A world of opportunity

Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that a young person, or perhaps a not-so-young person, wonders if they might find a place for themselves in the aviation industry. A career as it were.

But — and this is a big but — they do not want to fly professionally.

That’s a curveball isn’t it? A poorly informed individual might not see much wiggle room around that obstacle. After all, aviation is a pilot-centric industry isn’t it? Pretty much everyone involved is a pilot. Maybe not the CEO of the company, but everyone else, surely.

Believe it or not, that is a common misconception that causes a great many people to short circuit their pursuit of an aeronautically oriented career.

Just the other day I was speaking to a gathering of the Lakeland, Florida, chapter of Women in Aviation International, a fine organization that provides support, guidance, inspiration, and a fair amount of camaraderie to its members.

Although I am not a member, you could consider me a fan of what these folks do. Which is, in effect, to encourage the individual members of a class of people who have traditionally been excluded from aviation careers and show them first-hand that they can have a seat at the table, or in the cockpit, if they want one.

One of the points I made to the group was directed at this idea that not all aeronautical professionals are pilots. In fact, I expanded on that point a bit more, making the claim that aviation has every job that exists outside aviation — and it has pilots too.

This may seem overly hyperbolic and I will admit it is…to a degree. But not by nearly as wide a margin as you might think.

After all, in aviation there are mechanics, doctors, lawyers, CPAs, warehouse workers, inventory specialists, electronics technicians, catering services, paint and upholstery techs, janitorial services, receptionists, representatives from the human resources department, writers, editors, graphic artists, and talk show hosts.

That list just scratches the surface, of course. There are innumerable other career positions in aviation, ranging from the executive suite to the hangar floor and everything in between.

I wish I had known this when I made the career change from musician to aviation.

You’ll note that musician is a job title and aviation is an industry. It could be argued that I’m comparing apples and school buses, but I think not.

Like so many who enter this industry with a skewed view of what potential aviation truly offers us, I trained to be, and became, a pilot.

Yet, right from the start I failed to limit myself to the cockpit — almost entirely out of ignorance, thank goodness. The expansive nature of my career came about simply because I was too dumb to realize there were popularly self-imposed limitations to what a pilot might do professionally.

In my first year as a CFI I began to write for publication. It wasn’t a very good publication, but that’s okay. I wasn’t a very good writer, either. For reasons that aren’t entirely clear to me, I kept finding niche publications to write for. With experience, over time, I improved. Not to the level of Hemingway or Twain, but I generally spell more words correctly than I spell incorrectly. So, I’ve got that going for me.

Later I added an Airframe and Powerplant certificate to the collection of FAA documents I carry.

You see, I enjoy flying. I really enjoy flying, but it’s not the only thing I want to do. My interests are more varied than just handling the controls. I want to tell stories, to restore aircraft, and fly them when I get the urge. Thankfully, I was able to establish a career, largely by happenstance, that allowed me to do just that.

So could pretty much anyone else, frankly. If I’m being honest, it wasn’t all that hard to do and it wasn’t the least bit unpleasant. In fact, I’ve enjoyed the journey approximately 99.3% of the time.

Now, in fairness to you, the reader, I should point out that I was well into my unfocused and highly satisfying career when someone else shined a light on how it is that folks like me (and there are many of us) carve out a career that looks to the outside observer an awful lot like screwing around. It was Tom Haines, the recently retired Editor in Chief of publications at the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), who said it best: “I don’t get paid to fly. I get paid because I fly.”

This is a profoundly important perspective that had never occurred to me, yet it describes the basis of my career so well. And to think, it only took me 25 years to stumble upon someone smarter and significantly more erudite than I am to nail down my situation.

So, for those who think they might want to spend their working years at the airport, or in a factory that provides parts or sub-assemblies, or in an office building where the design, construction, maintenance, restoration, or management of aircraft is the primary task at hand — go for it.

If you want to learn to fly along the way, do that too. Having the skills and mindset of a pilot might help you make the most of your career, even if you never get paid a dollar to take flight.

Then again, perhaps being the person who sits at the controls and runs the in-flight show is your thing. If so, pursue that passion with all you’ve got.

There are a whole world of opportunities in this business. Pick the one that’s the best fit for you and pursue it.

And maybe find an organization that will support and inspire you along the way. Join up. You might just make a friend in the process.