Marek Bekier is a senior vice president at ACR Aviation Capacity Resources, which manages air traffic at 17 Swedish airports.

In this special episode in partnership with UNSW’s School of Aviation, Bekier talks to Australian Aviation’s Adam Thorn about what a career in air traffic control is really like, alongside its challenges.

The pair talk about why we need to move on from monopoly operations and how a free-market approach can work.

They also discuss how ATC needs to evolve in a world of drones, eVTOLs and more traditional aircraft traffic.  

In this special episode, the editors of Defence Connect and Australian Aviation, Liam Garman and Adam Thorn, talk through the biggest industry topics. First up, they discuss the need for long-range strike capability, with tensions in the region rising and Australia short of options. Next, they ask how this should happen. Should the country invest in the ‘sequel’ to the B-2, the B-21, or plump for conventional long-range missiles? Finally, they discuss the importance of US B-52s being semi-regularly based at RAAF Base Tindal and whether they could carry nuclear weapons. 

Domestic travel in Australia may have bounced back to pre-pandemic highs, but our international passenger traffic is still far down on 2019.

In this special episode, Adelaide Airport’s MD, Brenton Cox, talks through how his organisation coped during those tough COVID-19 days and what we got right and wrong.

He tells host Adam Thorn that we must learn the lessons of 2020 for the future and argues that state border closures should have been decided by the federal government rather than state governments.

Finally, the pair discuss what Australia needs to do as a nation to encourage tourists to return and how the industry can navigate its staff shortages. 

Like a phoenix rising from the flames, Hannah Dowling returns in her new role as US correspondent to talk about her latest story. She tells host Adam Thorn how and why US airlines are taking Australian pilots in such numbers. The pair discuss what Australia can do to stem the tide, the balance between developing young talent and importing them, and the perks of going abroad. Finally, they chat about how COVID-19 and its restrictions exacerbated the problem for Australia.

Our aviation industry has been long grappling with a chronic lack of engineering talent — with COVID-19 exacerbating the problem.

On this week’s episode, Adam Thorn talks to the RAAA, which last week released a report identifying the causes behind our shortages and what we can do to fix them.

Report author Sheridan Austin and the RAAA’s CEO Steve Campbell discuss why businesses must invest in hiring more apprentices and why rules on transferring qualifications from abroad need to be modernised.

Finally, they examine what can be done to encourage more women into the profession and how long-term aviation stereotypes can be challenged. 

Australian Aviation attended last week’s Land Forces military exhibition in Brisbane and interviewed two guests on the floor.

Jay Macklin had a storied military career that saw him fly Black Hawks before rising to become a colonel in the US Army. He’s now a director based in Alabama for Lockheed Martin, and discusses his flying days, as well as the aircraft’s future.

Finally, we’re joined by Australian Aviation’s rotary wing pilot of the year, Richard Butterworth. He chats about how Kestrel began fighting bushfires at night and the future of the industry as we approach another La Niña season.  

Greg Hay is the General Manager of Operations at Sydney Airport. Over the last few years, he’s seen first-hand how our industry has changed before, during and after COVID-19 at Australia’s busiest and most important international airport. In this special episode in partnership with UNSW’s School of Aviation, Hay talks through navigating aviation’s toughest period but also how the industry is building back better and is on the cusp of an exciting new world of electric technologies and sustainability. He also discusses the airport’s unique partnership with UNSW and how its annual scholarship scheme is boosting diversity and inclusion in the sector.

It sounds mad, but it’s real: Virgin Orbit has perfected audacious technology to fire rockets from refurbished Boeing 747s.

Speaking exclusively from LA, the business’ CEO, Dan Hart, tells the Australian Aviation Podcast how the plan will open satellite launches up to more countries by turning airports into spaceports.

The pair also discuss how the technology works, the company’s ambition to launch imminently in the UK, and how Hart works with Virgin Group founder Richard Branson.

Andrew Charlton is the managing director of Aviation Advocacy, a consultancy firm based in Switzerland.  

His exhaustive CV includes stints as chief legal officer of Qantas before heading government affairs for the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and working as a university lecturer in airport economics, management and policy. 

In this special episode in partnership with UNSW’s School of Aviation, Charlton discusses how the industry should best navigate its tricky post-COVID-19 recovery.

He talks talent shortages, whether airport slot rules are too much of a constraint and the industry’s move towards sustainability.

Hypersonic research has become one of the biggest topics in global aviation, as countries compete to develop the next generation of missiles so manoeuvrable, they can’t be intercepted.

The advances are also being used to create scramjet-powered, hypersonic spaceplanes, which could one day provide an alternative to rockets for taking satellites into space.

In this special episode, host Adam Thorn interviews Dr Fabian Zander, a key player in the University of Southern Queensland’s world-leading hypersonic wind tunnel, to find out how the tech will change the industry.

He also discusses his work using aircraft in Australia to study fragmented comets.