Creating Demand Not Just Responding to It

The Future of Flight Schools: Creating Demand, Not Just Responding to It

 This is the second article in a series on running a flight school, with a focus on enhancing the customer experience. It explores the sales process and offers tips for converting prospects into students.

Those of us fortunate enough to work in aviation know that when we talk about our industry in social settings, many people light up with genuine interest and curiosity. From my experience, for every certificated pilot out there, countless others find airplanes and flying a fascinating subject. 

Despite this genuine interest, there are flight schools and general aviation businesses around the country with under-utilized aircraft and slim profit margins. 

Flight schools carry a unique responsibility as the gatekeepers and often serve as the first point of contact with general aviation for aspiring pilots. At many flight schools, prospective students are immediately introduced to the barriers and challenges of getting involved with aviation. This is often handled as though everyone who walks in the door is fully convinced and ready to start. The tone we often—perhaps unintentionally—convey to newcomers is that aviation is too time-consuming, expensive, and difficult to get into. While it’s true that not everyone has the time, money, or determination to become a pilot, we’re missing opportunities by jumping directly into these warnings, rather than taking a more measured sales approach.

In 2022, over 9.6 million U.S. households had an income of $250,000 or more, and nearly 3.5 million earned $300,000 or more. The funding for flight training is out there—it’s a matter of helping potential customers buy into the dream. For many, learning to fly isn’t just an expense; it’s an investment in a rewarding career path or a lifelong dream of flying. Think of it this way: if someone has $100,000 in disposable funds, would they buy a luxury car? For many, the answer is no, despite the cash— because they’d prefer to invest in something more meaningful to them, like buying a home, or sending their children to college. The flight training industry must recognize that, like any business, it is competing to be a top priority for its customers.  When people truly want what is being offered, they'll find the time and money to make it happen.

This realization opens up the possibility that sales efforts are not only viable, but essential. This doesn’t mean that high-pressure sales tactics are appropriate, instead recognize that a first impression is important and that a long term relationship is a far better way to have an opportunity to sell a service. If the stars don’t align right now in terms of a customer’s priorities - stay in touch, because some day they likely will and if flight training isn’t top of mind, they may forget about learning to fly.

Here’s an outline of the most effective sales processes I’ve seen from flight schools:

Step 1: Create Excitement and Offer Inspiration

When someone reaches out to a flight school, take the time to spark their excitement about becoming a pilot. Not everyone is drawn to the mechanical aspects of airplanes; some are more interested in the freedom and travel opportunities aviation offers. Ask why they’re interested in flying and tailor the message appropriately. Remember this is a chance to sell the same dream most of us believe in.

For example, if your first contact is through your website, consider posting a 60-second video of an alumnus sharing their passion for flying and the impact it has had on their life, or a day in the life highlight reel. If it’s a phone call, have the person answering the phone share their own enthusiasm for aviation and the joys of being at the airport regularly. After, offer to answer any questions about costs and requirements honestly. Instead of saying, “A private pilot’s license costs $25,000,” break it down by explaining the number of lessons and the average cost per lesson. This approach portions the expense into more manageable pieces, and more accurately relays the financial burden of flight training. Avoid dumping the full list of requirements to earn a license on a prospect at this point if they haven’t explicitly asked for it.

Step 2: Build Momentum and Offer an Introductory Flight

After the initial contact, encourage every prospective customer with no experience to book an introductory flight. Explain that this will give them a sense of what it’s like to be at the flight school and in a small airplane. The key is ensuring that the first flight doesn’t feel like a “weed-out” process. It’s not a formal lesson and shouldn’t include practicing maneuvers. Instead, focus on creating a positive, enjoyable experience that allows them to envision themselves both in a small airplane and as part of the aviation community. 

Keep in mind that it’s not unusual for a high percentage of these people to decide flight training is not for them in the immediate future. By the way, in order to make this a sensible offering for your business, this first flight should not be a loss leading product. Ultimately, giving a $50-100 discount on this experience is not going to get someone to agree to sign up at your flight school. What will do more to get them over the line is ensuring this first experience is positive, memorable and fun. 

Step 3: Answer Questions and Provide Support

It’s important to outline the stages and paint the picture of what training will look like, but the larger priority is ensuring prospective students feel supported, and not overwhelmed.

Have a defined process for one or two key personnel at your school that outlines when follow-up will occur after a first flight and what will be said. They’ll want to offer to answer any questions that may not have been covered during their first flight experience. Don’t let a customer’s uncertainty about what needs to happen next take things off track, as they likely have all sorts of thoughts floating around their heads. Give the prospect one or two clear and concise next steps, like coming in for an enrollment meeting, or using an easy electronic process to collect their documents and get them added to your system. What often goes wrong in this stage is sending a prospect out on their own to do something like get a medical, or sign up and complete online ground school where they may run into difficulty, get distracted and never come back. 

Whether it’s the CFI from their first flight, the chief pilot, office staff, or the school owner, someone should make it clear that your flight school will guide them every step of the way. Building this sense of support and community is crucial for converting prospects into students.

Step 4: Follow Up - Again!

Additional follow up is crucial because not all prospective students will immediately commit, and it is also a fantastic way to build a pipeline of future students. Some prospective customers may need a nudge to take the next step and it’s important to not forget them. As I mentioned earlier, the circumstances in their life may not align right now but at a point in the future they probably will and it’s essential to be in touch at that time. Ensure there is a clear and repeatable process so everyone who steps foot in the flight school hears from your business at reasonable intervals in the future. Continuing to send inspiring and exciting content messages to these prospects is key. A strong method is to share with them the recent success of your students, or interesting places that your aircraft have been on cross country trips recently.

Use tools like a customer relationship management platform or email campaign software to send occasional reminders and inspiration. At Flycore we have seen that sending a text message is a great way to stay top-of-mind and is often appreciated coming from a business they’re interested in. By leveraging modern tools like CRMs, and email/text marketing you can streamline and track this process, making it repeatable and error-free across multiple prospective students.  In today’s attention-driven world, staying on a prospective student’s radar is essential.

This sales process may seem like a lot of work, but using modern technology means it doesn’t have to be. More importantly - this effort puts smiles on the faces of your customers, positively impacts your business’s bottom line, and improves the public perception of general aviation. Perhaps the most crucial aspect of these efforts is that they enable flight schools to build their own pipeline, shifting from merely reacting to pre-existing demand to proactively generating it. With the right approach, we can inspire more people to take to the skies and build a stronger, more open aviation community.

In the next article I’m looking forward to going a step further in the sales domain and examining how a first flight experience can represent a significant revenue and brand-building opportunity for flight schools.