The Optimal Flight Training Experience

Abstract

Up to 80 percent of those who begin flight training drop out without ever earning a pilot certificate. That’s an alarming and unsustainable statistic for schools, instructors, and the entire aviation industry. But it’s also a figure we believe we can change. The reasons for the high dropout rate are complex and include lack of perceived value, ineffective instruction, lack of customer focus, and failure to educate students as consumers, among others. The concerns are not new, but many flight schools have failed to effectively address these and other issues that affect student performance and retention. Why? Because very often the schools themselves lack the tools, knowledge, skills, and support to make the changes needed to deliver a better training experience. Research into the differences between struggling and successful flight schools conducted for AOPA in 2016 confirms that notion. In response to in-depth phone interviews, flight schools produced a long and varied list of concerns and needs around tracking student progress, financial management, improving customer service, expanding business skills, marketing, managing personnel, safety and business oversight, and airport relations, among others. We believe the industry can help schools deliver an optimized training experience—one that leaves students feeling good about their investment in training and excited to take the next steps. With the right help schools can grow, attract more students, and ensure that more of the students who start flying not only earn a certificate but also become active, engaged, and safe members of the aviation community.

Author

• Pribyl, Katie Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Keywords

• Aviation
• flight training
• flight schools