Landmark Aviation

“Welcome to Landmark Aviation, where uniting exceptional customer service and uncompromising safety standards is our primary focus.”

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Landmark Aviation is a portfolio company of GTCR Golder Rauner and Platform Partners, LLC. Landmark’s current network includes ten fixed base operations in Europe and Canada, as well as 41 locations in the U.S.

Landmark Aviation, one of the nation's largest FBO networks, is committed to exceeding the standards in business aviation services. This company is successfully providing its customers with a single source for all of their aviation needs. It offers a wide range of services, including, FBO, MRO, charter and management; in addition to a wide variety of amenities and services, guaranteeing both comfort and convenience.

Charter & Management:

With over 60 years of experience, Landmark Aviation's charter operation provides convenience and safety, getting you to your destination in the most exclusive and secure way possible. With charter flights, you have the ability to save time and money, eliminating the hassles of check-ins, stops, plane changes and layovers common in conventional airline services.

Fleet:

Landmark Aviation has one of the largest corporate charter fleets in the nation, ranging from a King Air 200 to a Challenger 604.

Flight Support/Operations

·    - Crew scheduling and briefing for all trips Part 91 and 135

·    - Aircraft schedules for Part 91 and Part 135 trips

·    - Arrangement of crew accommodations and transportation

·    - Track weather conditions, ensure all amenities are on board, and each aircraft is always spotless and ready to depart on time

Landmark Aviation Careers:

Landmark Aviation firmly believes that its employees drive the success of the company; therefore it strive to create and provide an environment that offers challenging, stimulating and financially rewarding opportunities to its employees.

Landmark Aviation offers jobs in Accounting and Finance, Charter and Aircraft MGMT, Clerical and Administrative, Customer Service, General Management, Ground Operations, Maintenance & Repair, Sales and Marketing, and Technology and Computer-related.

Offered Benefits

- Medical

- Dental

- Vision

- Short Term Disability

- Long Term Disability

- Employee Life Insurance

- Spouse Insurance

- Dependent's Insurance

- Flexible Spending Accounts

- 401k

Current/Future Hiring

Pilot 135

Job Description

The Pilot provides exceptional customer service to all Landmark customers, suppliers, and employees while observing and practicing all safety policies and procedures. Qualified candidates will check aircraft prior to flights to ensure that engines, controls, instruments, and other systems are functioning properly, contact control towers for clearances and instructions using radio equipment, start engines, operate controls, and pilot airplanes to transport passengers or freight according to flight plans. In addition, pilots will monitor engine operation, fuel consumption, functioning of aircraft, altitudes, plane weight, weather, and wind conditions before and during flight. Pilots will order changes in fuel, load, routes, or schedules and plan flights according to government and company regulations to ensure flight safety.

Required Skills

-High School diploma or equivalent

-Minimum of 18 years old

-Education and training to obtain required licenses and certificates

-FAA Airline Transport Certificate

-FAA First Class Medical Certificate

-3 to 5 years experience

-Advanced working knowledge of applicable FCC, FAA, OSHA, and environmental regulations

-Proficient in computer operations and software (internet, email, database, spreadsheet, and document)

-Excellent customer relation skills required

-Strong communication skills required, both verbal and written

-Knowledge of simple arithmetic

-Possess and maintain valid state driver’s license with driving record acceptable to FAA and Company
policy

-Ability to perform service operations outside and in extreme temperatures and inclement weather

-Requires stretching, bending, and climbing

-Excellent vision and coordination

-Ability to perform medium to heavy lifting

-Will travel extensively and sit for extended periods of time

Required Experience

Required Flight Experience:

-3500 Hours Total Time

-2000 Hours PIC

-1500 Hours Multi-EngineLand

-500 Hours Multi-Engine PIC

-500 Hours Turbine Engine

-300 Hours PIC (HS-125)

-300 Hours Instrument

Job Location

Frederick, MD, US.

Position Type

Full-Time/Regular

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Dispatcher

Job Description

-Receives, records, and distributes work orders to service crews to meet customer requests for service.

-Records information, such as name, address, service location, time of service and service to be rendered.

-Prepares and distributes work orders to service or maintenance crews.

-Relays messages and special instructions to crews using radio and telephone equipment.

-Communicates with the customer to ensure satisfactory performance of service.

-Maintains records of service calls and work orders.

-Uses the Fuels Automated System (FAS) and electronic database management systems to manage, schedule, and document all activities in support of site operations.

-Records service requests, prepares service schedules, dispatches personnel, controls equipment, and documents all site activities.

-Receives requests either by telephone and/or messages

-Reviews service schedules to ensure that adequate manning is scheduled to support anticipated workload.

-Recalls employees or implements the contingency plan as appropriate to ensure uninterrupted mission support of multiple simultaneous fuel service operations.

-Coordinates all Logistical Requirements to ensure that customer services, supplies, and material requirements are available.

-Controls the discharge of fuel by operating motorized valves.

-Monitors inventories, flow rates, tank level, and other information provided by the system.

-Monitors system alarms and responds accordingly in the event that an alarm is sounded.

-Reviews all receipt; issue, defuel, and fillstand documents for accuracy by compares data against the automated dispatch log.

-Prepares records, reports, and other documents relevant to product inventory, receipt, and issue to ensure account accuracy.

-Required Skills

-Possess strong communication skills, both verbal and written

-Proficient in computer operations and Microsoft Office Software (Outlook, Word, Excel, and Access)

-Possess excellent customer relation skills

-Possess and maintain valid state driver’s license with driving record acceptable to Company policy

Required Experience

-Minimum of 18 years old

-High School diploma or equivalent

Job Location

Sioux Falls, SD, US.

Position Type

Part-Time

The New Space Economy

In my opinion, the statement, “the new space economy is getting real” refers to genuine and lively commitment by space pioneers and private companies within a global commercial space industry, aspiring to take on space travel and exploration to new frontiers. Two great examples of that, are two successful private companies, Virgin Galactic and SpaceX. 

This week Sir Richard Branson, the chairman of Virgin Group (a British billionaire), and New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez dedicate the ‘Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space' as SpaceshipTwo got released from WhiteKnightTwo at 51,500ft and for the first time tests and demonstrates its unique feathered re-entry system. The test has met all objectives and after re-feathering to the normal glide configuration, SpaceShipTwo made a smooth touchdown at Mojave Air and Spaceport.


 



The Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space is a combined terminal and hangar facility, built to support up to two WhiteKnightTwo and five SpaceShipTwo vehicles. The Gateway will house all of the company’s astronaut preparation and celebration facilities, a mission control center, and a friends and family area. There is also space committed to public access via the planned New Mexico Spaceport Authority’s Visitor Experience. In addition, the company is taking steps to expand its mission beyond commercial space tourism, and it announced last week that it had been awarded a contract under NASA’s Flight Opportunity Program for research flights to a potential value of $4.5m. More than150 Virgin Galactic customers from 21 countries attended the dedication ceremony and over 450 future astronauts worldwide have signed on to join Virgin Galactic for a voyage into space.


 

The second example of a successful private company is SpaceX, led by breakthrough innovator Elon Musk, which is the first private company to send a capsule into orbit and successfully recover it. This company has set its sights on the Dragon becoming the next American craft to carry astronauts. The aerospace company signed a $492 million launch contract (the largest in history) with the satellite company Iridium Communications. It also received a $75 million from NASA to develop an escape system for its Dragon spacecraft.

NASA's Role in the Next 25 Years

Recently, NASA has published the Global Exploration Roadmap; which is a document detailing the agency's plans for the next 25 years of space exploration. The plan is a vision of robotic and human space exploration within the solar system, with the premise that human may one day live and work in space; it reflects international effort to define feasible and sustainable exploration pathways into space. Agencies agree that human space exploration will be most successful as an international endeavor because there are many challenges for these missions and because of the significant social, intellectual, and economic benefits to people on Earth. The most common goals and objectives of the global Exploration Roadmap are, to search for life outside of Earth, extend human presence in exploring a variety of destinations beyond low-Earth orbit, developing exploration technologies and capabilities, stimulating economic expansion by supporting commercial entities, engaging in scientific investigations of, and from the solar system destinations, and providing opportunities for the public to engage in space exploration.

The historic purpose of space travel was primarily a matter of competition between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, each wanted to gain the upper-hand in space and military technological superiority, while the primary purpose of the current and future space travel and exploration has shifted focus into scientific research and exploration of space to include private companies engaging in investigations and explorations for the purpose of benefiting mankind from technological advances to the possibility of space travel, tourism and the search for life outside of our planet. This purpose is in fact of significant benefit to mankind because it is not just a matter of space travel and tourism, it is a matter of attaining new frontiers to enhance our lives. The undertaking of such endeavors require a big investment of time and money and I am glad that pioneers such as Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic and Elon Musk of SpaceX are two of many great pioneers whom work and achievements have and will continue to benefit us all whether directly or indirectly.

The only possible career implication to the current direction of space travel that I could think of is the reality that global and national space agencies such as NASA may not offer as many career opportunities as they once did in the past and may end up loosing some talents to the private sector as more private companies gets their hands on this promising industry. Overall, I think the space economy will grow steadily in the next 25 years, creating more jobs both in the public and private sectors. I think it is extremely important that private companies must plan extensively and prioritize safety in every aspect of their work when investing and engaging in the space industry, simply because failing a mission is not tolerable by the commercial space industry and especially by investors. 

EU's Emissions Trading System

The European Commission for Climate Action explain ETS as follow:

EU’s emissions trading system/scheme! was launched in 2005 and it works on the "cap and trade" principle; which means a limit on the total amount of certain greenhouse gases that can be emitted. The way this scheme works is that companies will receive emission allowances which they can sell to or buy from one another as needed. At the end of each year, each company must surrender enough allowances to cover all its emissions, otherwise heavy fines are imposed. If a company reduces its emissions, it can keep the spare allowances to cover its future needs or else sell them to another company that is short of allowances.The number of allowances is reduced over time so that total emissions fall. The ETS now operates in 30 countries (the 27 EU Member States plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway). Airlines will join the scheme in 2012. The EU ETS will be further expanded to the petrochemicals, ammonia and aluminium industries and to additional gases in 2013.

The ETS conflict between the U.S. and EU is very serious and concerning. Testifying before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation, ATA Vice President of Environmental Affairs Nancy Young shared this concern with members of the House of Representatives. “The EU ETS violates international law, including the sovereignty of the United States and imposes an illegal, exorbitant and counterproductive tax on U.S. citizens, diverting U.S. dollars and threatening thousands upon thousands of jobs.”In addition to that, ATA projections estimate that the ETS could cost U.S. airlines more than $3.1 billion from 2012 to 2020, a figure that could sustain more than 39,200 aviation jobs. Simply just these two statements alone do tell the potential impact to the US aviation industry if US carriers are forced to participate in this scheme.

Currently, it is unclear whether non-carriers such as U.S. corporate operators will have to participate in the EU's emissions trading scheme. Based on my understanding of reading the EU's ETS on the European Commission for Climate Action website, I think it is quite clear that this scheme is going to include non-carriers and definitely freight carriers such as UPS, FedEx and DHL.

From an enviromental perspective, this scheme seems like at a positive step forward; but, from an economical and legal perspective, I think the EU's emission trading scheme is unfair and illegal because it is regulated and ran by the Europeans alone instead of an international regulatory body that would act as a neutral regulator. This scheme tend to negatively impact most airlines and manufacturers that do business in Europe because it trims their bottom-line and make them less competitive in the global market. If U.S. carriers are required to participate, then the U.S. government should counter-tax European air carriers that fly into the U.S. and use it to subsidize the impacted U.S. airlines and/or companies.

CAT/BPSS - Automatic ID/Boarding Pass Checker

Very soon the TSA will be using/testing a new technology (system) called, CAT/BPSS, which stands for Credential Authentication Technology/Boarding Pass Scanning System.

This technology is expected to help enhance security and increase efficiency by automatically and concurrently comparing a passenger's ID and boarding pass to a set of security features. It verifies that neither have been falsified and that the information on both match. The system also verifies the IDs of airline personnel and can screen a wide range of travel documents.


Just last month, The TSA has purchased 30 systems that will be deployed at select airports for further operational testing as early as next year. The airports included in the TSA Pre✓™ program (DFW, MIA, DTW, ATL) will be among some of the first recipients of the systems. The system works as follow:

1. Passengers will hand their ID to the TSA Travel Document Checker (TDC).
2. The TDC will scan it while the passenger scans their own boarding pass using a built in scanner that's part of the technology.

3. Once the scan is complete, the technology automatically and permanently deletes the information from the system.

If testing proves successful, TSA will deploy the technology to airports nationwide.

Airbus' 21st Century Flagship: A380

The Airbus' A380 is truly "love at first flight". The double-deck A380 is the largest commercial aircraft flying today with capacity to carry 525 passengers in a comfortable three-class configuration, and up to 853 passengers in a single-class configuration. The A380's two decks offer 50% more floor surface than any other high-capacity aircraft, providing wider passenger seats than its competitor. Frankly, the A380 is the ideal solution for alleviating traffic congestion at major airports, thanks to its 8,300 nautical miles range. The A380's main deck and upper deck are conveniently linked by fixed forward and aft. stairs. Since its service introduction in 2007, this marvelous aircraft has been winning the hearts and minds of business and leisure passengers alike.

The History of the A380 (2007-Present):

 

 

The A380s have been in operation since 2007 and are in service today with six operators. (1) Singapore Airlines, (2) Emirates, (3) Qantas, (4) Air France, (5) Lufthansa, and (6) Korean Air. These six airlines have benefited from the A380’s passenger attraction in a wide range of route applications.

 

 

1) Singapore Airlines took delivery of the first A380 in October 2007, and began operations with Singapore-Sydney service. This carrier also is successfully using its A380s on long-haul routes to destinations such as London, Paris and Zurich, as well as for the approximately 3 hour-plus Singapore-to-Hong Kong flight, and on the intra-Asia service linking Singapore with Tokyo.

 

 

2) Emirates Airlines, the largest single A380 customer with a total of 90 on order, has expanded its route network since inaugurating operations with the double-deck jetliner in July 2008. In addition to service from Dubai to Bangkok, Beijing, Hong Kong, London, New York, Paris, Seoul, Sydney/Auckland and Toronto, Emirates is now flying A380s on the shorter-haul, but high-density Dubai-Jeddah route.

 

 

3) Air France, which has operated its prestigious Paris-New York flight with the A380 since November 2009. Air France replaced two mid-sized “classic” wide body aircraft with the A380 on this route, allowing the airline to offer the same capacity with much higher economic efficiency, at significantly lower fuel consumption, and with lower emissions.

 

 

4) Qantas has been operating their A380s since September 2008 from two cities in its Australian home market; Sydney and Melbourne, providing with the jetliner’s first service to Los Angeles on the U.S. West Coast, along with routes to Singapore and London.

 

 

5) Lufthansa joined the ranks of A380 operators in May 2010, deploying its growing fleet on routes from Frankfurt to Tokyo, Beijing and Johannesburg.

 

 

6) Recently, Korean Air received its first A380 in May 2011 and has ordered a total of 10 aircraft to help expand its global route network. As Airbus’ sixth international operator, Korean Air will operate the A380 from its Seoul hub to selected destinations in Asia, followed by non-stop services to North America and Europe.

 

 

There are currently 23 cities linked through 32 different routes being served by an A380, including the upcoming non-stop flights planned by Korean Air from its hub in Seoul to North America and Europe. Overall, this network covers 11 of the world’s top 15 international airports, and encompasses such major hubs as London-Heathrow; Paris-Charles de Gaulle; Hong Kong; Frankfurt; Dubai; Singapore and Tokyo, along with destinations such as Manchester, Zurich, Toronto and other cities.

Airbus advertises the A380 as a Greener, cleaner, quieter and smarter aircraft; setting new benchmarks for the global aviation industry with its superior efficiency, profitability and operational effectiveness. Not only is it setting new passenger comfort standards, the A380 also is raising the bar for environmental standards with its low fuel consumption and noise levels, as well as reduced CO2 and NOx emissions. The A380’s cockpit is based on Airbus’ industry-leading flight deck design for its fly-by-wire jetliner families. It features the latest advances in cockpit technology, including larger interactive displays, an advanced flight management system and improved navigation modes.



Airbus 380 vs. Boeing 787


The A380 has long secured its a place in the global aviation market as the world's leading and largest passenger airplane, but it is also the worlds most expensive airplane. While the B787 Dreamliner has some what failed to please the world due to $10 billions in development that suffered two years of delays, costing the company orders and credibility. Although Boeing 787 has half the capacity of an A380 it too has attracted a steady stream of buyers worldwide. The first 787 Dreamliner rolled out of Boeing’s paint hangar in Everett, Wash., on Aug. 6, 2011. I think more time is needed for us to rule-out a winner; possibly both aircraft may turn to be a success, or both turn to be a failure! It is too early, especially for Boeing.


These two sophisticated aircraft will require teams of highly trained and educated individuals due to their size, sophisticated systems, and passenger capacity. In the near future we will definitely have to understand these two aircraft thoroughly, both as future pilots and aviation managers. I think the future of these two amazing aircraft with ultimately depend on the operators and passengers as well as safety factors. The increasing air traffic congestion will definitely increase the demand for wide body aircraft in the near future and possibly increase orders for both, A380 and B787.