A conversation with Jen Clark, a planning and logistics specialist at Jeppesen.

Planning international trips are fraught with seemingly endless tasks, and that’s just the flight planning. Effective trip planning goes beyond choosing the most efficient route—that meets operational and regulatory constraints—between two airports. There are many things that have to be completed well before wheels up. On most international trips, planners need to arrange transportation to and from the airport, order catering, hire security, obtain overflight permits and landing slots, book accommodations, and much more. For operators with more than one aircraft or expanding their typical operating area, managing everything that goes into a single trip can be daunting without some sort of external support from specialists with expertise in trip planning. 

One of those providers is ForeFlight Trip Support, a global network of trip support specialists with more than 40 years of experience in trip planning coordination from trip inception to completion.

This is the first in a four-part series where we sit down with seasoned trip planning professionals at ForeFlight Trip Support. In this Q&A session, you'll hear directly from Jen Clark, a planning and logistics specialist with more than 18 years of experience, and how she collaborates with operations to streamline their flight planning process and significantly improve efficiency and safety for their crews and passengers.

Q&A

Question: What’s your name, and what is your role?

Answer: My name is Jen Clark and I am an account manager within the International Trip Planning team at Jeppesen, which supports the ForeFlight Trip Support service. I joined the team almost 18 years ago—starting in San Jose, CA—and then ultimately transferred to our headquarters in Englewood, CO. 

Question: Tell us about your experience What did you do before joining the international trip planning team at Jeppesen?

Answer: Before I came to Jeppesen, I worked in the airline industry, primarily doing customer service, but occasionally working in the operations—which I much preferred.

Question: What initially brought you to Jeppesen?

Answer: A co-worker of mine at the airlines told me about a job opening at Jeppesen and I thought I’d give it a shot. I applied for a position in Flight Following and if I’m being honest, I had no clue what the job entailed. Halfway through the interview, the manager told me I was overqualified with an aviation degree and a private pilot’s license and offered me a role in either International Trip Planning or Flight Planning instead. Trip Planning seemed more my style, so I opted for that and quickly realized I had made the right decision. 

Question: What is your role responsible for?

Answer: I handle the planning and logistics for corporate, military, and charter flights that primarily operate internationally. I have accounts that I manage, but also work on ad hoc flight requests for hundreds of different operators, based all over the world. My responsibilities include building flight schedules, obtaining overfly and landing permits, runway slots, and parking permission, arranging ground handling services to include fueling, catering, hotels, and transportation, as well as setting up U.S. customs and eAPIS, and much more.

Question: What does a typical day for you look like?

Answer: Workdays fluctuate between slow periods and chaotic bursts of activity. However, it’s been a while since I can remember what a calm day feels like. Each morning, we log in, claim our standard trips, and divide daily tasks and urgent pass downs among the team. While I attempt to prioritize my tasks by urgency, a single phone call or email with last-minute trip requests, schedule revisions, NOTAM changes, or flight diversions can shift workflows in an instant. Our team operates on a shared phone queue and email inbox so urgent matters can be handled by whoever is available at that moment. At the end of every shift, we create a passdown for the next team, highlighting critical and deferrable tasks.

Question: What do you like most about trip planning?

Answer: I truly enjoy the pre-planning stage of fielding new trip requests and working closely with the pilots and schedulers to transform it into a comprehensive package for the operation. Every day, I strive to instill a sense of trust and confidence in my clients so they know they’re in good hands working with me and trips will feel effortless for their crews.

Question: Is there a story you could share with us? Maybe a uniquely challenging situation?

Answer: I have one operator whose principal passenger changes where they fly from day to day, so often, we’re tasked with setting up three to four flight plans, just so they’re ready whenever their passenger makes his decision—often at the last minute. We’ll build Plan A, B, C and D, and treat all of them with the same meticulous detail as any other flight plan. Once the operator has received the green light on where they’re flying, we must not only cancel all services and chase down the confirmations of these cancellations, but we have to update the itinerary to remove all the backup plans, to avoid confusion.

Question: What do you enjoy the most, personally?

Answer: For me, it’s the relationship I have with my co-workers. Many of us have been with Jeppesen for well over a decade and they’re all like family to me now.

Question: What do you think makes ForeFlight’s Trip Support experience and service different from other providers in the Industry?

Answer: We have extremely skilled and experienced planners on our team who work together very well. Everyone has their own special talent and we know who to go to when we need help with a certain task, or advice on a certain region of the world. We are much stronger working as a team than on our own. Everyone is constantly learning and growing, and I feel that everyone is here to do their part to make our team the best on the market.

Question: What’s the most unusual request you’ve ever received from a client when planning a flight?

Answer: I had one of my accounts tell me they wanted to land on the ice runway in Antarctica, and that was definitely a first for me (and everyone else on our team). We had to jump through hoops and get several departments involved to try and make this work…and in the end, they decided not to go after all.

Question: How do you smooth out turbulence in the flight planning process when unexpected issues arise?

Answer: When we must break bad news to an operator (for example, when their overnight parking gets denied), I always try to have one or two backup options to propose. If we just go to them with the news and don’t offer a solution, it leaves them stressed and frustrated—which never ends well. They typically realize these kinds of situations are out of our hands and appreciate us going the extra mile to find a work-around solution.

Question: What’s your secret for staying on top of all the details in flight planning?

Answer: Starting early and doing occasional quality control checks throughout the process. We have task notes that help keep us organized and give other planners a snapshot of what still needs to be done.

Question: How do you navigate through the complexities of international flight regulations?

Answer: We have a team called Vendor Relations, and they do a fantastic job of keeping our team updated with world events. They are also in charge of vetting the preferred handling we use, as well as helping us iron out sticky situations we get into with these agents. Having professional and experienced handling agents is key to a successful operation, and we rely on them to keep us updated with any changes that occur at their airport or country that would affect our flight.

Question: Do you have a certain aircraft or destination that you like to plan to?

Answer: I enjoy planning flights into Africa. That may sound strange since there are several locations in Africa we must avoid, but the ground handling agents are all fantastic and really do bend over backwards to make our jobs as easy as possible. Having professional and kind ground handlers makes all the difference in the world.

Conclusion

When you integrate a service like ForeFlight Trip Support into your organization, you’re not partnering with an automated software that doesn’t understand the nuances or SOPs of your operation, you’re working directly with real people like Jen Clark—someone who understands what your client needs and handles every task with professionalism and safety top of mind. Trip Support is not just a third-party service that makes planning complex trips easier, it’s an extension of your operation.

For operation leaders, a tool like trip support allows your team to spend less time in the weeds of a flight plan—i.e., communicating back and forth with vendors—and instead focus on what they do best and give their full attention to the client. For flight crews, trip support eliminates the ambiguity of operating in unfamiliar places with region-specific specialists managing everything from overflight permits to aircraft security on the ground.

Whether your client wants to hop a few hours away, or halfway across the globe, ForeFlight Trip Support is ready to transform your flight department.

In our next conversation, we’ll hear from Stewart Whitaker, a veteran trip planner who leads one of the teams coordinating flights for Foreflight Trip Support customers. Stewart offers a unique perspective on the leadership challenges and teamwork required to deliver exceptional customer service around the clock.