A topic of great interest to all of us in aviation appeared in an article entitled, “AOPA Embarks on Quest to Fix Flight Training”. While certainly not a new topic, it is admirable to see the issue addressed by the AOPA.

The article states, in part, that “although many in the industry feel like they may know the reasons, no one has ever conducted a systematic qualitative and quantitative study to validate assumptions”. Well, that’s certainly saying a great deal and is very true.

I offer here no quick fixes or secret recipe for fixing the “70-80 percent of student pilots dropping out before they earn a certificate”, but will take the position that not all flight training providers are experiencing this rate of attrition. Further, I will provide examples of some of the qualities and characteristics of a provider that are likely to contribute to a higher rate of success.

Let’s start with the product itself. As a colleague of mine frequently states, he has the best job in the world…discussing aviation with current and prospective pilots from all over the world. While an entire article could be written on this alone, I believe many would agree that aviation is still a respected field. People undertake flying for a number of reasons, but the point here is, the wonder of flight still sparks imagination and desire to learn to fly. It then stands to reason, how we package and offer the product is vitally important. Some qualities and questions that come to mind are; do we offer it with honesty, integrity, passion and the desire to produce safe, knowledgeable and proficient pilots? If a provider can not answer yes to all of the above, we are doing a disservice to the product and potential pilots.

The next point may seem very pointed, but we also need to acknowledge the role of cost. On the surface flying seems to be very expensive but frankly potential customers who are shopping around on price alone are often left frustrated and disillusioned when the process costs far more than they originally were quoted. We need to be honest with customers in this area. Usually, people who are researching flight training are already aware it is not a “cheap” process and when asked, these people will tell you they will absolutely pay for a product that delivers value. We all understand that in our day to day purchases.

When we read the AOPA article, we started thinking about our own attrition rate and, at the risk of sounding like we have all the answers (we don’t!), our rate is actually far less than the 70-80 percent referenced in the article. The question then is, “why”?

There is no one answer that much is clear. Some things do immediately stand out and, perhaps surprisingly, many of them cost little to nothing to deliver. At SunState Aviation, we deliver the product honestly and we’re passionate about the product. Our vision, mission, values and standards have not changed since the doors opened.

Our surveys clearly reveal it is working. Our customers come from all corners of the world and we see them return to pursue additional ratings or simply to enjoy flying with SunState Aviation.

In summary, while it is clear the numbers of pilots not finishing training is incredibly high, we also need to recognize what does work. High quality instruction, honesty, integrity, excellence, teamwork, recognition and fun…these are the values of SunState Aviation and the proof is in the results.

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