What’s top on his mind as he takes on the role? Recruiting the maintenance technicians of the future. “When you hear people in our industry talk about the challenges ahead in aviation, the thing at the forefront is the lack of commercial pilots,” said DeBerry. “But I will submit to you that the lack of qualified, certified mainte- nance and repair technicians is what keeps me awake at night, much more than the pilot shortage.” “Aviation is not just about pilots and aircraft. These are sophisticated aircraft we’re talking about, and if those aircraft aren’t well maintained and safe, they’re not going to be able to fly. We have to evolve that pipeline; and we could be doing a lot more to tout the idea that an MRO career in aviation is a really great way to make a living. To find those future technicians, we need to take that message to high school and college students and build closer relationships with the Part 147 schools that actually teach the philosophies, foundations, and basics for aircraft maintenance.” DeBerry aims to make it a top priority. “I think there’s a lot of opportunity for NATA and its members to take a very public stance that aviation is a truly worthwhile and rewarding career,” he said. “STEM is the big buzzword in education these days, and everybody’s talking about careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathe- matics. That’s aircraft maintenance to a ‘T’, but we need to do a better job of getting that message out there. Aviation is the most appealing STEM career path there is, and it was advertised as such when I was younger, but, lately, we, as an industry, have simply not done a very good job of enticing people into aviation, particularly in mainte- nance. I mean, I know aircraft technicians making well over six figures right now! I’ve talked to NATA members telling me they could stand to hire 50 certified aircraft technicians right now. Fifty! That’s a lot of people.” DeBerry’s own career in aviation was sparked by see- ing a friend of his grandfather land his Steerman Model 75 biplane in a field near his house and reinforced by a family trip to Florida’s Naval Air Station Whiting Field to see the Blue Angels squadron while his father was serv- ing in the Navy. “That cemented it for me: I never thought about doing anything else for a career, ever,” DeBerry avowed. He ended up joining the Air Force, rather than the Navy, but said it was never a source of conflict with Aviation Business Journal | Spring 2020 his father: “It’s kind of funny that he was in the Navy, introduced me to aviation, and inadvertently inspired me to join the Air Force! Not too many years after that, I was working maintenance support for the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds demonstration squadron, which gave me my first real understanding of what makes America the greatest country on earth: it’s the people themselves. Hundreds of thousands of people would come to the shows, absolutely mesmerized and awestruck, with cricks in their necks from looking up. I saw, in that awe, the same sense of wonder that first inspired me as a kid at that Blue Angels demonstration in Florida.” While he’s coming in with lots of ideas, DeBerry said his first priority is to hear from the NATA membership. “During the transition handoff with Carol Giles, she told me, ‘The biggest piece of advice I can give is listen twice as much as you speak.’ That’s good advice for anything, but I think it’s of particular importance here, where my role will be to act as a link between NATA and its Maintenance and Regulatory committees, advising from a regulatory perspective on what might be the best ways to solve problems and interface with the FAA to get what they need. So, I’m in a state of discovery, if you will, participating in weekly meetings and working with the different groups on what their issues and areas of con- cern are. I’m asking, ‘What are the things that keep you up at night?’ and ‘What are the key things we can do to help you strengthen your business and business aviation as a whole?’ I’ve already gotten to work, and I’m looking forward to what’s ahead.” Keith has been on the front line with NATA’s regulatory team to advocate for our members during the COVID-19 pandemic. Visit NATA’s resource page for a link to view the “Implementing FAA Pilot Exemption (18510) for Part 135 Operations” webinar led by Keith. For support from Keith DeBerry or another member of NATA’s regulatory team, please visit NATA’s Regulatory Support Center at www.nata.aero/government-affairs/supportcenter. 67
