Kern Award Winner Garry Melia: Safety Is a Collaborative Give and Take

Jan. 9, 2024

When it comes to safety, “never stop learning because you don’t know what you don’t know,” said Garry Melia, safety manager and helicopter captain at MassMutual who received NBAA ‘s 2023 Dr. Tony Kern Professionalism in Aviation Award. “Join a good peer group. It is a two-way street where you help the group, and the group helps you.”

The pandemic provided a succinct example, said Melia, a member of the Northeast Safety Roundtable since his first day on the job.

“When faced with a new safety challenge, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel because someone has most likely already done it,” he said. “Our operation had to address COVID. Instead of starting from scratch, I reached out to the roundtable and one of its members willingly shared his good plan that I adapted to our program.” He was able to give back by helping others with their rotor-wing flight operations quality assurance (FOQA) programs.

Melia – a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point who flew helicopters on active duty and the Massachusetts National Guard – learned early that leaders must “read the room and craft their message so people receive it, even if you have to compose variations of it to connect with your audience, “Figure out what resonates, but balance that with the reality that you might have to tell them things they might not want to hear.”

Safety managers touch every aspect of the flight department – dispatch, maintenance, ground transportation and flight operations – so never forget to use everyone’s expertise to your advantage, he advised. But regardless the audience, “give them time to process and respond before hard charging with safety programs and initiatives,” Melia said.

Melia has been flying for MassMutual for 24 years, ever since he met its chief pilot while flying with the National Guard. “I’ve never looked back,” Melia said, and he was a founding member of the MassMutual safety committee, established almost 20 years ago. “I’ve been a member ever since, and when they needed a new safety manager six years ago, I raised my hand.”

Reiterating that safety is a team effort that embodies all who work for the company, not just the members of the flight department, Melia noted that all levels of management at MassMutual positively embrace the spirit of the safety program and do not second-guess the judgment of the flight department regarding safety concerns, even when flights are cancelled.

“I’ve been successful because the people who preceded me were successful,” Melia said. “I’ve been able to build on their solid programs and take them to the next level where new programs and technologies have allowed.”

At the end of 2023, Melia stepped down as safety manager and is mentoring his successor – “reinforcing the tools and mindset to sustain our cohesive, comprehensive safety culture where everyone is a contributing member of the team,” he said.

Moving forward, Melia plans to keep flying, while diving deeper into MassMutual’s FOQA programs. He also will continue serving as a member of the board of directors for the Massachusetts Business Aviation Association.