By Michael Gilmour 

There is an aspect of aviation that quite frankly just needs to die. Aviation is an industry that was born out of the fires of innovation and yet, in many cases, it has become a stifled shadow of its former self.

In the past aviators and aviation companies had a pioneering spirit that just couldn’t be quenched. They flew for the joy of it, founded businesses to fund their passion and many of them then handed them over to managers. This transition from leader to manager is potentially killing many of our industry’s best companies stone cold dead.

I once heard a story of the difference between a manager and a leader. The story starts off with a bunch of people walking in a northerly direction through a forest. One of the people (i.e. a leader) has the audacity to climb a tree to get a fix on their position when he realises that they were all heading in the wrong direction. He calls down to the group, “hey we’re going the wrong way!”, when the manager in the group yells back, “but we’re making great progress!” and the group keeps on walking the wrong way.

This is a picture of many companies in the aviation industry. They are making progress towards their own failure as the managers take over from the pioneers, processes take over ideas and systems replace customers.

For example, many aviation companies just don’t realise how crucial it is to their business to have an online presence. Sure they have a website but that’s something that the rest of the world got about eight years ago. What are they doing now that will allow them to interact in a more meaningful way with customers?

Technology is currently being used online to help pilots form a growing community by providing resources such as airfield information, aircraft directories, marketplace areas plus the ability for enthusiasts to upload their aviation photos, interact via forums and share their aviation experiences via personal blogs. The result is thousands of pilots visiting aviation websites each month and sharing with each other a huge wealth of information.

Amongst all of this vibrancy of interactivity in walks the Australian aviation manager who, more frequently than not, is averse to online offerings or certainly allergic to paying for anything cyber-related. Those who do business with America will understand how parochial the Australian approach is. The comparison is, in fact, like night and day. Americans will typically tell you why something will work and ‘give it a go’ while sadly many Australians will tell you why it won’t and then wait until someone else does it first. I’ve pondered that this attitude may be an expression of the ‘tall poppy’ syndrome trying to ensure that everyone does nothing and then like lemmings we all leap over the cliff at once.

Don’t get me wrong. I love this country but it’s exceptionally difficult to champion new ways of doing things against the tide of processes and mentalities that are built to enforce the aviation status quo. It was at this time that I realised that the managers had taken over and the entrepreneurial spirit of aviation had diminished to a flickering candle.

There are a few shining examples of where the entrepreneurial drive is alive and well. I hire many of my aircraft from Moorabbin Flying Services and their fleet of new to near new aircraft is fantastic. Their fanaticism towards maintenance and cleanliness has to be experienced to be believed. I personally find that the spotless cockpits give my passengers a sense of comfort and confidence in the aircraft which makes my job as a pilot a lot easier.

The owner is embracing new exciting innovations (they are going more and more online) and he is constantly searching for ways to make the customer experience more enjoyable. In fact, he’s often in the USA searching for ideas and learning what they do so that he can bring it back to Australia.

Have they got it all right? He’ll be the first person to tell you that they haven’t but the constant desire to improve and adapt has seen them through tough times while purchasing another couple of brand new Warriors to cope with the demand. It’s a nice problem to have!

If you are managing an aviation business ask yourself when was the last time you said ‘Yes’ to an innovation that you were presented with. Many managers need to challenge their thinking and snap themselves out of the rut of the day to day grind. Aviation is about excitement and being open to new ideas at every level of business so before you say ‘no’ try saying ‘yes’. I know that it’s scary but you may get a pleasant surprise.