Training and Workforce
Aviation MBA: the short form at Northwestern U
Many business gurus believe knowledge is power, but the ability to transform that wisdom into action is the real measure of success.

Many business gurus believe knowledge is power, but the ability to transform that wisdom into action is the real measure of success. With just that goal in mind, 17 general aviation business leaders–CEOs, presidents, CFOs and operations managers–gathered at Northwestern University’s Transportation Center recently for the Strategic Management for Aviation Service Firms conference. The three-day seminar was cosponsored by the National Air Transportation Association.

Jay Franke, the transportation center’s assistant director and the first commissioner of aviation for Chicago mayor Richard Daley, opened the conference with a poke at the industry: “General aviation business people are too nice. Many of them did not get into this business to make money, and that is simply the wrong motivation.” Other conference speakers, Franke said, would focus leaders on the goal of making money–lots of it–by using conference experiences to reinvent aspects of their organizations with a strong emphasis on measuring and reshaping business financials.