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THE FLIGHT TRAINING EXPERIENCE SURVEY IS CLOSED

Flight Training Experience Award winners will be announced in October

The AOPA Flight Training Experience Survey and Awards recognizes flight training providers that deliver exceptional customer experiences. Survey results are used to select winners of the Flight Training Experience Awards, which will be presented October 10, during Redbird Migration at AOPA headquarters in Frederick, Maryland.

Award Categories

Best Flight School and Best Flight Instructor

For each of the two categories, Best Flight School and Best Flight Instructor, a total of six awards will be presented. One will be awarded to the top scorers in each of five regions - West, Southwest, Midwest, Southeast, and Northeast. The sixth award will go to the overall National Award winner.

Additionally, regional winners will receive a Zulu 3 headset, compliments of Lightspeed.

Flight Training Experience Award

This award is granted to flight schools and flight instructors who received at least 5 independent reviews and consistently earned superior ratings from their customers on the areas highlighted in the Flight Training Experience Research (Educational Quality, Customer Service, Information Sharing, and Community).

For highlights of the 2017 Flight Training Experience Awards ceremony, click here.

What Winning Means

Zoan Harclerode, 2017 National Best Flight Instructor:
"After winning the Flight Training Experience Award, our growth is up 35-40% over last year. I’ve been getting phone calls from students living hundreds of miles away who want to fly with me personally. These are good times to be a pilot and I am all too happy to be a positive part of our industry’s success."

Jamie Patterson-Simes, SkyTrek Alaska Flight Training, 2017 National Best Flight School, 2016 Outstanding Flight School:
Receiving AOPA's award for the National Best Flight School was an incredible validation of the quality of flight training and the hard work that our flight instructors do every day on behalf of students. We’ve been receiving phone calls from all over the U.S. from people who would like to train at SkyTrek.

"We’re fortunate to be able to help some of them in their endeavor to become pilots or to help them on their training pathway. The Award helped to showcase quality flight training and know that our staff is on the right track in their approach to training. It has definitely put our flight school on the map as a 'destination flight school' that people seek out when they are visiting the area — where many want to attend to either start or complete their flight training.”

Faith Drewry, FL Aviation Center, 2017 Regional Best Flight School - Southeast:
Winning the award for best flight school in the Southeast region has had a very positive impact on our business - we now receive phone calls from people many states away. People call us and say that they saw our name in the awards list and can we please do their accelerated commercial/CFI/CFII? Our waiting list is now up to 25 people and about 2-3 months long.

The bottom line – being recognized means that more customers will come to you because they know you are an industry leader.

AOPA’s You Can Fly Program

The Flight Training Experience Survey and Awards are part of the You Can Fly program, powered by AOPA. You Can Fly is a comprehensive set of initiatives designed to get people flying and keep them flying. The Flight Training Experience Survey and Awards support that effort by recognizing flight schools and instructors that deliver exceptional training experiences. Click here to read the Flight Training Experience Research.