Carole Rickard Hedden retired in 2022 as Executive Editor for custom content and Program Excellence for the Aviation Week Network, providing custom content and research to industry executives. She also was Managing Editor of Aviation Week’s Advanced Air Mobility Report. She joined Aviation Week in 1996 as a financial/business editor and has led special projects for more than two decades.
Prior to joining Aviation Week, Hedden worked for over 20 years in the news media and as a corporate communications leader at Fortune 100 companies.
Formal and informal surveys of U.S. aerospace professionals continue to indicate "people issues" remain high on the list of management and employee concerns. In general, progress is being made, but leaders are continually challenged to eliminate unflattering perceptions of the industry and build a next-generation technical workforce. In surveying U.S. aerospace and defense (A&D) companies for this report, several trends emerged:
U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. (ret.) George Naccara's new job combines many skills--facility space allocation, perimeter and internal security, structural engineer, information technology leader, acquisitions, policy development and training. However, what keeps him awake at night in his post as the new federal security director (FSD) at Boston Logan International Airport aren't these things; it's the people part. Naccara will hire about 2,000 people as federal employees to work security at Logan. He needs them in place, trained and certified by Nov.
Northrop Grumman's biggest hiring challenge for 2002 isn't the Joint Strike Fighter. It's actually in the Northrop Grumman Information Technology business, which is expected to hire 4,000 people this year. That follows 2001 when 4,000 new hires also joined. Jason Gropper is one of the new breed of IT professionals that Northrop Grumman is seeking. He wasn't lured by the IT industry or fast-wealth offers of stock options.
