Professionalism in the Industry

1) Ever since Mrs. Wall introduced me to the company of Net Jets my second semester at Eastern it has held my attention, but it has been a toss up between Net Jets and FedEx.  For the purposes of this assignment I choose FedEx because they are a more stable company and if given the choices side to side of whom to fly for I would most likely head towards the logical financially reliable company.  Therefore, at the present time I would aim towards a pilot job with FedEx Express.

2) FedEx Express is a cargo airline owned by FedEx Corporation. The headquarters are located in Memphis Tennessee and considered the “Super Hub” because FedEx is the largest 121 freight commercial airline. They have hubs located all over the world providing a massive service as a widely popular name. FedEx uses contract feeders to deliver excellent services and stand behind their slogan “The World on Time.” FedEx has carried a good reputation among the aviation world with promising growth and development. As a pilot we all are familiar with seniority being everything and like any other company your slots depend on the years with the company.  With FedEx I would start off on the bottom of the totem pole with the crappy night flying and relatively low pay of around 60 dollars an hour and slowly working my way up through the years. The main complaint from FedEx pilots is the night flying since a predominant amount of transportation is done at night. Personally, night flying is my favorite type of flying so I do not reckon I will have a problem. 

3) FedEx like any company in aviation is striving to have optimal safety and production. The company currently has many orders in to retire their older planes to create a more fuel-efficient and user-friendly fleet.  With the user-friendly technologies a number of concerns are raised such as proper training within the aircraft and the standards and policies in which are implemented into such operations.  Another concern for FedEx would be fatigued pilots as they fly outside the main hours of operation the body is set up for. Luckily humans are adaptable to time change. Directly I would mitigate this concern by staying up to date with the information by attending seminars and self study as well as providing the information to those around me. By practicing the I’m safe checklist and faithfully and confidently relying the information to my employer I can better the lives of those around me.

4)

a) Professionalism, in class we discussed the drive to go above and beyond the means of the job. I do agree with the discussion, but professionalism has a degree of maturity tied to definition. Simply put professionalism is a combination of characteristics that can be learned and taught through experience which when captured shows through as a passion for your career by not by compromising self principles or values, by being caring and responsive but not invasive, conducting yourself in a mature manner, while striving to get the tasks done correctly in a reasonable time, and creating a humble creative productive environment while doing so. Individuals, which inherit the above qualities in my opinion, portray a sense of professionalism. Another aspect I strongly convey is keeping work and home separate when acting in a professional manner. Business is never pleasure and should remain separate. 

b) The Colgan Accident was directly related to the amount of professionalism Colgan lacked within their company and operations. Management failed to hold a professional standard was by not acting under the 121 regulation standards causing many latent failures. Colgan was falsifying pilot records, issuing incorrect training, operating under incorrect safety standards, creating an unhealthy corporate culture and promoting unqualified personnel. The Pilots (Captain and First Officer) on the other hand compromised their individual principles and values as a pilot for the company and therefore endangered the lives of 50 people. To read more about Flight 3407 visit please read the Wall Street Journal and Colgan's testimony against allegations. 

c) Earlier I mentioned how important it is to obtain the current knowledge of the industry and studies related to the industry. Even more important is conveying that information to others. The first step to safety is familiarity and the only way we can achieve that is by spreading the knowledge. Secondly, I would actively work to make sure not matter what position I am in my partner on the current mission does not feel inferior to overlook my decision or actions. On the flip side I would indirectly challenge my superior to realize if there is a slip up on procedure.