Management training and recruitment are back on the agenda as the industry recovers, but new types of talent and skills are needed for the challenges ahead
Management training is something of a bellwether for the state of any industry. In uncertain times the recruitment and training budgets are among the first to face the axe. In good times, both head hunters and management courses find themselves heavily oversubscribed. If so, then it seems that the airline industry is firmly on the way back up.
Management recruitment is enjoying its best year since 2001 and would-be industry executives are once more signing up for management education and training. What is more, it appears that fresh blood is being attracted into the industry's management ranks, thanks in part to the low-cost revolution.
Michael Bell, co-leader of the global aviation practice at executive search firm Spencer Stuart, is seeing a flurry of activity in the industry. Start-ups such as Singapore-based Tiger Airways, which began services in September, and Virgin America, which aims to take off in mid-2005, need talented people to launch them in a turbulent market, while established low-cost stars such as JetBlue are now adding or replacing staff. Even legacy carriers are enriching the mix as many try to reinvent themselves, says Bell, adding that it takes a safe pair of hands to oversee such transformation.
However, Bell now sees a clear buyer's market with a lot of competition for any vacant positions. That is a reversal from the height of the boom back in 2000 when the dotcom world was exerting a magnetic attraction on talent and airlines struggled to compete.
According to Richard Lewis, who runs Brussels-based Marlborough executive search agency, the market for managers in Europe has been on the move since September 2003. He is seeing a pick-up in activity, both in the numbers of CVs being submitted by hopefuls and in vacant positions, whether caused by expansion or by replacement, which, he says, is following on from the post-9/11 era that was used by some to remove dead wood from their companies.
Daniel Petree, dean of the department of business administration at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida, is well aware of the structural shift in the industry. "The old business model - the legacy carriers - have not worked out how to accommodate the shift in the business model, whereas the low-cost airlines are better placed," he says. He believes the industry is realising it has some very real problems and will require talented leaders and management to solve them. This can only be good for institutes that provide such talented individuals.
Marlborough's Lewis says candidates are increasingly being put through their paces in interviews as selection processes become longer and more thorough. Psychometric testing is becoming the norm for many employers who no longer rely on paper qualifications alone. He also sees employers sending staff on development courses once more - an area that has suffered as companies made cost-cutting their priority.
Prestigious institutions
A postgraduate qualification from a prestigious college still holds its magic when CVs are being compared for senior management appointments says Bell. Harvard MBAs and Oxford and Cambridge degrees have not lost their appeal, although alongside these he puts other academic institutions that have built an international reputation in the air transport sector.
Many would-be captains of industry are prepared to spend money to acquire such training. "Some people invest in classic cars, others invest in themselves," says Lewis, who sees a clear shift away from people with a hands-on operational background to well-educated, bright candidates.
Some skill areas remain in constant demand, however. In the Airline IT Trends Survey, conducted annually by Airline Business and SITA, lack of IT skills has consistently emerged among the most serious obstacles to achieving business objectives. Not surprisingly for an industry rapidly going online, airline IT heads put the need for web skills on top of their list, closely followed by experience of business strategy.
By contrast, management recruitment in more traditional aerospace engineering sectors appears less buoyant. David Lawrence, who specialises in the UK maintenance area, sees a large number of well-qualified people still looking for work as many manufacturing companies, such as BAE Systems, continue to shrink. He sees companies in the sector replacing their managing directors, for example, and increasingly looking for someone whose background is not industry-specific. In fact, the automotive industry is one they tend to trawl.
Dr Keith Mason, director of the full-time MSc in air transport management programme at the UK's Cranfield University, offers places to 32 students each year, and this year had 120 applicants to choose from. "Industry likes Cranfield graduates," he says, adding that following 9/11 it was more difficult to place his graduates in jobs as industry battened down the hatches, but that there has been a definite improvement over the past 18 months.
Of Cranfield's 32 students, 80% arrive with some industry experience. Sponsorship plays an important part in financing these students. Traditionally, Emirates funds one or two places on the course, but this year the carrier was unable to find suitable candidates.
The USA's Embry-Riddle offers potential postgraduate students the choice of a residential or online course, and the two usually attract very different students.
Applicants to the online course are often swayed either by geographical considerations - being located too far from a residential course to attend - or by the convenience factor of not having to put their career on hold for the duration of a full-time course.
These are commonly highly motivated middle-level executives who plan to combine what is often a punishing work schedule with a similarly challenging study course.
The mix of students on Embry-Riddle's traditional full-time course is split more or less evenly between three distinct groups. The first have come straight from an undergraduate course such as engineering and now feel they need some management strength. The second have spent, on average, two to four years in industry, although not necessarily in aviation.
The final group rest are contemplating a second career. They have established the financial security to leave their current job and return to studenthood. Many in this category are migrating from the dotcom industry, says Petree, and they tend to be the most focused group. He says staff look upon such a mix of students as an advantage. They find that they themselves can learn much from the contrasting attitudes and outlooks of the various students.
New management skills
Roger Wootton, head of the aviation programme at the UK's City University in London, also remarks on the current market diversity. Low-cost start-ups, business jet operators, regional airlines and air navigation service providers all require different management skills that need to be covered on training courses.
City also runs courses in Dubai, where home-grown talent is poised to take over from the expatriates who have, until now, dominated the fast-growing air transport sector in the United Arab Emirates. City also has courses in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, where students learn that the management talents needed to operate local cash-strapped carriers are often greater than those required to run airlines on a sound financial footing.
Wootton stresses that potential students must have industry experience - a typical candidate will be an ex-pilot, engineer or air traffic controller with about 10 years of experience who wants to add an academic framework to their operational experience. Fewer than half have traditional degrees and Wootton says they tend to lack analytical skills.
At Concordia University in Montreal, Triant Flouris, director of the International Aviation MBA within the John Molson School of Business, says relevant work experience is a prerequisite for candidates applying to join his course.
However, such experience need not have been gleaned in the aviation sector. He cites a recent student with a background in auditing who works for a firm of senior accountancy consultants. She joined the MBA course at Concordia because she has clients from airlines and airports and wanted to understand the industry more fully.
Another student who has recently joined the course comes from an advertising agency that represents an offshoot of Air Canada. He too seeks exposure to the aviation industry but has no intention of moving to work directly within the sector.
Concordia will add two courses to its prospectus from next April. The Graduate Diploma in Aviation Management will cover 10 courses and run for a period of six months on a residential basis or 12 months on the global distance-learning programme. It is aimed at students who do not have the time or need to study for a full MBA.
The Graduate Certificate will cover five courses and run for three or six months. Both programmes will have the same entry requirements as the full MBA, but will be aviation-specific.
Flouris says there has been interest in these courses from companies and civil aviation authorities looking for a training package for their employees.
The industry itself is actively involved in training. IATA offers a wide range of courses in aviation-specific subjects through residential, e-learning and distance-learning programmes. The European Regions Airline Association has just become the latest to offer internet-based aviation training in executive management, operations management and line personnel.
There certainly seems to be a growing appetite for management training, from airlines and students alike, in an industry that is undoubtedly in the midst of a period of dynamic change.
Training instititions offering air transport management courses
City University MSc in Air Transport Management Duration: One to three years, with a six-month project during or after the taught component. Contact: Postgraduate Courses Administrator, MSc Air Transport Management School of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, City University, Northampton Square, London EC1V 0HB, UK. Tel: +44 (20) 7040 8112 E-mail: atm.ete@city.ac.uk The programme is for those working in the air transport industry with ambitions to move into management. Students include air crew, air traffic controllers, engineers and ground-based staff. The programme covers subjects such as airline economics, human resource management, aviation psychology, marketing, airline fleet planning and business strategy.
Concordia University International Aviation MBA Duration: Full-time for four semesters over 13 months September to October the following year. There is also a global distance learning programme of four semesters over two years. It is a combination of face-to-face instruction and follow-up distance learning sessions. Each semester consists of two weeks face-to-face in Montreal, roughly 18-23 weeks of distance learning, and a final session that includes final exams and presentations. Contact: International Aviation MBA Program, John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd West, GM 409, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3G 1M8. Tel: +1 514 848 2424 ext 2930 Email: amba@jmsb.concordia.ca The aim of the programme, specialising in international aviation, is to give students a competitive advantage by learning the aviation management skills needed to effectively manage and compete in this rapidly changing industry. A successful completion of 18 courses (54 credits) is required for graduation from the programme, in areas such as financial accounting, managerial statistics, air transport economics and finance, airport management and operations and information technology. From September 2005 the university will also offer a graduate certificate and graduate diploma in aviation management.
Cranfield University MSc in Air Transport Management Duration: 45 weeks Contact: Dr Romano Pagliari, Admissions Administrator, Air Transport Group (Building 115), Cranfield University, Cranfield, Bedford, MK43 OAL, UK. Tel: +44 (1234) 754231 Email: r.pagliari@cranfield.ac.uk The aim of the programme is to provide students with the knowledge, understanding and skills required to enable them to make a significant contribution within the air transport industry and a wide range of related industries. Students come from a wide variety of backgrounds, from aeronautical engineering to business, economics and management. The programme provides a series of common core modules plus a range of modules enabling students to focus on different areas of particular interest.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Master of Aeronautical Science Contact: 600 South Clyde Morris Boulevard, Daytona Beach, FL 32114-3900 USA. Tel: +1 800 522 6787 or +1 386 226 6910 E-mail: gradadm@erau.edu This degree gives air traffic control personnel, aviation educators, flight crew members, flight operations specialists and industry technical representatives the chance to enhance their knowledge and pursue additional opportunities in the development, manufacture and operation of aircraft and spacecraft, as well as the public and business infrastructure that support them. MBA in Aviation This programme is designed to emphasise the application of modern management concepts, methods and tools to the challenges of aviation and general business.
IATA A wide range of training courses is offered, covering subjects as diverse as safety and operations, financial management, passenger and cargo sales and distribution systems. Courses are run at training centres in Geneva, Miami, Montreal and Singapore and at affiliated centres in Amman and Moscow. There are also e-learning and distance learning courses available. www.iata.org/training If your institute offers degree or postgraduate courses in air transport management or related areas and you would like to be included in future listings, please email us at: jackie.thompson@rbi.co.uk REPORT BY JACKIE THOMPSON IN LONDON
Source: Airline Business
