In Grapevine just off TX 121 is Founders Plaza. The plaza is an observation gallery on the North East End of the runways and has a special tug to all avgeeks…
Obviously it is the close proximity to the modern miracles called Aircraft , but there is something else.
The Observatory is a memorial, a place of celebration and a place of freedom.
The Memorial
The memorial plaque to the passengers of DL 191, a Lockheed Tristar that crash landed on August 2,1985 killing 135
The Foundation Stone
The Founders plaza Foundation stone .
The Foundation stone. Notice the awning right behind for plane spotters / picnickers to settle down for a session of plane spotting
Directly to the front of the Foundation stone is a sculpture that is the personification of freedom.
The American Airlines Sculpture to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the Airport 1973 – 1998
To the left of the Foundation Stone is the Braniff International Plaque.
An ode to the once upon a time airline…still brings a twinkle to oldtimer’s eyes
The Hero’s Fountain
The Foundation is directly opposite the foundation stone and behind the sculpture. It’s in a centre circle …cars drive around teh circle and park.
The Hero’s Fountain ( dry due to a hot summer ) is to commemorate the 2700 R & R flights between 2004 – 2012
The broader scene
The place always has space for plane lovers…except in July 2022 when British Airways relaunched it’s A380 operation from LHR to DFW…that afternoon over 2000 plane spotters descended on the place. It was a regular traffic jam!
Both side views give you an idea of the place. In addition there are megaphone at strategic places giving observers real time audio of the ATC with pilots! Wholesome…
Views of aircraft landing from both North & South.
A Qatar Airways A350 on short finals …the North EndA British Airways A380 just landed from the South end and taxiing towards Terminal DThe UPS Hangers right next to the AA Hangers just off Founders Plaza
With so much inspiration around, makes you wonder how many young avgeeks / airline personnel were inspired to take up the job by this very spot?
Living in the shadow of one of the busiest airports in the World, the sky above us is always full of aircraft either on short finals or taking off from DFW Airport.
I am suddenly struck by what I have been seeing, all the aircraft almost without fail are twin engined ops and most have been around for decades
A comparison of the largest selling airliners..yes the 747 is not on it!
The above table clearly conveys most of the aircraft flying today are actually 40 year old airframe designs with improvements made in the direction of efficiency.
Wing Design
The biggest enemy of an aircraft is drag. Traditional wing design has always caused a lot of turbulence at the wing tips. There has been considerable time money and energy spent to improve existing wing performance with all new wings that incorporate the winglet / sharklet.
Winglet types flying today
*image credit AME Question Paper via Google
Another area of tremendous improvement is the engines. What were previously noisy and smoky affairs are now almost quiet and smokeless. Almost all civilian passenger aircraft today use high bypass engines.
A comparison of bypass engine types . High Bypass was invented in the mid 1960s
*image credit Wikipedia
The Race
From the early 1900s through to the 1980s it was an era of constantly breaking fresh ground. The image below shows the speed race over before 1980…set by the fabled Lockheed SR-71….Same goes for height.
The flight speed record progression…nothing new since the late 1970s
*image credit Wikipedia
The B747 ( The Queen of the Skies ) and the legendary Concorde both had their first flight within a month of each other in February ( B747 ) and March ( Concorde ) of 1969. These two aircraft represented two different approaches to way passengers fly. Both marvels ahead of their time and both endure as freighters or museum pieces.
A tale of two BA Queens…
*image credit Quora / Google / creator
The B747 has written it’s own fantastic story over 54 years and is continuing to fly among the global fleet today, it’s Concorde that was jinx from the beginning.
The Concorde
From the moment the development project was announced in 1962 the Concorde has been the centre of controversy. Whether it was it’s highly noisy and smoky Snecma Olympus Engines or it’s sonic boom.
From over 100 orders to the final 14 sold to just two operators ( British Airways & Air France ) the national airlines of the countries that supported their development ( UK & France ).
What should have been a singular triumph ( in some ways it still is ) became an elitist way of travel and was ultimately restricted to just the scheduled routes of London / Paris – New York ( v v ). When Concorde was finally de registered ( grounded ) in 2003 the average number of cycles on each Concorde was only around 5000 cycles. The number an average B747 hit in about 5-7 years.
Today when we see them as museum pieces, we envision engineering at it’s best and can only imagine the Champagne based conversations on board.
Enter BOOM
BOOM’s big idea is to democratize Supersonic travel and towards that end they are engineering a completely new aircraft ( the basics don’t change )
Concorde / Overture comparison
The numbers speak a very familiar story. The big difference being weight. Advances in composite materials make the the Overture fast and at the same time very light. With 35 confirmed orders from United Airlines & American and multiple airlines showing interest. This might yet be the dawn of the second Supersonic age in passenger travel.
Points to mention
BOOM Symphony engines will use only SAF ( Sustainable Aviation Fuel )
The increased range gives it reach where Concorde missed out..also makes a case for even more increased range
The Tourism market is completely different now what it was in 2003 when Concorde retired and this can be a huge difference ( Ex : In 2000 there were only 470 billionaires in the World and today we have almost 2500 , this highlights the GDP growth and growing incomes globally to afford what could be the equivalent of a First Class ticket)
A clear focus on the environment across all parameters takes out all the opposition that Concorde had
With over 35 orders firmed up most of them from United and American maybe it’s the dawn of the Supersonic age on Commercial America Aviation
What we see is the world was not ready for Concorde and when the BOOM – Overture flies…will be welcomed with open arms!
The development of the Overture can spawn a completely fresh direction in passenger travel. This is why projects such as this are important.
You are fresh out of University and looking for a fresh role in Commercial…what do you do? When in doubt, always start with the Basics!
The P.E.S.T Analysis
In the absence of access to any historical data, this is always a great place to start. P.E.S.T is an acronym for Political / Economic / Social / Technology…every aspect of our lives is impacted by one of these four segments.
Examples:
Political : Ukraine was a country that had a thriving Tourism Industry however the ongoing war has impacted the industry.
Economic : India as a country has a GDP growth of approx 6.1% this automatically will see a rise in air travel both corporate and leisure, and sale of smart phones
Social : The DFW Metroplex area has seen a population growth from 4,000,000 to 8,000,000 over the last thirty year, this will automatically take real estate values up and there should be plenty of teaching position available
Technology : The advent of Data usage has changed sales jobs from being pure sales to that of Business Development and a Data Analyst
From the above examples we can draw conclusions based on the Macro conditions of whatever it is you are trying to research
Organizational Research
Before you go into an interview ensure you know everything there is to know about the company on the internet. Excellent starting points:
The annual reports are excellent places to start for listed companies. Here you not only have a clear pictures of the company’s P & L but also their guidance over the next 18 to 24 months. This is excellent ammunition to have, especially when you are up against a panel and questions can come thick and fast
The S.W.O.T Analysis. This will give you a competitive understanding of the organization viz a viz competition, this in conjunction with the P.E.S.T Analysis & Annual Reports should give you a deep understanding of what to expect with the company ( growth wise )
You the Person
It is important you visualize yourself with the company as you do the above analysis. This way you have already imbibed a number of the qualities the company is looking for
Exhibit your knowledge to the interviewer…but be understated. The company needs you as much as you need it
Always be professionally attired ( even for phone interviews )
The Final Word
Job Searches can be long and arduous and be demotivating, it’s at times like this you show off your resilience and tenacity.
Airline start-Ups are amazing places…many people doing plenty at once! The adrenaline is high and the ‘ Cowboy Attitude ‘ keeps you going. The two combine together to create an addictive and extremely volatile atmosphere.
None of the realities are what the appear to be in theory!
Clear Business Plan – Topline
The idea germinates and takes root. What do we want to be? Who do we want to serve?What is our product? What is the gap / niche we want to be in? When do we break even?
Vision is nothing but a dream with execution steps. Formulate well.
Clear Project Timeline
Understanding the critical path of the project from ideation to planning to execution to revenue generation is important. Each of the above steps has several aspects to it.
Material – In this case it’s aeroplanes and everything that makes them fly
Money – Ensuring the right amount of money is available at the right time
People – Have the right person at the right place at the right time in the right sequence
Data – Free bidirectional ,sacrosanct data flow with one source of the truth
The four aspects come together and form a Supply Chain! Airlines have multiple intertwined supply chains forming a complex logistical challenge.
Commercial Execution
Simply means carrying passengers / cargo profitably in any unit of time measured.
A glossary:
Network Planning – The designing and creation of an airline schedule that optimizes aircraft utilization to maximize profitability & business forecasting
Revenue management – The application of disciplined analysis to forecast consumer behavior
Marketing – The process of communicating with the end user using multiple touch points
Distribution – The process of reaching and amortizing your end users
Sales Team – The foot soldiers on the ground carrying the airline’s good word out ( evangelize )
The five principal’s of Commercial work together in unison to deliver the airline’s revenue goals.
Final Word
The devil is always in the detail. ‘ Cash is your oxygen ‘. The key to success is Discipline, Consistency & Playing the Gaps.
Disclaimer : This is only a short note from a Commercial View point and by no means complete. Feel free to add….
Our ‘Nanna’ passed onto an enlightened plane on July 01st ….
But why a Jedi warrior?
A Jedi seeks knowledge and enlightenment through discipline and consistency.
My earliest memory of my Father is reading out to me from a book called ‘ Aircraft Aircraft’ …I was all of 6 months old…..too young to know my Dad was programming me toward a lifelong love of airplanes and anything aerospace.
Knowledge
Back in the late 60s early 70s when finding good publications to gather knowledge was difficult…Our Dad always had the latest Time Magazine, Popular Mechanics, Discover among a multitude of publications considered benchmarks even today. His logic was knowledge is power and he always worked towards empowering himself to knowledge. We had not one but two sets of encyclopedias at home ( Britanica / Funk & Wagnals )…was the original Google.
Discipline
Every morning up at 0600hrs and coffee at 0615hrs…come rain or shine. Nanna was the first person in our life to sometimes trick us into getting up early. During the summer holidays as we slept…Nanna would step outside I-6 Dattaguru Society and shout ‘ Babblu …Thambi ‘…and we would promptly jump out of bed thinking our friends were calling out to us…and He would be outside grinning ear to ear! Took great pride in all the ways He tricked us…..
Consistency
Nanna would consistently beat us at Chess / Othello and pretty much every other board game there was. How did he do that? Nanna firmly believed in the 10,000 hour rule way before it came into style. He called it rote / mensuration / practice. Once he chose to excel at something he would go after it until consistency won over any other short comings. He excelled at the Mouth Organ / learned how to play key boards ( his first keyboard was the Casio VL-Tone )at the age of seventy and was constantly on the search for fresh activities to master!
An early adopter of Computers…our first computer was the Sinclair ZX Spectrum+ ….he promptly set about teaching himself programming to get the Computer to his bidding! For – Next loops….If – Then loops…BASIC….COBOL…his pet computer was the Casio PB-110. His love for computers just kept on and on and on…Nanna loved his gadgets.
Enlightenment
Nanna was always on the lookout to try and continuously improve his level of EQ. His attitude was there is so much to learn about people and behaviors. Nanna’s greatest quip was ‘ We have no control over anything except the way we react’ ….and it was difficult to catch him out of composure. Every experience a learning curve.
The First Chapter
In Jan of this year Nanna, a diabetes fighter over the last 43 years had yet another series of cardiac incidents. Nanna flat lined for almost 5 minutes . We had given up hope and as a Family decided to pull the ventilator….and where his pulse should have faded out…it came back strongly and Nanna was sitting in his ICU bed as though he had just got up from a good night’s rest….He ensured that KIMS Hospital kicked him out the very next day and He was happy to be home.
In hospital even without his voice he asked ‘ Did I fight like a Jedi Warrior?’
A joyfully teary me replied…’ You are our Obi Wan’
There was a time when a sales guy had to spend eighty percent of his time on field and twenty percent of his time in the office completing dreaded admin chores. But all that is changing and how!
So what is actually a sales job? Not so long ago, it involved cold calling your target market to generate leads and through them revenue numbers. While this Cowboy attitude looks very active on paper, was/is this actually the right way to go?
The internet has changed the manner in which organisations approach the marketplace. New fangled terms such as Supply Chains and Data have entered the public consciousness. But what are these? The fact is that Supply Chains…the movement of product, people, cash… have always existed. Data has always existed too…it’s the just manner in which we consume it has changed. A little explanation on this.
When Moses had the ten commandments on a stone slab…this was data! The same goes for the Rosetta Stone. The evolution of consuming data has changed slowly but surely over the milenia…manuscripts…paper ( aha! Books !! )….LPs…cassette tapes….CD’s…DVD’s…and then the new age OTT’s and of course Social Media. But what accelerated this glacial rate of change to that of rushing river rapids? One word technology.
As Moore’s Law took root and our computing power kept doubling every eighteen to twenty four months ( it’s even quicker now ), our ability to consume increasing amounts of data kept pace abreast…of course our ability to manage data in units we never heard of before has only abetted this progression. In the old days it was bytes..then MB…later GB & TB…progressed to petabytes…and now Exabytes( EB )! After Exabyte…what next? Zettabyte (ZB)…and so the progression continues….
But what has this progression got to do with a Sales Job? Well the typical old style sales job (remember the travelling salesman?) is all but extinct. This has now bifurcated into Business Development and the Data Scientist.
Business Development now uses multiple tools ( most of them based on Big Data in addition to OLAP & OLTP ) to go into the marketplace in a targeted manner and Evangelize your organization’s product ( evnagelize not educate ) thereby creating a need where none existed. But what is Big Data? It’s the offline translation of Human Behavior in the online space…
Data Science is still in it’s infancy, but the changes have been startling and any job search on Linkedin will automatically show you the demand for jobs in this sphere of work.
Having said that there is still no substitute for the good old Human Brain that understands this holistic picture…read Domain Experience….
Young entrants into the Commercial Marketplace will do well to understand this right off the bat…
manirayaprolu 