PODCAST

The Aerospace Executive Podcast

Craig Picken

How Top Aerospace Executives Set the Vision, Grow Their Business & Develop Talent

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All Episodes

39:43

Every A&D Sector Is Up, Here’s Why That Matters w/...

The Aerospace Executive Podcast ·

2026/02/05

Most people think a “hot” M&A market means: inflated prices, reckless buyers, and deals that will eventually fall apart.That’s not what we’re seeing in aerospace and defense right now. What we’re watching instead is something far more unusual and powerful. Every major segment of the industry is firing at once. Defense, commercial aviation, business jets, and space are all growing simultaneously. The companies coming to market aren’t missing forecasts; they’re beating them. Buyers aren’t

36:48

Inside the Push to Reshore and Rebuild U.S....

The Aerospace Executive Podcast ·

2026/01/29

For decades, we’ve told ourselves that manufacturing is something advanced economies naturally outgrow. That once you move into services, data, and software, heavy industry becomes optional, nice to have, but not essential.But from a national and economic security perspective, America can’t afford to treat industrial capacity as a legacy asset it can outsource and revisit later—especially now. Hollowing out manufacturing doesn’t just weaken supply chains. It introduces risk into systems that depend

50:36

Charter Clients Want Speed, So Why Are Bookings Still...

The Aerospace Executive Podcast ·

2026/01/22

For an industry that promises speed and convenience, booking a charter flight is still painfully slow. Customers pay a premium for flexibility and time, but the booking experience feels stuck in another era. Manual steps, disconnected systems, PDFs bouncing around, and payment delays that leave too much uncertainty after a decision’s already been made. Demand isn’t the issue; the process is. And the tricky part is that the problem doesn’t live in one place. It shows up between quoting and booking

45:40

Aviation Runs on Speech. Almost None of It Becomes...

The Aerospace Executive Podcast ·

2026/01/15

In aviation, the majority of operational intelligence lives in speech, but most of it is uncaptured or unstructured. It exists in radio calls, verbal handoffs, inspections, checklists, maintenance conversations, and moment-to-moment judgments made on the ground and in the air.That information moves fast, across teams and borders, yet rarely becomes data that systems can reliably use. That creates a quiet but persistent gap. Aviation depends on precision and standardization, yet the human layer it

54:43

The Hardest Transition in Leadership w/ Bill Koch

The Aerospace Executive Podcast ·

2026/01/08

The transition from being a rockstar in your vertical to leading at the C-suite level is one of the hardest jumps in modern business. Not because you aren’t capable, but because the job changes faster than anyone prepares you for, and the timeline to become effective has collapsed from years to months. You used to have a multi-year runway to listen, learn, and settle in. Now the proving ground has accelerated, and you’re expected to think enterprise-wide, set direction, shape culture, and operate

47:52

Business Aviation Is Stuck in the Past, This is What...

The Aerospace Executive Podcast ·

2025/12/18

Private aviation has a reputation problem, and it’s not because demand is slow, but because the system behind it is still operating like it’s 1998. Too many operators are stuck in old behaviors: seven brokers on a single trip, opaque pricing, and a customer experience that feels more like chasing down a missing receipt than stepping into a premium service. We talk about “frictionless” tech in every other industry, but in aviation, friction is still the business model. And yet, the real opportunity

33:53

Thin Film Solar Panels Unlock Maneuverability Without...

The Aerospace Executive Podcast ·

2025/12/11

Most people talk about space power like it’s a solved problem. Big arrays, rigid panels, high-efficiency silicon; the same architecture we’ve been flying for decades. But the more you look at where national security and commercial space are headed, the clearer it becomes: our power systems weren’t designed for the missions we’re trying to execute today. Space is no longer a passive environment. It’s dynamic, congested, competitive, and increasingly contested. If you’re operating a satellite that

44:37

He Learned How to Fly at Age 43, and then...

The Aerospace Executive Podcast ·

2025/12/04

Flying around the world is rare. Doing it solo is even rarer. Doing it twice, once along the equator and once over both poles, is unheard of. But that’s exactly what entrepreneur and aviator, Robert DeLaurentis, achieved.And he didn’t do it in a jet with a support crew on standby. He did it in highly modified aircraft pushed beyond its intended envelope, relying on custom ferry tanks, improvised fixes, and the kind of real-time decision-making that leaves zero margin for error. These weren’t

35:03

The Next Great Leap in Jet Design: Otto Aviation’s...

The Aerospace Executive Podcast ·

2025/11/20

For decades, business aviation has advanced in small, predictable steps. Quieter cabins, digital cockpits, incremental gains in fuel efficiency. But real breakthroughs are generational.What Otto Aviation is building may be the most significant leap in private jet design since the invention of the high-bypass turbofan. This isn’t another luxury aircraft chasing prestige. It’s a reimagining of how far, how fast, and how efficiently a jet can fly. At the center of that transformation is laminar flow:

37:58

The Inflection Point for Flight: Inside Electra...

The Aerospace Executive Podcast ·

2025/11/06

In aerospace, we talk a lot about "the future of flight." But most of that conversation has been driven by fantasy. Fully electric aircraft that can't fly far enough, and technologies that look good in a render but can't sustain the physics or economics of real aviation.That's why what Electra Aero is building feels like the first practical revolution in modern air mobility. It's not about escaping airports altogether; it's about rethinking what access to the air actually means. A platform that

59:16

Cosmic Land Grab: Inside the New Space Arms Race w/...

The Aerospace Executive Podcast ·

2025/10/23

The new space race is beginning; It’s not just between nations, but between commercial giants, shadow governments, and emerging players staking claims to orbits that are becoming dangerously crowded. The world is entering an era where control of the orbits will define global power.What’s fueling this revolution isn’t just rocket science. It’s economic scale, exotic propellants, and a surge in miniaturized, high-functioning satellites. But with this explosion comes risk: orbital debris fields,

39:04

Valuations in Aerospace & Defense: What Really Drives...

The Aerospace Executive Podcast ·

2025/10/09

Most people think valuations come down to simple formulas: EBITDA multiples, discounted cash flows, and comps. The reality in aerospace and defense is far more complex. That’s the reason so many owners and even investors misunderstand how acquisitions actually work in this industry. The truth is, not every buyer values the same business the same way. A small private buyer focuses on what they can finance. A mid-sized family-owned firm is driven by IRR and payback ratios. Large public companies

42:40

The Harsh Truth About Cash in PE-Backed Aerospace...

The Aerospace Executive Podcast ·

2025/09/25

In today’s private equity landscape, the CFO role has become one of the most difficult and misunderstood jobs in the business world. Everybody thinks it’s about reporting numbers, tracking financials, and cutting costs. But in reality, being a PE-backed CFO means living at the intersection of cash obsession, strategy, and leadership, while managing more stakeholders than anyone else in the C-suite. Too many CFOs still act like historians, closing the books weeks late and delivering rearview-mirror

35:00

Inside Albers Aerospace: Building a “Next-Gen Prime”...

The Aerospace Executive Podcast ·

2025/09/04

In the defense industrial base, everyone knows the primes dominate the big programs, but that leaves a huge gap in the middle. Startups don’t scale, the primes can’t move fast, and decades of consolidation have hollowed out the space in between. For years, everyone has recognized this gap, but no one has really solved it. The primes are getting bigger, the small innovators get attention but struggle to scale, and the middle tier keeps shrinking. Meanwhile, the need for companies that can deliver

34:48

The Materials Flywheel: How AI is Powering Next-Gen...

The Aerospace Executive Podcast ·

2025/08/28

In aerospace and defense, every breakthrough is built on material science.From the alloys powering jet engines to the composites shielding spacecraft, innovation isn’t just about design—it’s about what the machines are made of. Yet the way we discover and scale new materials hasn’t meaningfully changed in more than a century. Research cycles drag on for decades, costs skyrocket, and supply chains remain fragile. Meanwhile, other nations have poured resources into material science—developing

37:52

The Future of Aerospace Belongs to Small, Agile...

The Aerospace Executive Podcast ·

2025/08/21

In aviation, the most transformative breakthroughs often take place far above the commercial flight lanes, and far below the public radar. But in today’s defense and aerospace economy, those breakthroughs are harder than ever for small companies to bring to life. Government budgets overwhelmingly favor the largest primes. Smaller, more agile innovators are forced to bankroll their own R&D while competing against firms with deeper pockets, stronger political clout, and guaranteed

55:01

Effective Crews: Why AI Is Reshaping the Flight Deck...

The Aerospace Executive Podcast ·

2025/08/14

As AI continues to reshape everything from medicine to flight decks, the question isn’t whether it’s coming to your organization; it’s whether leaders are ready for it. The future belongs to executives who can blend critical thinking with adaptive leadership, who can shed old assumptions and operate ahead of the curve. According to psychologist and organizational strategist Eric Olson, the most crucial skill for tomorrow’s leaders is resilience rooted in clarity, connection, and courageous

32:31

M&A Check-In: Why Job Shops Are Now Worth Millions w/...

The Aerospace Executive Podcast ·

2025/07/31

Commercial aviation is booming, but not for the reasons you'd expect.While the media fixates on tariffs, inflation, and geopolitical risks, industry insiders are seeing a very different picture. Airline profits are up, demand is strong, and aircraft backlogs are stretching eight years into the future. But underneath the optimism is something more nuanced: a market defined by high-cost inputs, a scramble for qualified labor, and a reshuffling of what counts as “value” in M&A. In this episode of

59:16

Cosmic Land Grab: Inside the New Space Arms Race w/...

The Aerospace Executive Podcast ·

2025/07/17

44:34

The Problem With Aviation Accident Investigations...

The Aerospace Executive Podcast ·

2025/07/03

A fully loaded airliner lined up to land on a taxiway where four fuel-packed jets were waiting to depart. A catastrophic crash was avoided—by just 59 feet.What caused the near-miss? Not a single pilot’s error, but a systemic breakdown: fatigue, communication failures, flawed assumptions, and organizational complacency. In this episode of The Aerospace Executive Podcast, I’m joined by Eckhard Jann—former airline captain, aviation safety investigator, and best-selling author of Error One. With over

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