Ready for takeoff…

Well, after a nice sabbatical working only on my creative fiction, I’m back to writing about aviation.  It’s hard to stay away, after spending decades in the industry.  Aviation gets in your blood.  It wraps itself around your DNA.  It becomes you.

Anything to do with flight, from the aesthetic appeal of livery to the technical detail of FAA/CAA certification interests me.  It has since the day I first got involved in the aviation industry, twenty years ago this month.  I suppose it always will.

What’s not to love?  Flight is the ultimate high.  We can talk about space travel (a field which also interests me) but what is that, if not flight?

As an interiors person, trained and tried in that particular area of the industry, I have a special fascination with cabin design, uniforms, livery, everything that affects the airline’s brand.

But don’t be fooled.  It’s not all about appearance.  I like to get into the nitty gritty of the stuff.  I read the TSO’s.  I get into the technical aspects of testing and certification.  I want to know about durability and maintenance intervals.  I am curious and eager to see the advancement of green initiatives.

So look for that kind of stuff on this blog.  How it looks.  How it works.  Why it works so well.  What we can do better.  What comes next.

First, I’ll take us back.  My husband suggested I use this Pan Am poster to reflect the concept of Flight Chic, and I agree.  The particular designer’s name is lost in the annals of history, but the message is still strong.

Flying is cool.  Flying is fashionable.  Flying is vogue.  It’s mod.  It’s chic.

We do a lot of things differently now than we did in the 70’s.  Privatisation of national airlines and deregulation of the industry has forever changed our market, our methods, and our requirements.

But style hasn’t changed.  The desire of passengers to have a special experience when traveling hasn’t changed.

Don’t be fooled.  Even if that experience is focused around an economy brand, that brand still has its own aesthetic, its particular fashion, its own design.

I’m excited to be back in the industry by starting this blog.  I’m sure there’s always going to be something new to write about.

I look forward to the next twenty years spent in flight with you.