The Future of Air Travel In The Post Pandemic World, With Chief Pilot Michael Johnson of Sawyer Aviation
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
When the pandemic hit, air travel was significantly impacted, especially the airlines. The savvy traveler discovered charter services and soon learned that one can skip the lines, come and go at their own schedule, avoid the two hour wait times at departure and destination airports, and get personalized service. Charter services demand increased throughout the pandemic and remains high today.
As part of our series about “The Future Of Air Travel”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Michael Johnson.
Mike Johnson has dedicated nearly 50 years to a career in aviation. After taking a discovery flight when he was 13 years-old, the Houston Texas native knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life in the skies. Shortly after graduating high school, he joined the Marine Corps where served for more than 11 years, including five years of combat duty in the Middle East. Mike was awarded 23 of the nation’s top 27 personal military decorations for his service. While serving, he earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science and went on to also attain a degree in professional aeronautics and a masters in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
As a professional pilot, he has worked for major airlines, private charters, the tourism industry, and has extensive experience in air ambulance flights, providing organ transplant transportation, as well as patient and critical care operations. In his role as Chief Pilot for Sawyer Aviation, Johnson will fly aircraft for the company, manage the flight crews, provide training, scheduling and ensure the team of pilots are up to date on certifications. Mike’s love of aviation carries over to his free time where he enjoys teaching others to fly. When he is not taking to the skies, you can find him on the ice playing, coaching, or refereeing hockey.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I grew up in the Space Race age, the age of the Apollo astronauts. Every boy at that time wanted to become an astronaut. I was not only fascinated with space, rockets and traveling to the moon, but also with the astronauts themselves as pilots. This started my love of aviation. Over the years I had the pleasure of meeting and becoming friends with two astronauts and flying with one during annual aircraft simulator training.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
The most interesting story or event that happened was not specifically to me; it was the creation of the reduced Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) minimums. Like so many other new regulations that have been introduced over the years, I was either grandfathered in or they simply didn’t apply. I was already a seasoned ATP pilot when the reduced ATP minimums were introduced. The new regulation was introduced to lower the requirements needed to obtain the ATP pilot certification, as a means of having more pilots available due to the pilot shortage.
If we look at the industry today, there is still a pilot shortage. The reduction of ATP minimums hasn’t really helped address the pilot shortage, as was originally surmised. While true, everyone is trying to hire pilots, there is no shortage. There is only a shortage of pilots who are willing to work for a certain wage; live a certain lifestyle, and the list goes on. In my own pilot hiring efforts, I tend to target the very young and the retired airline community. The “in-between” age simply doesn’t understand qualify of life differences between Part 121(scheduled) and Part 135(on demand) flying and have incorrect assumptions, probably on each.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Oh boy. Confession time. Back in the 1970s, I used one of the flight school’s rental aircraft (Cessna 152, I believe) to fly from south Houston to Lake Conroe in the Houston area. Imagine a heavily wooded area with pockets of small lakes surrounding a much larger lake, Lake Conroe. I flew that little adventure to fly over my big brother’s house and wave to him. During the trip, I was essentially flying above treetop level and experienced carburetor icing which is caused when the temperature is low, and humidity is high. When the engine began sputtering at such a low altitude, I pulled on carburetor heat and the problem went away. I vowed I would never fly at treetop level again. Two weeks later, I found myself in the exact same situation, treetop level and carb heat. Sometimes we must learn the hard way. I haven’t flown airplanes at treetop level since.
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”? Can you share a story about that?
My recommendation to other pilots to avoid burn out would be to stay customer focused. As a pilot, we fly the airplane and make sure the crew, aircraft and passengers get there safely. That’s the job. However, to really thrive, you must genuinely take care of the customer to provide them a superior door-to-door experience. This includes catering to their needs; ensuring they have transportation at the destination; ensuring that meals are catered to their liking; and much more. By adding that personalized experience for the client, you have the opportunity to get to know them along the way which helps make each flight unique and helps to avoid boredom and burn out.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
Aviation is all about helping others. When starting out, my mentor was Lori Adams, one of only two women in aviation back then. Lori owned a flight school. I remember my mom was driving me somewhere and I saw a “Learn to Fly Here” billboard on the side of the road and said “Mom, I want to do that!” She said, “I’ll buy you one lesson.” My mom set it up and we went on Saturday. Lori took me flying in a Citabria, a fabric covered taildragger aerobatic airplane for my first lesson. It was great and I had fun. Either I was pretty good or Lori took a liking to me. When back on the ground, Lori asked me when I was coming back next. I had to say, “I’m not, we can’t afford it.” She said, “Come here tomorrow.” I repeated that we couldn’t afford it, and she repeated “Come here tomorrow.” Well, I did go back and wound up working for her every day until I was 18 years old. Never getting a paycheck, I was compensated in flying, learning aerobatics, towing banners, etc. Lori was my mentor that paved the way for me to get to where I am today. As such, I feel compelled to help others in their career journey.
Can you share with our readers how you have used your success to bring goodness to the world?
In my time as a pilot, I have met many upset passengers and clients and I have always done my best to turn around their day by genuinely caring for them and reminding them to smile. Sometimes, it’s the little things that make a world of a difference.
Thank you for that. Let’s jump to the core of our discussion. Can you share with our readers about the innovations that you are bringing to the Aviation and Air Travel industries?
As the Chief Pilot for Sawyer Aviation, it is an honor to be a part of the lifesaving medical transplant flights we administer. In fact, the company has developed a patent pending device called HALO which allows organs to be transported safer and faster, thus saving more lives. HALO is a mount that allows for organ transplant coolers to be safely strapped into the bed of an aircraft to keep the container from moving around in flight which could cause damage to the organ and make it unusable. Sawyer Aviation’s goal with HALO is to increase the viability of organs in transplant which will save more lives every day.
Which “pain point” are you trying to address by introducing these innovations?
While Sawyer Aviation’s goal is expansion, the pain point is going to be pilot hiring and retention. While airlines have recently increased wages to match charter levels, the airlines cannot sustain that more than 18–24 months. I foresee pilot furloughs on the horizon by the airlines. At Sawyer Aviation, we bring compensation and quality of life to the pilots in today’s market to keep them happy at their jobs.
How do you envision that this might disrupt the status quo?
I see a future point where pilots will once again be furloughed, and the market will become saturated. We have seen this before. Airlines and big business want to attract pilots and throw money at them. Unfortunately, I don’t believe this is sustainable for the airlines. This could mean higher airline ticket prices, removal of even basic care such as water, charging more for even the smallest of carry-on baggage or personal item, and even downsizing of cabin safety staff.
Are there exciting new technologies that are coming out in the next few years that will improve the Air Travel experience? We’d love to learn about what you have heard.
There are emerging technologies within the travel industry as a whole, including voice search, virtual and augmented reality, and facial recognition technology which have led to smart speakers in hotels, virtual reality tours from travel companies and new, seamless ways to check-in without having to queue and speak to hotel/company staff. We are increasingly using contactless payments, so it makes sense that the travel and tourism industry follows this same trend. I have heard that robotics are being used in travel technology as well. For example, within hotels, robots are used in concierge-like roles, helping to greet guests when they arrive and provide information. Some hotels have expanded their use further, involving them in cleaning and luggage handling.
Specific to air travel, the technology being tested for eVTOL is exciting. These are electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft while use electric power to hover, take off, and land vertically. Think drones for people! Another advancement is one that we have come out with at Sawyer and that is our new state of the art website which features a best-in-class universal private charter search tool allowing customers to find all of the details of their private charter trip online without the need to go through multiple brokers. The price, aircraft availability, routes, etc. are all right at your fingertips.
The future of travel technology is exciting!
As you know, the Pandemic changed the world as we know it. For the benefit of our readers, can you help spell out a few examples of how the Pandemic has specifically impacted Air Travel?
When the pandemic hit, air travel was significantly impacted, especially the airlines. The savvy traveler discovered charter services and soon learned that one can skip the lines, come and go at their own schedule, avoid the two hour wait times at departure and destination airports, and get personalized service. Charter services demand increased throughout the pandemic and remains high today.
Can you share five examples of how the Air Travel experience might change over the next few years to address the new realities brought by the Pandemic? If you can, please give an example for each.
I’m not quite sure the COVID pandemic would extend that far into the future. I believe, as a world, we have a handle on it are more cautious for it and, hopefully, are better prepared for it. I do not see the pandemic having any additional impact on the transportation industry than it has already, especially since we have adapted certain protocols for health and safety of the passengers. However, I do see the hiring and retention of pilots continuing to cause disruption to travel, especially for the commercial airlines.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
After being a part of numerous humanitarian efforts while in the Marine Corps, I know there are different parts of the United States, and the World, where catastrophes occur. Being a part of even the smallest part of humanitarian effort can go a long way for people that are experiencing a low in their life. Whether it be a flood, earthquake or simply a loss of normal life, doing a good deed can be a significant help to someone. As mentioned above, sometimes it is the small acts of kindness that go a long way for people. Don’t underestimate the power your kindness can have. A kindness movement could change the world.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Readers can come fly with us on social media @sawyeraviation or visit our website at sawyeraviation.com.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
The Future of Air Travel In The Post Pandemic World, With Chief Pilot Michael Johnson of Sawyer… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.