What I write about: Aviation Portfolio

"Just what kinds of things do you blog about?" I was asked recently by a new acquaintance.

I write about topics in several distinct domains. In my mind they are organized into two 'portfolios': I have a Personal Portfolio, and an Aviation Portfolio.

Let me introduce you to my Aviation Portfolio first. It's composed of a static website and a suite of blogs, all of which arose in conjunction with my work.

I'm a research psychologist, and for some years I have been studying the lives of people who work in the aviation industry, and especially those who fly for a living. I began in this role by investigating occupational stress and its effects on the health and well being of people who work as civilian aircrew. At first I focused only on pilots and flight attendants who work for commercial airlines. Somewhat later my work expanded to include other sectors of the civilian air transport industry as well, such as air cargo, air charter, and corporate aviation.

Eventually my research focus broadened beyond the stress-and-health issues, per se. More recently my research can best be described as ethnographic, i.e., looking at all aspects of the lives of people in aviation occupations, including training, safety, security, and labor issues as well as health.

Along the way I became an aviation news junkie! I'm interested in aviation news mostly from the perspective of its impact on the lives of the crew members I have come to know.

At some point I found myself forwarding news items and links to articles to the many pilots and flight attendants I had come to know through my research programs. I did this on a very frequent basis. I just didn't want them to miss anything important!

Then one day in 2004 it occurred to me to collate the news items and links on a blog that all of the people on my email list could read at their leisure (or not!) instead of having their in-boxes clogged up with my frequent mass mailings. That worked out reasonably well -- well enough that I began to think about how to do it a little better.

In February of 2005 I abandoned the first link collection in favor of a new blog, in which I posted news summaries of interest to people who fly for a living -- and the people who support them on the ground. I added a little commentary here and there, and also posted the occasional crew-related essay I had authored. I named the new blog Aircrew Buzz.

Aircrew Buzz remains as my flagship aviation news blog -- and continues to grow in readership. But in the Fall of 2005 I decided to spin off two specialized aviation news blogs from Aircrew Buzz -- one for pilots, and another for flight attendants. That airplane at right is the logo that now is displayed on each, indicating that they are all part of the same suite -- my Aviation Portfolio.

Today, Aircrew Buzz still focuses on "crew-centered news and commentary," but covers the broader topics -- regulatory issues, for example -- as well as international events and industry-wide topics. Here are some recent examples:

• Continental takes delivery of first Next-Generation B737-900ER
• Transaven Let L-410 missing off Venezuelan coast
• New prohibition on lithium batteries in checked baggage
  

The second in my portfolio of aviation news blogs is Professional Pilot News. Just as the title suggests, this one is less general than Aircrew Buzz, focusing on news and issues of particular interest to the people who fly civilian planes for a living. Topics covered include flight deck safety, accident and incident reports, contract and labor issues, tips on who's hiring pilots, and occasional stories about individual pilots. For example:

• American Airlines Pilots want mediation of contract talks
• Taxi prang for Sen. Obama's chartered Gulfstream
• Pinnacle vs. pilots: The latest chapter
  

Cabin Crew News, a news blog for flight attendants around the world, was spun off from Aircrew Buzz at the same time as Professional Pilot News. Similar in range of content to the blog for pilots, it features news of specific interest to flight attendants: cabin crew contract and labor issues, reports about cabin safety issues, tips on finding cabin crew jobs, and stories about individual flight attendants. Here are some recent examples:

• Air Canada turbulence incident injures 10
• Virgin Atlantic cabin crew plan to strike
• Aloha Airlines No. 1 F/A retires after 50 years
  

All three of my aviation news blogs are syndicated by both BlogBurst and Newstex. Through this syndication, the content from all three appears regularly on the Commercial Aviation page of McGraw-Hill's Aviation Week, and individual articles are distributed through syndication to Reuters, LexisNexis, EBSCO and others. (I must admit, it's fun to see my articles pop up on news websites all over the web.)

That's my current Aviation Portfolio. Next, I'll tell you about my Personal Portfolio.