Benjamin O. Davis jr. was the first African American graduate from West Point and one of two black officers in the U.S. Military in 1941. He was the commander of the 99th fighter squadron, better known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Davis had to fight the war department committees on behalf of his men to get them newer aircraft, better supplies, as well as the recognition they deserved. The Tuskegee were well decorated African American pilots that flew escort missions in the European theater during the second world war. Davis graduated 35th in his class at West Point and continued on to apply for the army air corps, which denied him based on his race. The army instead sent him to teach military tactics at the Tuskegee Institute, in Alabama. The  army would later create an African American flying unit. Davis was in charge of this air  group, and he defended his men through adversity. Other senior officers reported the group insufficient for combat, and tried to get them sent home. Davis held conferences and presented his case to the pentagon which allowed the Tuskegee men to continue fighting, sending them to Italy. Throughout the war the Airmen would gain an incredible record while under Davis’ command, with nearly double the downed aircraft compared to the amount of their own lost. After the war Davis continued with his military career flying missions in the Korean war, and eventually becoming a four star general. Davis was recognized with a Silver Star award as well as the Distinguished Flying Cross. He passed away in 2002.

Players: The players would e Delta airlines. They are the ones with launching the new aircraft and the ones opening new possibilities with the Airbus A220. Another player would be the maintenance crews that service the aircraft, having a new air-frame to learn on with potentially more reliable, easier to work on parts will benefit them.

Subjects: The subjects of this post are the passengers as they are going to be flying with the new aircraft. The aircraft will be more luxurious and convenient for the pilots.

Crowd: The crowd in this case will be the general public, they will be seeing a more common use of an airbus aircraft. As well as the other airlines that will be watching how the aircraft performs and the public’s opinion of it.

Context setters: These will be the regional airlines. They are the ones that will be running the aircraft and training the crews for the operations. And they will have the power over the actual operations of the aircraft. 

Mid December 2017 I took a trip to Telluride Colorado. Telluride is one of the most quaint, beautiful, little towns I have ever had the pleasure of laying my eyes upon. The town is nestled into a valley about six hours west of Colorado Springs. Deep into the southern part of the Colorado’s Rocky mountains. The drive was long, 33 hours there and about 28 to get back. I traveled with the ski and board team by way of coach bus that had happened to break down in the middle of the night in Kansas, I’m 15° weather, without a replacement nearby. This didn’t bother me as much as some of the other fifty some students that came along for this ski trip to one of my favot states. I was along for the journey, and weather we made it or not it was definitely a memory. After getting a replacement and loading all of the luggage and ski/board equipment to other bus we managed to arrive at the town. The town was beautiful, all decorated for Christmas. It looked as if it were right out of a Hallmark movie. Lights strung across the small main Street. Christmas trees at every corner. A massive tree at the center of town adorned with a countless number of lights. They even had a tree made from old skis from the old days.

The reason for coming to Telluride was not for the beautiful town, it was for the skiing and snowboarding.  The mountain, sadly, had not gotten it’s due snow fall yet. And because of this there was only 16 out of 160 trails open. This did not stop me from enjoying all that the town had to offer. The night life of the town was fairly low key and expensive, but the ski team provided an ample substitute. With the riding becoming repetitive after the first few hours each day it allowed time to go hiking in the nearby mountains, where I as able to drink from a stream and rest on an overlook above the town. Our lodging was only a short bus trip away from the downtown area. Where street art and small shops adorned the streets. The town had such a small town feel that it was nearly imooimposs to not feel like you were merely a visitor. We visited small coffee shops and even a small place that specializes in fancy toast. The town and the friends that I was with made the vacation. The snowboarding was disappointing, luckily steamboat here recently had made up for that.

The article I read was on the government shutdown. Specifically it’s effects on the FAA and how they are unable to perform their regular tasks on schedule. The article is specifically Government Shutdown Causing Crisis in the Aviation Industry, written by Stephen Pope. Pope goes into the specifics of how the FAA had been loosing track of it’s scheduled plans. And how that will affect general aviation for years to come. Pope says “The impact of this shutdown is real and growing on the general aviation manufacturing and maintenance industry(.)” He goes on to say “FAA is unable to approve training manual revisions, cannot authorize training center evaluators, and will not be able to re-certify flight simulators. Without these approvals, training centers are no longer able to provide new or recurrent pilot training.” Showing direct impact on my current situation in flight training.

The lack of effective communication by the government has lead to this shutdown. And has also created issues with the TSA and it’s subsidiaries. Obviously no one wants to work without pay, and as of now we have just had the affected federal employees second zero dollar pay check. Some of the directly affected are the air traffic controllers. These people have been put in a situation where they have to work without pay while doing a very stressful job that requires high attention and very good communication skills. When someone doesn’t want to work and are annoyed by the situation they have a higher chance of making an error. And a communication error with a traffic controller can be fatal. There are procedures and regulations in place to prevent a tired, angry, or otherwise mentally drained person from being in a position to make a mistake. And the shutdown is putting strain on more than can be relieved.

The fact that the aviation industry is hurting the most by the shutdown is pushing for a resolution, hopefully sooner than later.

https://www.flyingmag.com/government-shutdown-causing-crisis-in-aviation-industry

I am currently a junior in the air transport major pursuing the professional pilot route. I got into aviation at a young age, and the fascination has never stopped growing. I was always watching airplanes, both big and small flying over my house in small town Ohio. I took an intro flight as well as passing ground school while in my high school years. After that I had continued to pursue the dream while studying at the small technical college that had a satellite campus in my home town of Mt. Vernon. After going part time for a few years and completing most of the general electives required I transferred to OSU. I had originally been enrolled in the engineering program with the focus on the flight training. I soon realized that the engineering was not for me. Being in the flight training program has been a fantastic experience so far. I chose this specific major because I wasn’t interested in the engineering or business side of things, air transport major seemed to be exactly what I had wanted.

I have been in the program for a little over a year at this point and the experience is one that will last a lifetime. The people I have met have been mostly great. And the friends are some that will definitely last a life time. I hope that these people will stay with me throughout my future. As for my plans after I graduate I would hope that I be done with flight training and do my time as an instructor. I hope to find a job soon after flight instructing in the air cargo or air surveying business. After I get enough hours to move on to the airlines I hope to find a job with Republic airlines, or even PSA airlines as of recently. I hope to progress to the major airlines and have a full career there. I hope to move or be based somewhere out west, preferably Washington, Colorado, or the Utah areas. I love the mountain areas and most of the locations like this have a major airport that would accommodate a career in the airline industry.