Source: https://nbaa.org/news/business-aviationinsider, Aviation Editor, First Published Sept/Oct issue, 2024 Executing the mission in a unified voice with a wellcommunicated, collaborative plan takes experience, training, tools and teamwork. Communication is the key to any successful endeavor and that’s especially true in business aviation – it’s imperative that all teams share important information across departmental lines. Interdepartmental collaboration, experts say, is made possible by fostering strong communication among schedulers, pilots and maintenance personnel. “I am scheduler, dispatcher, jack of all trades,” says Carrie Wicht, CAM, aviation manager and corporate flight travel coordinator with a 25-year-old Part 91 aircraft operator based at Wisconsin’s Milwaukee Mitchell International (MKE). “Our department is a little bit different,” Wicht says. She coordinates use of a 2012 Challenger 300 primarily by company executives for trips between headquarters KEYS TO BETTER COLLABORATION ACROSS DEPARTMENTS and factories, and for sales missions. The firm has a chief pilot, a Challenger captain, a maintenance chief and an AMT. Routine maintenance is done in-house at MKE, with heavier performed work at MROs and OEM service centers. With no aviation director (since 2022), “it’s like an added hat that we all wear,” Wicht says. She has been with the company for 10 years. “It’s good that we are small,” she says. “We’re close, so we’re sharing information all the time” – especially when there’s a trip in progress. Further, the firm holds monthly flight operations meetings to discuss “training, scheduling, everything.” Wicht, a licensed, instrument-rated pilot, participates in NBAA’s Leadership Council, and, via the association’s Air Traffic Services, takes advantage of weather and especially traffic advisories: “These are extremely helpful for us,” she says. ALWAYS ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT When it comes to communication,“there’s always room for improvement,” says another flight department OPENING LINES 7 AVIATION VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 04, ISSUE 03
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