4 Signs Aviation Management Might Be Your Dream Major

How can you decide on a college major? Hope you have a prophetic vision in the night? Play "Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Mo"? No and no. The best way to pick a college major is to search your heart and find what you're truly passionate about. Then, compare those passions with the skills needed to do a particular job well. For many, that means anything and everything to do with airplanes and flying. Are you destined for an aviation management degree? By the year 2034, the airline industry expects to be handling over 1 billion passengers per year. That's serious business! Here are some signs that you have a career waiting in aviation. 1. If you could choose any superpower, it would be flying Forget superhuman strength, the ability to see through steel, or even being invisible. If you could pick any superpower it would definitely be flying. For those who've always been mesmerized by flight, an aviation management degree is a stepping stone toward a fulfilling career working with aircraft of all types and sizes. Jobs in aviation extend far beyond being a pilot. Airports and airlines need managers with solid business skills plus the ability to foresee industry trends and plan for the future. Airports need savvy, quick-thinking, level-headed leaders who can come up with fast solutions to complex issues. For those more interested in the supply chain than passenger transportation, about one-third of all traded goods are handled by airlines. This means there is a high demand for managers and supervisors to handle the freight side of the airline business. Whether you have a head for the business side of flying or a knack for the strategic thinking required of an airport director, if you love everything about flying, you'll love aviation management. 2. When your friends carried Star Wars lunch boxes, you carried one with airplanes It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's just Joe jumping around the living room again, pretending to be Charles Lindbergh. Spaceships are interesting, but the Millennium Falcon isn't real. Airplanes aren't just real, they're extraordinary. Chuck Yeager's Bell X-1, Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose, the stealthy Blackbird, and the oh-so-speedy X-15: these are the things dreams are made of. Over the next twenty years, airports will increase the number of miles they fly by almost 3 percent per year. That means that those with aviation management expertise will be in demand. By the year 2034, the industry expects to be handling over 62 million takeoffs and landings per year. It takes a lot of airline managers, airport managers, freight and cargo supervisors, and airport planners to make those flights happen. 3. You can't help but consider the design of an airport as you walk through it Do you walk through an airport terminal mentally picturing how it could be laid out more practically or efficiently? If so, you may be ideal for airport management. Maybe you've got great ideas for how lines could be shortened, walking could be reduced, or baggage could be delivered more efficiently. Consider a career in airport or airline management where you can strut your business savvy and organizational skills, as well as your love and knowledge of aviation. With strong, industry-wide growth predicted over the next two decades, those with a background in aviation can expect to be in high demand. Airlines expect to add some 500,000 new pilots in the next twenty years, along with a commensurate number of support staff. 4. You'd rather travel than 'settle down' When someone asks people what their ideal vacation is, most people say something like lounging on a pristine beach in a tropical climate or spending their days in the cool breezes of the mountains, surrounded by breathtaking vistas of snow and aspen trees. Not you. You can't pick an ideal vacation spot, because you want to see them all. Statistically, today's younger workers are interested in more than just a paycheck. These workers demand flexibility to enjoy their lives and make the most out of their compensation and perks. If this sounds like you, aviation management is a career that comes with some potential travel perks. Many aviation management professionals find themselves hoping on free flights to visit partner airports or enjoying an inaugural flight with an airline that just joined their airport. Additionally aviation management professionals who have honed their expertise and have built a proven track record of turning a failing airport into a successful one will be in demand as a consultant, providing more opportunities to visit new places around the world. An undergraduate aviation management degree can be the destination for a promising career in managing airports or airlines, or it can be a layover for a graduate degree in aviation human factors, airport development or aviation law. Get information on all our aviation undergraduate programs today. %CODE1AVIATIONMGMT%

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