Let’s be honest: Flying is expensive and image-driven. But the payoff—your private pilot certificate and wings to the world—is worth it. However, with stories of students having more than 20 instructors, some paying $10,000 up front only to have the school file for bankruptcy the next week, students being publicly yelled at, instructors showing up late or never—it’s a wonder anyone ever gets a pilot certificate. Unfortunately, many don’t. Between 70 percent and 80 percent of student pilots never earn a pilot certificate. It’s a major problem for aviation, and if we are to survive as an industry, things must change.
AOPA will introduce three new initiatives this year aimed at supporting students, flight instructors, and flight schools. MyFlightTraining is one of the most ambitious, and will appeal directly to students still in flight training. Two $5,000 scholarships also will be offered, and applicants don’t have to be a college or university student. Finally, AOPA is relaunching Flight School Business, a newsletter for flight schools and the businesses that support them.
The association spent many months and consulted with the flight training industry before launching each of the programs. Each is a specific and direct response to what was learned in the process—a process that was aimed squarely at attempting to turn around the student dropout rate. The association commissioned research to study the reasons people quit flight training, and the possible solutions to those problems. In November 2010 AOPA held a major summit with the flight training community to discuss the research and ways to move forward.
What are the problems with flight training, and why is it that so many students don’t finish? Above all else, the flight instructor is key to a successful course of training. He or she can make you or break you, according to the research. Included in that training relationship is the flight school. How well a school manages and supports its flight instructors is, not surprisingly, important.
But there are other factors. Aviation is a community, and while those who have finished training know and experience this, those who are still in training often aren’t exposed to the beneficial aspects of interacting with other pilots. Value is important as well, and it’s important to differentiate that from cost. Finally, how flight schools and flight instructors share and disseminate information matters greatly. This relates most directly to setting realistic expectations and delivering on promises.
The CFI. The relationship between the instructor and the student is key. According to the research results, qualities such as a professional demeanor, effective teaching skills, availability for consultations, and proper experience all are important factors related to the student/flight instructor relationship. On those factors, respondents rated the industry a 6.49 out of 10. In fact, issues relating to flight instructors, the quality of instruction, and the flight school were the top five attributes respondents said were most critical to the process—and only one scored above 6.5. When the results include only those who quit training, nothing scored above 6.35.
As proof the CFI can have a positive impact on training, two-thirds of respondents said their instructor was effective and organized, and almost as many said he or she was a good teacher. And those who had a good flight-training experience are highly likely to think their instructor was a “very effective teacher.” A good instructor gets a student through the process, and he or she walks away with a certificate and a smile—while those who quit don’t think as highly of the instructional experience. Good flight instruction is a driving factor of a positive experience, and presumably a good predictor of training completion.
Finding a good flight instructor is more than just picking someone who can teach. The relationship and the chemistry behind the interactions are just as important. Check out “You Might Need a New Instructor,” page 29, for more.
Other important factors were the proper organization of lessons, support for test preparation, and additional resources—such as lists of aviation medical examiners and online resources. Although the survey results don’t rank these attributes as important as others, schools and instructors scored quite low, meaning there’s considerable room for improvement.
Information sharing. People value honesty and transparency. We want it in our personal relationships, and we expect it in our business dealings. Flight instructors and flight schools are ultimately trying to sell us on training, so it makes sense that the study results bear this out. Respondents said providing student success rates, instructor qualifications and performance, and a realistic estimate of time and cost were the fourth most important training factor (each was combined into a single category). On a 10-point scale, the industry was rated a 6.57. If you are still involved in training, chances are you feel that your flight school and instructor are being honest with you. Amazingly, among those who have finished training, this was the highest-scoring factor at 7.24. Those who have quit are seriously distrustful of the entire process, which is reflected in a score of 6.32. It was far and away the biggest gap in score between those who’ve made it and those who didn’t.
If you are frustrated with the training process, and you feel your school or instructor isn’t being forthcoming, remember that you are the customer. You should exert the same influence over that relationship as you would if you were buying furniture.
Community. Lead researcher Mark Benson, a new pilot and chairman of APCO Insights, with decades of research experience across dozens of industries—said he had never before seen the issue of “community” come up in research like this. He said that made him think aviation is a special and unique activity that is challenging but highly rewarding.
To those already established in aviation, “community” is also one of the most exciting opportunities. It’s an area that’s virtually unexplored, and new technologies offer myriad ways to bring students together. Mentors, online communities, clubs, recognition, and the like have the opportunity to truly make a difference.
Value. Probably no word in the survey has been more scrutinized than value. Prior to the research, and in many hangar-talk sessions since, the issue of cost has been a big player. For many people who learned how to fly in a Piper J-3 Cub or Cessna 150, the idea of paying $10,000 or $12,000 for a pilot certificate seems criminal. Control costs, they say, and you’ll solve the problem. That may be true for some prospects. However, the study didn’t support the notion on a macro scale. Why? Think about it this way. A $50 steak may seem like a lot of money for one dinner, but if that steak tastes wonderful, you’ll be happy to pay the bill when it arrives. Flight training is no different.
Students participating in the research said the value of the flight training experience was more important than the cost. And value is more than just a dollar figure. It includes such factors as scheduling availability and commitments, quality aircraft, and everything from inexpensive simulators to providing free training resources.
Value ranked as the second most important factor, but scored only 6.38. Scheduling and the quality of aircraft were less important, but scored roughly the same. Half of the respondents said the airplanes were not in good condition and appearance. Even fewer said rates were reasonable. Not surprisingly, those who quit training ranked aircraft, value, and scheduling lower than those who finished. Although scheduling and value were equally important to both groups, the condition of the aircraft was twice as important to lapsed students as it was to those who had finished training. This calls for the availability of well-maintained aircraft.
The meeting. With research in hand, AOPA convened a summit on the issue of student retention last November. The association invited members of the flight-training community to discuss the results and brainstorm initial solutions, which resulted in hundreds of ideas ranging from tried and proven to out of left field.
At the end of the day, the group was asked to vote for those ideas they believed would move everyone toward a solution. Factors such as professional development and mentoring for flight instructors, better integration of flight simulation into training, and a closer look at curriculum reform rated highly. Flight-school accreditation also received a number of votes. But there was discussion about whether or not the large investment of time and money required to launch such a program would be worth the considerable drawbacks. Questions such as the benefits to flight schools and students still remain.
Any meeting is useless without actionable items, and there were many. For its part, AOPA will introduce its three major new initiatives aimed at the problem. MyFlightTraining will be a way for students to chart their progress via the Flight Training website, and be rewarded along the way. Some exciting features are still in development. Each is targeted to enhance the sense of community in the flight-training process that was shown to be lacking in the study. Our hope is that it will provide anyone thinking about dropping out with an outlet to work through their concerns.
The scholarship program begins this summer, with two $5,000 awards to be announced at AOPA Summit in Hartford, Connecticut, in late September. It will be open to anyone who has completed some training and is looking for a financial boost to help them along the way. Eligibility requirements and details will be available on the Flight Training website soon.
Finally, Flight School Business represents an opportunity to communicate directly to the professionals providing flight training and running flight training businesses. It will include information on a broad range of topics, including advice on marketing, sales, student retention, security, technology, products, insurance, and finance. We think the publication, which will begin arriving to flight school owners and managers via e-mail in the next few weeks, will fill a large gap in information for these important business leaders.
AOPA has committed to further cultivate and vet ideas with the flight training community in 2011. The association will be holding six regional meetings starting later this spring. Each will be open to any flight training provider who wishes to participate, with a special session also available for all pilots and students. We know there are many good ideas out there and we want to provide the opportunity for stakeholders to voice them.
There’s no guarantee this exercise will ensure no one will ever again have to endure 20 flight instructors or take two years to finish a private pilot certificate, but it’s clear that inaction is, at this point, a large step backward.
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