the manager of a Cincinnati flight operation at his request. He wanted to buy the rings, which were only...