AI for flight schools

Hilo Aviation announced April 1 a suite of products that use artificial intelligence to make training more efficient. The eponymous platform serves as an all-in-one scheduling and student progress tracking system. Hilo Connect brings in GPS-based aircraft performance tracking, and FlyLingo is a test prep platform that also uses AI to provide an interactive and engaging experience.

Cofounder Tyler Johnson, owner of Venture West Aviation in Mesa, Arizona, a successful flight school that evolved from training with a small fleet of single-engine Piper Cherokees to adding light sport aircraft and training 80 students, found that managing all the moving parts took over his life.

“It was like I was down in a valley looking up at this mountain of data and paperwork. It was in charge of me instead of me being able to manage it from on top of the mountain. I just knew we could do better for our school—and everyone else,” Johnson said.

He needed to optimize and connect all the data. Together with Shane Jordan, cofounder and chief technology officer; U.S. Air Force veteran Brook Booher; and David Bean he conceived Hilo Aviation, a proprietary all-in-one platform that integrates scheduling, checkride planning, student tracking, and maintenance, and that can even connect with the student’s lenders, disbursing funds once a milestone has been achieved. Hilo Aviation’s mission is “to transform aviation training and flight school management by reducing costs, improving efficiencies, and lowering student default rates, all while creating a more impactful experience for every stakeholder.”

The in-cockpit tracking device that the founders dubbed Hilo Connect collects in-flight data and monitors “key metrics like bank angle, altitude, airspeed, and more,” according to the company’s press release. The data can be downloaded to an online platform at the end of each flight “like a GPS watch,” said Jordan in a conversation with AOPA, providing data-driven transparency that doesn’t rely on the subjective impression of a flight instructor. It is designed to help instructors “identify trends, optimize instruction, and accelerate student progress.”

Students are meant to profit from Hilo’s FlyLingo, a “gamified” platform aimed at helping students prepare for FAA knowledge exams. It includes an AI instructor who answers questions, delivers personalized guidance, and recognizes weak areas, offering feedback tailored to the student’s needs.

In order to connect and evaluate all the information fed into the portal, the founders employed artificial intelligence. It combs through the data of each segment and delivers insights based on it. “Our AI is a proprietary AI that is closed, making it secure, and is trained on aviation for the benefit of aviation customers,” said Jordan.