Aviation includes all the activities surrounding some kind of mechanical flight of an aircraft. In the present scenario, the entire global aircraft industry is part of aviation. The word “Aviation” comes from the Latin word avis (“bird”) and the suffix -ation. An aircraft could be a fixed-wing and rotary wing type. It also includes rockets, drones, airships, and hot air balloons.
General Understanding of Public
The majority of people think that aviation only revolves around an airplane. This is a general understanding that prevails. On the contrary, aviation is not limited to airplanes only. As mentioned earlier, it includes every activity related to the aircraft (defined earlier). These activities could be of different nature.
Segments of Aviation
Aviation is generally divided into three segments. Each segment has its own requirements and functionality. These segments include Commercial Aviation, Military Aviation, and General Aviation. Commercial aviation involves activities where passengers and cargo are transported from one place to another place. Similarly, military aviation involves different types of military aircraft with different configurations. Helicopters come under both commercial and military aviation. General aviation means all types of non-scheduled flying. It includes both private or commercial flying. It also includes business flights, private charters, flying schools, air ambulance, crop dusting, charter flights, police air patrols, forest fire fighting, and different types of aircraft used for recreational purposes. Schon Air in Karachi is one of the oldest flying training schools for early learners.
Understanding Aviation
The word ‘Aviation’ has a long list of items. It starts with the structure of the aircraft, wings, horizontal stabilizers, vertical tail, ailerons, flaps, engines, landing gears, followed by Original Equipment Manufacturers, Operators, Air traffic controllers, Airports, cargo handling agents, maintenance teams, logistics, pilots, air hostesses, air traffic controllers, and the list goes on. To cut short, every element attached with the aircraft directly or indirectly is part of aviation. When referring to the aviation industry, we are talking about every element. Even a marshaller who guides the aircraft at the apron is part of aviation.
Aviation Management System
Over a period of more than a century, a number of elements have developed an association with the aircraft operations. Air operations have become diversified and complex. In order to manage the operations, there is a need of automated structured processes. We bring all of them under the umbrella of “Aviation Management”.
Also read: COVID-19 ; A Strong Knock to the Aviation Industry
Real Life Example
A real-life example is Flight Planning and Scheduling. There is a separate department at an airline that manages these functions through automated management systems. Softwares and programs run these complex systems and generate optimized solutions for the planners. This is just a fraction of aviation management. There are multiple functions and departments working at the same time for the aviation operations.
Importance of Aviation Management
Aviation has become a major source of GDP booster for the growth and prosperity of economies. It is not only about the passengers and cargo. There are millions of jobs linked with aviation around the globe. Unfortunately, COVID-19 was a major setback for the aviation industry. Thousands of people have lost their jobs recently. However, it will bounce back where it left before the COVID pandemic. A quick look at the statistics shows the number of people associated with aviation around the world.
Analysis
The statistics show a promising number in terms of the job market. There are both direct and indirect jobs. Induced jobs are the outcomes of the direct and indirect jobs. In short, aviation management is a unique area of modern management. In addition to the basic rules of management, there are multiple subcategories of management in relevant fields of aviation that cannot be overemphasized.
Written by guest writer, Faisal Bashir
