Q&A with James Evans

James Evans, General Manager Commercial at Airways International, has built his career across air traffic control, safety, operational leadership and commercial roles. 

In this Q&A, James reflects on the experiences that have shaped his approach, the challenges facing the global aviation industry, and how Airways International is helping customers build the people, systems and capacity they need for the future.

You’ve worked across air traffic control, safety, leadership and commercial roles during your career. What first attracted you to aviation, and what has kept you passionate about the industry over the years? 

My first involvement with aviation was on an RNZAF wings course in 1993. Being chopped from the course for not meeting their exacting standards was devastating, but it opened my eyes to the possibilities in aviation and led me to apply for air traffic control. I am forever grateful to the RNZAF for setting me on the path to ATC and the rewarding career it has given me. 

I have remained passionate because I’ve never stopped learning. Technology has advanced continuously since I began ATC training in 1995, improving aviation safety and efficiency through enhanced safety nets, terrestrial and satellite-based surveillance, performance based navigation, and flow management and sequencing tools. Together, these advances have enabled growing numbers of aircraft to move safely around the world. 

One constant has been the dedication and professionalism of the air traffic controller, a profession I am extremely proud to have been part of. I have never met an ATC who is not passionate about their work and the part they play in keeping our skies safe. 

In your conversations with customers and industry partners globally, what themes come up most often, and what do they tell you about where the industry is headed? 

The most common theme is the compounding effects of increasing air traffic, and current and forecast ATC staff shortages. Many customers also need to replace legacy systems and implement modern, future-ready technologies, making sufficient operational staffing a critical dependency for effective change. 

This is where Airways International has a role to play. Success rates in ATC selection and training are foundational to unlocking current and future workforce planning requirements.  

Through SureSelect, competency-based training and TotalControl simulation, we help customers select the right people, train them effectively and build operational capability more efficiently. Alongside this, our procedure design expertise helps customers optimise their airspace as traffic demand grows. It’s about helping customers build the people, systems and capacity they need for the future.

Looking back on your career, what experiences have most shaped your leadership approach and the way you engage with customers and partners today? 

I get asked this surprisingly often, but there’s no particular formula or philosophy I follow. I have been fortunate to work in New Zealand and overseas, which exposed me to different leaders, cultures and opportunities.  

If I have a leadership approach, it has been shaped by those experiences. I have learned as much from leadership styles that didn’t resonate with me and that I seek to avoid, as I have from positive leadership.

The qualities I have valued most in leaders are honesty, integrity and a willingness to listen. These qualities are also critical in our engagement with global partners and customers – to support their goals, we must understand their opportunities and concerns, then work with them to optimise success.

What do you think sets Airways International apart in an increasingly competitive global aviation market? 

Airways International is embedded within an ANSP. All of our products and services have the unique opportunity to have a continual feedback loop for R&D, deployment and continuous improvement within an operational environment. 

In my previous executive and senior Air Traffic Services leadership roles within Airways, I benefited from Airways International’s solutions. Like our customers and partners, we provided feedback that helped optimise the products and keep pace with changes in the operational environment. 

The clearest example is our training portfolio. Over the past 12 years Airways New Zealand has averaged an enviable 95% success rate from ab initio training to initial validation – with Airways International’s SureSelect ATC candidate selection tool and a competency-based training approach playing a significant part in achieving these results.

We know a successful outcome starts with selecting the right candidates through SureSelect, followed by ICAO standard competency-based training using our flexible, high resolution TotalControl simulators.

Every operational manager can put a six-figure sum on how much it costs to train an ATC trainee, and each unsuccessful outcome adds cost, uses resources and loses valuable training time. As our new customers are discovering, higher success rates are key to optimising cost and workforce planning. 

What is one lesson you’ve learned during your career that continues to influence the way you lead and make decisions today? 

I have learned many lessons throughout my career, some through positive outcomes and some not so much. If I had to pick one, it’s that good decision making depends on the quality of the conversations that happen beforehand. 

Early in my career, particularly in operational leadership roles, I often felt pressure to have the answers and make quick decisions. I quickly learned, sometimes painfully, that the best outcomes rarely come from one person having the solution. They come from creating an environment where people feel safe to challenge assumptions, offer different perspectives and focus on the problem rather than defend positions. Any success I have had rests on talented teams empowered to work this way. 

What excites you most about the future of Airways International and the aviation industry more broadly? 

Global aviation forecasts continue to point to growth, while projected ATC numbers are not keeping pace with demand. Supporting the aviation ecosystem will require more efficient selection and training of the future workforce, alongside airspace and flight path optimisation to unlock airborne capacity. 

Our growing customer base knows that Airways International provides focused support through listening to and understanding their needs, then provides world leading procedure design and training solutions to support current and future growth.