Quite recently, I read a few interesting posts and articles written by people who noticed a proficiency drop in several business aviation-associated fields. One post mentioned commercial aspects; the other, operational ones. They are well related.

Why does this happen? Is it a symptom generated by economic cycles? Is it part of a slow post-pandemic recovery process? Are there social causes involved?

The answer may be more complex and is rooted in the driving force behind any industry: employees.  

Since their inception more than one hundred years ago, airlines have had one century to develop, train, and maintain a valuable workforce. Despite being equally old, the business aviation branch took momentum only at the end of the twentieth century. The industry has experienced significant growth since the 90s, quickly outpacing the available trained labor force, a force that mainly came as surplus from the airlines. This growth was not constant, and compared to airlines, business aviation had only 30 highly volatile years to crystallize and grow its already thin workforce.

Why volatile? Because business aviation is a luxury industry, and like any other similar branch, it is vulnerable to economic ups and downs—more vulnerable than airlines. As already mentioned, it didn't grow constantly. Its almost yearly expansions and contractions, coupled with the lack of investment in the labor force and the dynamic pace, have led to an imbalance in the workflow and a poorly structured work culture. In turn, all this generates operational and commercial strains.    

Bizjets operators constantly fail to form, bring, or keep professionals in.

Many 'experts' are borrowed from different fields without proper training or 'operational' conversion. For instance, a marketing professional may be asked to handle sales in the aviation industry. Companies argue that the same work principles are applied, but this is like asking an RC pilot to fly a jet plane. After all, both the aircraft model and the jet work on the same principles.

Business aviation is highly technical, and 'borrowed' or poorly trained experts are not very helpful. Clients must be properly counseled and cared for, starting with aircraft acquisition and ending with operations. Brokers, Key Account Managers, Salesmen, Dispatchers, and especially CEOs should have at least a modicum of aviation-related studies. Training is costly, and employers tend to take shortcuts.

A basic online IATA course takes a few hours and costs at least a few hundred Euros. An advanced one costs many thousands and spans from one to three years. For an average person, this is a considerable financial strain. Experts are not cheap or easy to form. It is equally expensive to bring them in, especially if they invested in their education independently. Nobody will take a job that pays poorly. People didn't invest in their education for this.

Instead of developing a highly proficient workforce, some business aviation operators are following a new trend: outsourcing labor to countries with lower labor costs. Unfortunately, not all of these countries have a well-established technical culture that generates a well-educated workforce.

True experts are rare under the given circumstances, and in a work culture characterized by mediocrity, they are seen as an anomaly and often perceived as a threat.

Even talent acquisition is only a title nowadays. Real talent hunters, the people who are capable of discovering and harnessing true potential, are very rare.

Times are changing, and people are changing. Today's labor force contains an increasing percentage of millennials and Gen Z-ers. These people value independence and individuality, are characterized by critical thinking, and prefer domains and technologies that will shape their future. They are less interested in being part of a relatively useless luxury industry or working for an old-fashioned boss. Why would they join a highly stressful but relatively poorly paid work environment?

A comprehensive, long-term strategy for talent retention is not a luxury but a necessity in the business aviation industry. It's time to plan for the future.

Companies should understand that aviation operations can not be run like soda kiosks and that nowadays, the real battle is fought for proficient employees and not so much for the business itself. Due to the industry's growth, especially the post-pandemic boom, there is too much business and only a few good people to efficiently cover operations.  The businesses that'll keep those people in will prevail; the rest will be just summer hits.