Aviation Personnel International Turns 55: Survey Finds Compensation Tops Workforce Concerns Among Part 91 Leaders

Part 91 flight department leaders also cite recruiting, work schedules, talent development and retention among their top concerns

CHANDLER, AZ, UNITED STATES, October 19, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — As Aviation Personnel International (API) marks its 55th anniversary at the NBAA Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE), a new survey finds compensation and benefits topping the workforce concerns of Part 91 flight department leaders.

Last month, API asked Part 91 flight department leaders to share their biggest workforce concerns over the next one to three years.

Compensation and benefits topped the list at 45%. Recruiting qualified aviation professionals and work schedule expectations and work-life balance tied for second at 39% each. Developing future leaders and talent followed at 38%, then retaining current employees at 36%.

In fact, 74% selected compensation and benefits when asked which factors have the greatest impact on retention. Schedule predictability and time off followed at 54%, then department culture at 44%.

“Compensation is clearly top of mind, but a raise isn’t always the answer,” said Sheryl Barden, CAM Fellow, chief executive officer of Aviation Personnel International. “Aviation leaders want to know what the market is paying and whether their people are being paid fairly. If not, they need help making the case to HR. And sometimes the job has changed so much that the title and salary haven’t kept up.”

Leaders also turn to API for guidance on workforce issues that go beyond pay and hiring.

“Sometimes a leader calls and says, ‘Can I run something by you?’” said Jennifer E. Pickerel, president of Aviation Personnel International. “They might be worried about upcoming retirements, wondering what their employees really think or dealing with a situation they haven’t faced before. They just want someone they trust to talk it through with.”

Industrial psychologist Janice K. Barden founded API 55 years ago, in 1971, after 16 years as an aviation psychologist and recruiter. Her belief was ahead of its time: technical qualifications alone don’t determine whether someone will succeed in a flight department. Drawing on that experience, she developed a proprietary approach that considered the whole person and the match between that person and the organization.

After Sheryl Barden joined in 2001, she began expanding services beyond recruitment as clients turned to the team with other workforce challenges. The firm added aviation outplacement and compensation consulting, along with custom benchmarking on issues such as pilot commuting and executive travel policies. More recently, it introduced API WorkWell™, an organizational health and wellness program that focuses on culture and employee engagement.

Culture and compensation are also the focus of API’s two education sessions at NBAA-BACE this week.

On Wednesday, Oct. 21, from 11 a.m. to noon, Pickerel will moderate a panel, “What Goes Unsaid: Psychological Safety and the Risks Leaders Miss.” She’ll be joined by three directors of aviation from Part 91 flight departments. Their conversation will focus on the concerns employees may not feel comfortable raising, why leaders may never hear them and why that matters for safety and day-to-day operations.

On Thursday, Oct. 22, from 11 a.m. to noon, Sheryl Barden will join Dr. Chris Broyhill of AirComp Calculator for “Beyond the Survey: Decoding Job Titles, Roles and Compensation Trends.” Their session will address job scope, titles and compensation benchmarking, including what happens when a written job description no longer reflects the work being performed.

Both sessions will take place in Room W219.

For more workforce insights from API, follow the company on LinkedIn and subscribe to its monthly Trending Topics newsletter. Visit apiaviation.com to learn more.

About Aviation Personnel International

Founded in 1971, Aviation Personnel International (apiaviation.com) is the longest-running HR and recruiting resource dedicated to business aviation. API has worked with more than 1,000 flight departments during its 55-year history. Today, its team combines aviation workforce knowledge with human resources expertise to provide aviation executive search and professional recruitment, compensation consulting, aviation outplacement and API WorkWell™, its organizational health and wellness program. Headquartered in Savannah, Georgia, with team members nationwide, API is a certified Women-Owned Small Business and Women’s Business Enterprise. It’s About People™.

Survey Methodology

API fielded the survey Sept. 17-26, 2026, inviting more than 200 senior leaders in its contact network who are responsible for U.S. Part 91 flight departments. Seventy-five responded. The survey was not a random sample.

Respondents could select up to three options on the workforce-concerns and retention questions. Nine responses exceeded that limit on the workforce-concerns question; five did so on retention. Those question responses were excluded from the respective analyses. That left 66 responses for workforce concerns and 70 for retention. Percentages are based on those question-level response bases and may total more than 100% because respondents could select up to three options.

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Jill Henning
Aviation Personnel International
+1 602-502-6206
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