Saturday, June 7, 2014

Evaluating Steps To Becoming An Aviation Project Manager

By Sally Delacruz


In the aviation industry, there exist several areas of specialization. These include, piloting, being an air hostess, cabin crew and being an aviation project manager too.There are various steps to becoming a manager in aerospace industry and one plays various roles in this field of management.

Such a field relates to a person who deals with compliance with rules and regulations by authorities in order to ensure that an airport and the departments under it run efficiently. He ensures there is proper staffing in the airport as well. This job area has a lot of time and skill requirement because it is the determinant of whether the organization will succeed or fail in its operations.

One is required to have the following elements to qualify for such a position. They must have a degree in business administration, civil management, public administration, airports management and financial management. In addition, they need at least an Accredited Airport Executive certificate and that of certified member credentials.

One must at least four years experience to get this job. Key skills required include being versed with knowledge in Federal aviation regulations, proper communication skills, financial analysis, management and supervisory abilities. Computer skills, especially in word processing and spreadsheets, are also a key need for candidates.

In short, a candidate must have an undergraduate degree in aviation management or courses involving business, related sciences and mathematics. To gain experience one needs to engage in internship in a local airport. Then, he may acquire certification from relevant bodies such as America Airports Executives. An added advantage goes to candidates who attend seminars and workshops in the field and has related courses on top of the degree.

The duties of such a manager, involve initiating project plan and infrastructure, planning and designing the execution process, executing the plans and coordinating resources to that effect, controlling staff and systems, monitoring activities and finally closing the projects.

Initiation involves coming up with the scope of the plan and its nature. This requires proper understanding of the business environment, developing goals, reviewing present operations of the business and analysis of the company history. This enables planning for cost, resource allocation, time of operation, risks and how to manage them as well as getting formal approval to commence duties.

The execution stage encompasses accomplishment of the requirements in the plan. Here, players and resources are put together to effect execution of strategies. The manager assigns roles to staff, checks stakeholder expectations and performs tests on the initial framework design to see if it is productive or not. Mainly, operations are implemented.

The next level of duty for an aviation manager is to control and monitor the activities of the work schedule. Here, he observes how the work is done, oversees the work, gives instructions on execution and supervises the duties of staff involved. Any problems and risks in the course of work are dealt with at this level. In fact, financial auditors come in and advise on expenditures and efficiency of the method used in operations.

In the end, the manager closes the operations. This means that there is formal acceptance and ending of the project. Files may be archived and documentation procedures executed. Two main aspects of this role are contract closing and ending the work plan.




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