A Peek Into The Aviation Industry, With Julien Martinson

In this episode, J.R. Lowry welcomes Julien Martinson, an expert in aviation careers. Julien shares his passion for the aviation industry, discussing its progress over the last century and the opportunities it offers. From the global pilot shortage to technological advancements in air traffic control, Julien provides insights into the evolving landscape of aviation. He also introduces his book, The Ultimate Guide to Careers in Aviation, which explores key career paths in the industry. Join us for an engaging discussion on the future of aviation and how young professionals can navigate their way to successful careers.

Check out the full series of “Career Sessions, Career Lessons” podcasts here or visit pathwise.io/podcast/.  A full written transcript of this episode is also available at https://pathwise.io/podcast/julien-martinson

—

Watch the episode here

Listen to the podcast here

A Peek Into The Aviation Industry, With Julien Martinson

Author Of The Ultimate Guide To Careers In Aviation

My guest is Julien Martinson. Julien is a Public Speaker, Coach, and Influencer who focuses on the aviation industry and careers within it. He’s a veteran of the industry himself, having worked for both airlines and airport security firms. He is the author of The Ultimate Guide To Careers In Aviation and offers courses on the industry as well. He lives in Ontario, Canada. Julien, welcome and thanks for joining me on the show.

Thank you very much for inviting me. It’s a pleasure to be here.

Describe the mix of things that are keeping you busy. I covered it a little bit in the intro, but give us a little bit more color.

Julien’s Journey In Aviation Management

My passion is aviation and the industry fascinates me how it’s progressed over the last 100 years. A few years ago, I started my studies in Aviation Management at the undergraduate level and I enjoyed it, understanding how airlines operate and make money. I decided to continue my studies with the Masters in Aviation Management at Griffith University. We learned about strategic planning, aviation economics, and international aviation law.

Finally, I did my thesis on global pilot supply and demand. In Canada, there’s a pilot shortage and it’s very interesting with the dynamics with the potential Air Canada Pilots strike. I wanted to learn a little bit more what the root cause that’s causing this disparity in pilot supply. Although it’s a very prestigious career, it led me to discover they’re not recruiting enough young people into the industry. There are a couple of barriers for that.

This allowed me to get a better grasp of the industry, where things are going and what is driving the industry. The industry is driven by an increase in passenger demand due to the elimination of many documentations that’s required to travel and the carbon fiber composite materials of aircraft. The industry has reached a critical mass and the disposable income of families has gone up, although you may not realize it.

Aviation Industry Trends In Asia

The biggest growth in the industry is surprisingly in the Asian market in China and India. They’re having a very large increase in passenger demand. Therefore, pilots may leave Canada and go work for carriers overseas. In order to draw a little bit of hype and attention to careers in aviation management, I’ve written the book The Ultimate Guide To Careers In Aviation, which covers four main careers, which is pilot, aircraft engineer, air traffic control then finally, aviation management, which is the business management of airlines and airports.

Let’s come back to the book in a sec, but you were working in the industry before you went back and started studying it in a more formal sense.

That is correct. I was a flight attendant and I enjoyed the job. I enjoyed interacting with the passengers and the destinations. There’s just something compelling when the aircraft just takes off and defies the laws of gravity. It just lifts you into the sky then you look down at all those people stuck in traffic jams down below and you say, “I’m not part of that anymore. I’m going to a sunny destination.” There’s something exhilarating about that phenomenon when you take off. It was an amazing experience to be part of that for so many years.

What got you interested in the industry in the first place?

In 1989, I had a flight to Prince Edward Island for the Boy Scout Jamboree and it was on the 767. At the time, it was a very good airplane. I was like, “That’s the job that I want to do. I want to be a flight attendant.” They’d always tickled me and then finally, I got the opportunity to do that and I was very pleased with but the experience.

A lot of other people will find satisfying careers in aviation. The industry offers a lot to young people because there’s progressive career growth in aviation, and it’s an industry that is globally connected. It’s an industry that is sensitive to environmental sustainability. It includes inclusion and diversity. A lot of good things that the industry offers that young people look forward to in a career. I wanted to give other people the opportunity to explore a little bit more what the career options are and where the pinch points are in the industry so that the next generation can understand. We have to address these solutions and equip themselves properly with the appropriate credentials to enter into the job market.

Julien Martinson: The aviation industry offers a lot to young people because there’s progressive career growth and it’s globally connected.

You mentioned earlier that the Chinese and Indian markets are taking off, and pilots are going over there. Certainly, the Middle Eastern airlines have been able to attract a lot of pilots from other countries to come and work for them as well. I can remember being in Norway many years ago. A cruise ship came in and it was all Asian passengers on this cruise ship. I remember having this thought. China was becoming more of a capitalist country and middle class was developing there.

I was thinking there would be a billion plus people, whatever they were at the time, when the middle class was fully developed. Their tourism is going to be through the roof and we’ve seen that since then. You see it happening more in India and other Asian markets. In some of the African markets, too. What used to be an industry that was populated by Westerners is now becoming more day by day and more global. What that means is there’s greater demand for air travel. With that comes some consequences like the carbon footprint of it all, but the industry’s changed tremendously even in my adult life.

This is correct. What’s interesting is that the aviation industry has historically been set on Western social norms. However, 3% of the global market is in Asia. As the Asian market becomes more dominant, the airlines and industries are going to have to adapt to what is social appropriate for those countries and social norms. There’s going to be an adjustment.

Julien Martinson: The aviation industry has historically been set on Western social norms, but as the Asian market grows, airlines must adapt.

It’s always interesting because as people travel, they go to different places and different destinations but the airline has to adapt to the changing clientele and the passenger format in how they socialize, market, purchase, make decisions on board, and behave in a group. There’s a lot of changes coming up in those areas as well.

Some of the airlines I’ve flown in other parts of the world, especially on the international flights. Very often, they’ll offer a Western meal. Everybody speaks English as a language. Maybe not the only language, but certainly as one of the languages on the flight. As you say, it’s been very built around Western culture, but more the airlines, the flight attendants, and the rest of the service industry that support the airline industry all have to become much more tuned to the multiculturalism that’s going on in travel.

This is exactly the point. The industry guys is going to be involving a lot and very quickly, especially now with the Airbus 31 long range. It’s going to create the possibility for people to travel long hauls without connecting through a hub. You can go from a medium-sized airport to a medium-sized airport long haul direct.

For example, you could fly from Victoria, British Columbia all the way to Nice, France and be on the beach on a direct flight without having to transit through Charles de Gaulle. This also means for passengers in the Indian market will be able to fly from Delhi directly to New York without transferring through London Heathrow, for example. When those planes start rolling out, this is going to be a game changer for the market.

Keep in mind that IndiGo Airlines purchased 500 aircraft, which was the single largest aircraft order in the history of Airbus. It shows how aggressive and confident the airlines are in making their purchases and positioning themselves strategically to dominate the market and take that market share. This also means many job opportunities for local people in the perspective countries, but if they don’t keep up, they may end up having to import talent from Western countries, for example, which would leave a deficit for Canada.

How are you going to recruit and fill that gap when you’re not able to maintain and retain your manpower? The Middle East is also very interesting because a lot of the wealthy countries are located in the Middle East. It’s very simple for them. They need to raise the pay and the salary and people will jump in and apply for those jobs. Considering that the next generation may not have the financial and family ties that keep them out grounded.

Air Canada, for example, relied heavily on a pilot workforce that was committed to strong family ties and financial ties in Canada, which made them not very globally mobile to reposition themselves. However, the younger generation coming in who do not have those restrictions could easily hop to another country and fly an airplane, which would leave a gap in that pilot board for supply.

I would imagine as well. With the pilots, it’s easier to become a full-fledged pilot of a big aircraft in one country versus another. Anybody who wants to sit in the pilot seat on the plane is going to go where it’s easier to go up the progression for a long time. I know it’s changed because you’ve had pilots leaving Western countries, Canada or the United States and a lot of pilots retired, especially during COVID. If you can move up the ranks more quickly in the Middle East or in India or in China or wherever, maybe you think about that as a way to get to fly the plane is supposed to being second or third fiddle on the flight.

This is exactly the point many pilots made a move quickly, especially the younger generation. This also creates another work dynamic. I read an article that piloting for Air China creates a little bit of workplace tension because then you have Caucasian pilots and the Asian pilots. They’re foreigners, so they’re treated with a little bit more etiquette than the local pilots. They get the more difficult routes. This creates workplace tension. when you’re working with a colleague that you’re supposed to be on equal terms with but they’re from a different nationality. Therefore, the treatment by the airline is not always the same. There are still a couple of things that need to be worked out in that sense as well.

We’ve talked about pilots. Let’s talk about air traffic control. That was another topic of your book as well.

Challenges In Recruiting Young Pilots

Air traffic control is also changing a lot. Keep in mind, air traffic control is managed exclusively by each country. Each country will have their own policies for recruiting. My findings from this career path were that people interested in becoming an air traffic controller are highly encouraged to take air traffic control in undergraduate or college programs, a 1 or 2-year program where they can learn the mechanics of flight dispatch and flight path optimization.

When you’re applying, you are prompted to take on that role. A lot of the recruitment process is basically an elimination process to weed out those less skilled people. The ones that are retained are the ones that inevitably have a college diploma in air traffic control. In air traffic control, you could either be at an airport in the tower or on the ground doing regional patrol.

For example, the airspace in Canada is divided into four big areas. It’s managed by different spaces and a very large work cohort to manage the airspace above Canada. It’s always very interesting when you apply for those types of roles. It’s changing again with the introduction of next gen, the global satellite system for aircraft management. This will optimize the time from pushback to the gate, taxiing to take off, and landing.

The aircraft will slow down ahead of time and land slowly just in time to arrive at the gate when that gate is available. All that time is synchronized, which will eliminate a lot of idling on taxis and runways. Before, airplanes had to line up, and taxis had to wait, which was a waste of time and energy. They would sit at the gate until they were ready to taxi, and then, one by one, they would go. It’s like a GPS, but for aircraft, it is synchronized to the second.

This is a big game changer for the industry. The new people coming in will be adapted to this system. Keep in mind that different countries have different versions of a similar system. Offhand, I don’t know exactly what they’re called, but in Asia and Europe, they’re working on similar systems that are globally synchronized.

You covered mechanics in your book as well.

Aircraft Engineering And Manufacturing

I did aircraft engineering. Aircraft Engineering also includes avionics, aircraft electronics, aircraft navigation systems, aircraft design and maintenance. All those are very different roles. Our various programs available in Ontario, across Canada and the world will deliver the programs that will soothe our appeal to the appetite of the widest range of aircraft engineers.

However, the area that I did not include in the book was aircraft manufacturing, which is also a big component of the industry. You can have all the manpower, but if you don’t have the airplane, you’re not going anywhere. This is also a very big industry. In the summer, I went to Paris for the Paris Air Show. There were over 1,200 exhibitors, purely airplane parts. Everything from landing gear to screws to infrared cameras. All kinds of systems to detect cracks in the fuselage and navigation systems. It was quite a sight to see and every company brought their best to the trade show. You see in in one overview what the best of the best the industry has to offer in aircraft manufacturing.

Is that the biggest air show in the world?

Yes, it is and it’s every two years held in Le Bourget, Paris, France.

Let’s talk a little bit more about the manufacturers, Boeing and Airbus, the big tube. Who else is challenging their position?

Those are the two main big players. There’s also Embraer and other aircraft manufacturers as well. They each have their niche market. They have big airplanes and then they have those smaller commuter airplanes for commercial corporate jets, not to overlook military aircraft. What is still not going away is Super Sonic and outer space travel.

While it has gone on the back burner a little bit, but it is coming back. People still have the fancy for supersonic travel, so that is still on the agenda. However, you need appropriate credentials to obtain those roles. Outer space travel is still coming. Now, it’s becoming a part of tourism travel. You want to get a coffee up in outer space. We can talk about it and do it. As the years progress, you will see more people venturing out to outer space to have a look. It’s exciting times.

For the moment, it’s for the ultra-wealthy or friends of Jeff Bezos or Richard Branson or maybe Elon Musk.

This is true, but it’s available to the common person.

It will come at some point for sure. Do you think the supersonic options are being pursued? Will they be commercially viable?

I’m not sure. We tried that with the Concorde and it had mixed success because of certain limitations at the Concorde High. I don’t know if they’re going to be able to make it commercially available, but it’s still on the agenda for military and corporate purposes. The other thing that is also very big is our man drones. Those are drones that you can use for agriculture, inspecting architecture, and as well as for play zones, where they have a drone and you sit inside. There’s a geofence. You can fly around on a given park, which is also fun for young people. Those are not going away. You’ll see that as the years come, it’ll become a bigger part of our lifestyle, how people commute, and how they use them for tools in the workplace.

Going back to the Concorde for a minute. I was visiting with a friend. One of our museums, North of London years ago, had a Concorde there. The thing that struck me more than anything else about it was how tiny it was. It literally is like an oversized pencil.

This is correct.

That was needed to achieve supersonic flight at that point, but it certainly couldn’t have been an overly comfortable experience for people. I’m not even sure it was tall enough to stand up in.

It was a tight seeding with a 2 and 2 configuration, and because of the limited seats, the price was increased. If there was a problem with the Concorde, you had to have one on standby which made the ticket more expensive. It was something for the elite, but it was nice to be able to have and say, “We have a Concorde.” It was a great time in history and it added so much value to aviation at the time. It’s interesting to see how it’s all going to develop, but this is not going away. Supersonic is still here to stay. A lot of opportunities in that field as well.

What are your thoughts on when we’re going to see personal flying machines, the drones for a family of four thing?

We saw those at the Paris Air Show. They’re like little flying station wagons from family sedans. This also comes with regulatory policy where you can take off where you can land. There’s going to be a little bit of restrictions around that as well. However, people are still hesitant to get into an autonomous taxi or a vehicle. Never mind an autonomous aircraft.

It might be more useful for an executive team that wants to fly out somewhere, have a look at a site and come back. It’ll be good all. I don’t know if we’re going to see mom flying the kids around to the baseball game in the afternoon or a flying drone on our electric vehicle. I don’t know if that’s going to be that current yet, but we have to be open to the future. As these things become more acceptable, that will become more current and accessible to people.

You talked earlier about carbon fiber as a material in the fuselage. What are some of the other things the airlines are doing to reduce the carbon intensity of travel?

The airlines are also using a special fuel, aircraft design, and one engine taxing. Although, that’s been around for quite a bit. You would also see the wheel tug. I don’t know if you’re familiar with that. It’s a small engine that sits on the front of the aircraft, the front wheel and it propels the aircraft forward on the tarmac, eliminating the need for a tug and therefore, a person. That’s a tiny engine that pushes the front wheel forward, which will help with taxing pushback and pulling in.

Those are a few of the efficiency options that airlines are opting for. However, they also come with a price tag. Every time you want something more efficient, then you have to pay more for it. There was always a debate, is it viable or not viable? The other thing that’s interesting about aviation is that there is a need, like in all industries, for the industry to reach a critical mass.

Those airlines and airports or countries that are more financially buoyant will invest in the industry and make it more efficient. Meanwhile, those other counterparts that are financially disadvantaged will reap the benefits of an overall more efficient industry, although they have not invested in those particular technologies.

This always creates the situation or the scenario where the financial burden to get things going always falls on airlines or airports with the financial funds to make it going. We see this particularly with next gen, which requires a lot of the cost of infrastructure. In the end, that initial investment is always the burden of people who can afford it. Those who can’t afford will say, “We can’t pay for it.” Eventually, they get the benefit of having a system that’s overall more economical and efficient as well.

Let’s talk about airports. What are your favorite airports? What do you like most of about them?

Of all the airports that have traveled to, I like Vancouver International Airport. Not just because I used to live there but it’s also won many prizes by Skytrax. They’ve done an excellent job of incorporating the native heritage and making it a welcoming experience for passengers. They’ve done so by installing them a huge fish tank. In the international departures lounge is the rainforest with a little creek in the middle surrounded by the boutiques.

You can have a rainforest immersion experience in nature, with water, birds chirping, and rainforest sounds while you’re in an international airport. They’ve put the native artwork in strategic places as focal points and meeting points, so Oklahoma gets that point or that point. It’s easy to navigate the airport because of the artwork that is so strategically positioned. Also, the color schemes. There are greens, blues, and lots of wood. You feel like you’re connected with nature.

Do you have any that you want to call out as your least favorites?

Not at this time, but I’ve been to airports where there were congested, lack of services, and not inadequate seating. These airports try to deliver what they’re able to, but then again, you’re comparing a developing country with the Western world. It’s not a fair comparison because of the economic imbalances in those regions.

A lot of airports are going through renewal or new airports are taking the place of old ones. It’s an important economic driver for a city, but these are hard Ventures to run at the same time.

Runway Capacity And Airport Expansion

They required a lot of capital investment. The biggest restriction on airports is runway capacity. Usually, airports will start with one runway or two, then maybe build on to a third. Some airports have six runways. The runway capacity is the biggest restriction on airport expansion. A lot of the hubs have reached maximum capacity in airports. There are a lot of medium-sized airports that are now also going through their own branding.

They’re creating their own airport concept for themselves. They’re going to have their own color scheme and concept for that airport as well as a mandate to address environmental issues. Some airports have gone so far as to use a lot of recycled material or install solar panels to collect energy from the sun or have bees. The bees collect honey, which is then delivered to the passengers in one of the restaurants featuring honey in their recipes and in their desserts on selected menu items, for example.

These are great drivers for airport concepts to reinforce the brand as well to underscore their mandate for environmental sustainability. All airports are very cognizant about their brand and their attention to environmental sustainability practices, not to overlook other trends like diversity and inclusion. We see airports and airlines also embracing unisex uniforms and comfortable footwear like sneakers for both males and females. These are little trends where you’ll recognize that making women wear high heels all day is not fair if men can wear flat shoes all day. Let’s give them all a sneaker option so that they’re comfortable on their feet.

Security is a big component of the airport experience. I think you worked in the security part of the industry.

Innovations In Airport Security

Yes, I did. I worked on airside security, for example. There were a lot of airport personnel that were accessing the airport by vehicle. We had to inspect the vehicles for materials that were not allowed and identify them. That’s all so very big component of airport security that it’s controlled by customs. Everything gets checked going in and out of the airport. I was involved in that area as well.

You certainly see some things going on in the passenger side of that as well. The scanning techniques don’t require you to take your shoes off and things out of your bag. I’ll say people flow things they’ve done to allow them to get through the security experience more quickly. It’s obviously changed to a tremendous amount on the back of September 11th. On the same time, it’s been like twenty-odd years since then and some of the airport security setups haven’t changed a whole lot in certain airports.

It’s just part of ensuring that the travel experience is a secure one. Any threat is a major threat not only to the aircraft but also to the huge capital investment. Also, the reputation of both the airline, the airport, and the inconvenience of the passengers. Lots of lives are involved. Therefore, security is always of primary importance.

I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon, unfortunately.

There are just too many risks involved and people’s lives are at stake. I don’t think that people would be willing to compromise their own safety and security. Neither is the government willing to uplift those policies. At the same time, there’s talk about having a single pilot because it’s more economical. You can save one salary and have one pilot instead of two. I don’t see the traveling public being comfortable with only one pilot. I don’t think that the government is at different levels. Both here and abroad are going to be make a move on that anytime soon. We’re going to be have two pilots up front still for many years to come.

Let’s talk a little bit about the airlines now. It’s a complicated business.

It is. The airlines have one of the most complex schedules because they are 24/7 days a week and operate on multiple time zones at the same time. The primary focus of an airline is their schedule. Their schedules are often reverted back to Zulu time, which is Grinch time and all the flight schedules. However, they’re put for sale at our local arrival and departure time. They’re scheduled around Zulu time. The airlines always maximize the amounts of hours that the airplane can be in the air. However, there is a small delay. It creates a ripple effect and could take up to a week for an aircraft to make up that lost time, which is sometimes a very difficult and challenging.

If an airline is very big and have lots of aircraft on standby. They can easily put in another airplane and pull one out. If for smaller airplanes like charter airlines, then this becomes a very difficult operation. It’s a challenge sometimes when you have an aircraft pulling a twelve-hour delay for an entire week and you have people backed up all over the continent.

Do you have any favorite airlines?

It’s because I’m Canadian, I like Air Canada because they are our flag carrier. I’ve flown on other airlines as well. The challenge that airlines face is that as the industry progresses more, they choose to incorporate technological procedures. Other airlines do the same, then the airlines lose their personal touch. At the same time, passengers lose the capability of distinguishing one airline from the other airline other than the color the scarf that the flight attendants are wearing.

It’s only at that time they’re like, “We’re on this one. We’re flying orange and not red or blue and not brown.” To overcompensate for that, airlines have to work much harder to distinguish their brand. Air travel has now become a commodity. People shop exclusively on price. Whereas traditionally, passengers may be loyal to their national airline, which is one of the reasons why the aviation industry is not like any other industry because airlines or air travel has its deep roots in national defense and national pride.

Each country has their own flag carrier, Air France, British Airways, Air Canada, and Lufthansa. They have their national flag and often, you’ll see those colors on the tail of that aircraft. People identify with their national airline and are loyal to it. Over time, that seemed to disappear. People may not choose to fly their national airline, but may fly on whichever is the most economical or gives the better routing. Brand loyalty is dissipated or eliminated.

I heard a lot of times, “Work harder in order to maintain that loyalty.” This comes back to the business class or first-class passenger experience, where you have premium travel experience. This is where airlines showcase their exclusive services. Not only through their cabin design and services but also through their fringe perks, such as access to lounges and airport pickup.

I don’t know if you’re aware, but some airlines offer vehicle transportation between the flights. You arrive at their hub, business passenger goes down the stairs, and pops into a car. In five minutes, drives across the term to get their connecting flight which by walking through the terminal, you wouldn’t be able to connect it in five minutes. This ensures that business travelers get that connecting flight.

I observed that when I was getting off a plane, this family got shuttled off and put in a Mercedes and the rest of us got put on the bus and make the connecting flight.

They’ll do that if you have a tight connection because you want to make sure that their business class passengers do make that connection. If they go into the terminal, you know when you go in, but you don’t know when you go out. You have to walk so far. What is also going to change is with the GPS. Passengers will get out of a little app where they can navigate with your app and go from one gate to the next gate.

They’ll tell you to go down this corridor. Turn left, turn right, go down that quarter and so forth. This will speed up the navigation process for passengers. They will be able to get to their gate faster with this app because it allows you to go directly to your gate without looking for signs in a language you may not understand. However, this can also be used in strategic marketing. I’ve also heard that some flights are positioned that certain gates close to the Duty Free or the boutique and knowing that those destinations are big spenders on certain products.

The airport will want certain flights positioned at certain gates, so the passengers are forced to go through or walk by that boutique. You’ll see that often now with a Duty Free. You check in your bag and you go to the airport. You’re forced to go through Duty Free and wiggle your way through all these beautiful products, and then finally, you get to your gate. You have to stop and smell a perfume before you board.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t like those airports.

It’s also a little bit manipulative for marketing and some airports give you the option. I think it was Mirabel or Dorval gives you the option of going through the Duty Free or walking straight through. You do have the option but some of them don’t and force you to go through those Duty Free boutiques.

I was at one of the London airports, and it seemed like that stretch of windy not yellow brick road. It went on forever and ever.

Airports are now the first impression that passengers get of a destination. Airports are working hard to make the airport efficient and have the appeal to make that first impression of the destination and easy to navigate. They do this through the way the tiles are positioned, the signage, the big signs, and the easy-to-access washrooms. You’ll have family washrooms as well as access to multi-religion prayer rooms. Toronto Airport has three prayer rooms for the religions that are designated there. This is all becoming a gesture for inclusivity within the airport clientele.

Airports are also a very big driver for local jobs. When you read a lot of the reports, you’ll read about direct jobs, indirect jobs, and induced jobs. Direct jobs are like airport employees. Indirect jobs would be people working at a hotel related to the airport. Passengers are in a layover. They’ll go stay at the airport. Those are indirect jobs. Induce jobs would mean like a pilot who hires a nanny because he is away on a work trip. That is created because that pilot now has work hours.

You look at the economic benefits of an airport and they’re very avast for tourism development and humanitarian aid. There’s lots of economic stimulus that goes around an airport, not to mention aircraft manufacturing and maintenance services as well as freight. That could include anything from produce to also the shipment of the exotic animals, horses, vehicles, and precious items like gold, diamonds, and medication, as well as human tissue. We ship everything.

What’s your take on these ultra high-end lounges that are starting to launch?

It’s fascinating to see all those lounges come. All the services that are going to be offered to passengers. Keep in mind that we may see a shift in the business class travelers, especially businessmen, historically. A lot of the lounges were focused around services that catered to businessmen, fax machines, boardrooms, and a desk in order to do some work. However, you’re going to be seeing a shift in that and it’s going to be including families.

Families will travel business class. Some airlines are actively marketing business class travel to the family, which means children’s meals in business class. This will also affect the lounges. You may see one part of the lounge that is more adult oriented but another section of the lounge with kids play area or Nintendo games access to plug in on different electronic devices to keep kids of all ages entertained while at the lounge. You’ll see that shift as well.

Last question. What’s ahead for you?

I’ve been finished my first book which is called The Ultimate Guide to Careers in Aviation. It talks a little bit about the history of aviation as well as where the industry is and the four careers that we talked about. Finally, the last chapter is about networking, resume writing, networking, and interview skills. The book is designed for Gen Z, so young kids aged 12 to 28 who are open to exploring career options.

It’s the first touch point for young people who are exploring careers. I’m looking forward to writing my second book, which hopefully will come out by the end of 2024. I did a TED Talk in Zimbabwe, of all places. I was invited there to speak on the impact of women on the aviation industry. A lot of great role models. I talked about the highlights in aviation as well as goal setting, striving for excellence, and what happens when you don’t achieve excellence, what is the recourse and how you overcome that. I saw some theory from motivational speakers and psychologists about goal setting, striving for excellence and not settling for mediocrity in your choices.

Thank you for doing this with me.

Thank you. It was my pleasure to be invited as a guest. It was truly an honor. I have always loved talking about what is truly my passion, which is aviation.

Your passion certainly comes through, so that’s great.

Thank you very much. It was a pleasure.

I want to thank Julien for joining me to discuss all things aviation, why he’s so passionate about the industry, and a bit about his own career journey as well. If you’d like to find your career passion, visit PathWise.io and become a member. Basic membership is free. You can also sign up on the website for the PathWise newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

Important Links

• Julien Martinson
• The Ultimate Guide To Careers In Aviation
• LinkedIn – PathWise.io
• Facebook – PathWise.io
• YouTube – PathWise.io
• Instagram – PathWise.io
• TikTok – PathWise.io

About Julien Martinson

Julien Martinson is a public speaker, coach, and influencer who focuses on the aviation industry and careers within it. He is a veteran of the industry himself, having worked for both airlines and airport security firms. He is also the author of The Ultimate Guide To Careers In Aviation and offers courses on the industry as well. He lives in Ontario, Canada.