Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&amp;P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.

Editor-in-Chief

Matt Thurber

Business aviation operators continue to face challenges hiring qualified personnel, according to In-Flight Crew Connections’ latest industry staffing report. “The aviation workforce is active,” the report—“The State of the Staffing Industry 2026”—noted.
“Training pipelines continue to produce new entrants, and interest in aviation careers remains strong,” it explains. “Yet many flight departments continue to encounter the same constraint: finding professionals who are fully prepared to operate in business aviation environments.”
According to In-Flight, this applies to pilots, mechanics, and other roles, and will require flight departments to evaluate their staffing strategies. This means considering a more flexible staffing strategy; focusing on availability of maintenance technicians and services; enhancing experience through internal development and mentorship; supporting key personnel such as schedulers and dispatchers; and aligning staffing decisions with real workload demands, it added.
On the maintenance side, the company pointed out, “Business aviation has a structural disadvantage in that fight. A corporate flight department with two or three aircraft can’t out-hire an airline’s talent pipeline, and it usually can’t match a major MRO’s training budget either.
“What it can offer, when it’s run well, is variety, autonomy, and a smaller, closer team, which matters to plenty of technicians. But that pitch only works if candidates know it exists, and most flight departments aren’t set up to run their own recruiting funnel.”

News about simulators and training procedures, as well as workforce.

In-Flight Crew Connections Outlines Business Aviation Hiring Strategies

Urges flight departments to pay more attention to staffing issues

Staffing challenges affect pilots, mechanics, and others, says In-Flight Crew Connections. Flight departments will have to evaluate their staffing strategies.

In-Flight Crew Connections Outlines Hiring Strategies

2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

Patriarch of a flying family put a fleet of business aircraft to work

Final Flight: Passionate Pilot Michael Donahoe Sr. Dies

Amy Wilder

News and issues concerning general aviation, specifically airplanes and helicopters powered by piston and alternative engines (i.e., non-turbine powered aircraft). Subjects include aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

MOU covers initial and recurrent SF50 training for owners

Bop Aero Taps Elite for SF50 Vision Jet Owner Training

AIN Staff

Many individuals were highlighted for going above the call of duty

2026 Above & Beyond for Product Support

Jessica Reed

News and issues relating to the aerospace industry that are related to the science, engineering and business of flight in space involving civil, industrial and military applications, and similar topics related to flight in the atmosphere of the Earth that are not covered more directly by other AINonline subject channels. In other words, both astronautical and aeronautical subjects, except for those aeronautical topics that are specifically covered elsewhere on this website.

JetAviva’s CFO, Kathy Oberbroeckling, is the interim CEO; TSA swore in David Cummins as administrator

People in Aviation

Kathryn B. Creedy

Academy founders look to standardize and increase professionalism of aircraft detailing services

Aero Detailing Academy Raising Standards on Services

Kerry Lynch

Event returns during last day of BACE

NBAA Drawing Students to BACE with Collegiate Connect

News and issues relating to international air transport and cargo carriers, national airlines and regional airlines, including aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

More In Training and Workforce

Final Flight: Passionate Pilot Michael Donahoe Sr. Dies

Patriarch of a flying family put a fleet of business aircraft to work

Bop Aero Taps Elite for SF50 Vision Jet Owner Training

MOU covers initial and recurrent SF50 training for owners

2026 Above & Beyond for Product Support

Many individuals were highlighted for going above the call of duty

People in Aviation

JetAviva’s CFO, Kathy Oberbroeckling, is the interim CEO; TSA swore in David Cummins as administrator

Aero Detailing Academy Raising Standards on Services

Academy founders look to standardize and increase professionalism of aircraft detailing services

NBAA Drawing Students to BACE with Collegiate Connect

Event returns during last day of BACE

Watchdog Calls for Improved FAA Workforce Plans

FAA’s workforce plans are incomplete, according to the DOT IG

AINsight: Build the Bridge before They Leave

“Thirty years of judgment does not fit neatly into an exit interview”

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