Boardroom guide 3 April12_FinanceSept 20/03/2012 11:49 Page 1
BUSINESS AVIATION AND THE BOARDROOM
Macro Managing The Aviation Function Confirming how well your company’s aviation services are administrated is fundamental to a Board’s responsibilities. Poor administration of aviation services can have a caustic impact on the time and effectiveness of your company and its leaders, asserts Pete Agur. Peter Agur Jr. is managing director and founder of The VanAllen Group, a business aviation consultancy with expertise in safety, aircraft acquisitions, and leader selection and development. A member of the Flight Safety Foundation’s Corporate Advisory Committee and the NBAA’s Corporate Aviation Managers Committee (emeritus), he is an NBAA Certified Aviation Manager. Contact him via www.VanAllen.com.
he litmus test for the effectiveness of aviation administration has two parts: The company’s level of competence in administering its aviation function, and the character of supplemental support provided by senior management. This article considers both.
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COMPETENCE The standard for administrative performance for your aviation function should be as high as the level set for any other business unit within the company. This objective is not easy because the rest of your company has an advantage. The managers of other units have grown up within the company and its various administrative systems (legal, risk management, human resources, finance and accounting, etc.). Most managers of aviation services do not have such experience. They rarely benefit from an orderly progression and education that teaches them all the ins and outs common to most companies’ administrative back alleys. Consequently, your aviation manager can be at a serious disadvantage due to lack of familiarity with the administrative niceties of running a business unit. Consider one metric that makes the point about development of Business Aviation managers: What percentage of your company’s business unit leaders has an advanced degree or a business certification (Masters, CPA, etc.)? It is probably over onehalf. However, fewer than five percent of aviation managers have MBAs. To date, the National Business Aviation Association has awarded Certified Aviation Manager (CAM) designation to only about 190 aviation managers U
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WORLD AIRCRAFT SALES MAGAZINE – April 2012
www.AvBuyer.com
Aircraft Index see Page 4