Market Intelligence: -General Aviation

Epic Flight Academy Award $20,000 Aircraft Mechanic Scholarship

Florida, US based Epic Flight Academy representatives attended the Burns Science and Technology Charter School award ceremonies where Epic’s COO Josh Rawlins and Career Development Coordinator Jon Luck presented a $20,000 aircraft mechanic scholarship to rising senior Evan Whitesides.

“Evan is an outstanding student at Burns SciTech,” said Jon Luck, “and he already has a strong foundation in aviation.” Josh Rawlins added, “Evan demonstrates the dedicated attitude necessary to succeed in the aircraft mechanic program at Epic. We are thrilled to award this scholarship and look forward to supporting future students from Burns.”

Because Evan has one more year of high school, he will begin his aircraft mechanic training in September 2023.

For more information, kindly contact Epic Flight Academy.

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US Flight School Cadets Compete in All-Female Cross-Country Air Race

Birds of Paragon, a three-person female flight team from the award-winning Paragon Flight Training, will take to the skies to compete in the 45th annual Air Race Classic (ARC) June 21–24. ARC is an all-female cross-country air race that tests pilots’ skills over four days through changing terrain, weather, winds and airspace. Birds of Paragon will vie for the top spot against almost 50 teams as they traverse a total 2,549 miles from Lakeland, Florida, to Terra Haute, Indiana.

Making the journey as part of the Birds of Paragon rookie team are Florida-based certified flight instructors from Paragon Flight Training—Katie Truedson (pilot) of Babcock Ranch, and Connie Hite (flight instruments navigator) of Cape Coral—as well as 19-year-old co-pilot and avionics lead Cassie Thompson-Pride of Fort Myers, who is a member of Paragon Flight’s student ambassador team.

“Birds of Paragon is excited to continue the legacy of female air racing through ARC,” Paragon Certified Flight Instructor Connie Hite said. “This is truly a team effort, and we are especially grateful to Paragon Flight for both their financial and moral support of this team—and in their promotion of women in aviation and aerospace.”

Paragon Flight Training is sponsoring the team, supplying them with one of its brand-new Piper P100 (registration N305UM) aircraft for the race, overnight lodging expenses, uniforms and other flight race essentials.

“We are very proud of this exceptional team of women pilots,” Paragon Flight Training President and Owner Chris Schoensee said. “These ladies exemplify the spirit of Paragon Flight and our collective passion for flying and achieving – we are thrilled to be supporting them. I’ve seen the time and dedication they’ve put into preparing for this event and I certainly would not want to be competing against them; they are going to be amazing.”

The Air Race Classic follows a different route every year. This year’s defined course will present a variety of challenges and learning opportunities for flight teams—yet be within the endurance range of the slowest airplane. There are multiple predefined airports that the team must fly to, but landing at each airport is optional depending on what the team decides. Each team must be on the ground prior to sunset at a designated race stop, and those teams determine how many days they want to take to finish the course – factoring in strategy, weather, and airplane endurance.

During the race, individuals will be able to follow the progress of their favorite racers from the ARC website. Cash prizes are awarded to the top 10 – with the highest-scoring team receiving a total $6,000 cash, plus medallions and awards for each team member.

About Paragon Flight Training
Paragon Flight is an award-winning flight academy headquartered at Page Field in Fort Myers, Florida. With FAA 141 and SEVIS accreditations, a fleet of 30 aircraft, and advanced simulator technology, the company trains commercial, professional, and recreational pilots as well as offering military pilot training for domestic and foreign governments. The company is in the process of a 28,000-combined-square-foot expansion slated for completion in 2022.

For more information, kindly contact Paragon Flight Training.

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Top Gun Movie Results in Record ‘Become a Pilot’ Search Engine Traffic

The Hollywood Movie ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ has broken numerous box-office records, is one of the most popular movies on a number of streaming platforms and has resulted in the highest search trend for ‘Become a Pilot’ and ‘Become a Fighter Pilot’ in the last two decades (data reviewed back to 2004).

Below the Google Trend is seen for ‘How to become a Pilot’ worldwide – for a more extreme graph check out this LinkedIn Post.

The increase in interest is being captured by a number of pilot training organisations including;

  • Irish Flight School Launches Cinema Marketing Campaign In Line With Top Gun Movie
  • US Air Force – Maj. Gen. Edward W. Thomas, commander of Air Force Recruiting Service, told Fox News the military would use Top Gun: Maverick to boost recruitment. A similar phenomenon was seen during the first release of Top Gun during the Cold War. “We did get a good recruiting bump from ‘Top Gun’ in 1986 when I went to the theaters and saw ‘Top Gun’ with my friends in ’86,” Thomas said. “I was already excited about military aviation, but I got even more excited. “We expect ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ to do the same,” he added. “You know, whether people want to aim high or fly Navy, we just want them to get excited about serving the nation in some capacity.”

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Flight School Association of North America Shares ‘Fuel Price Driving Training Cost Increase’ Results

Fuel prices are a factor in many sectors of the economy currently, and flight training is no different. To help understand how it is affecting flight training, this past week the Flight School Association of North America (FSANA) did a quick survey of its contacts to learn more about if fuel price increases are being implemented and how they are being done. FSANA also asked about how big of increases are being implemented. Here is what they have found.

The vast majority of respondents have indicated that they have implemented increases in flight training aircraft use costs due to fuel prices.

“With increases in fuel prices around the country, has your flight training operation had to increase aircraft rates to customers at this time?”

  • Yes – 83%
  • No – 3%
  • Not yet, but we expect to soon – 12%

When it comes to how locations are implementing price increases, it was relatively close in percentages between whether a price increase is implemented using a per hour surcharge or increasing the hourly base use rate.

“If you have increased prices or are going to, how have you done it?”

  • A fuel surcharge per hour – 51%
  • Increase the base rental rate per hour – 48%

FSANA also asked about how much the increase was in their experience. This is what they have found:

“How much of an increase in price have you or are you going to implement at this time? (for single-engine aircraft)”

  • $0-$5 per hour of use – 15%
  • $6-$10 per hour of use – 38%
  • $11-$15 per hour of use – 27%
  • $16-$20 per hour of use – 10%
  • $21-$30 per hour of use – 3%
  • More than $30 per hour of use – 3%

FSANA also took open ended comments as a part of the survey and some of the highlights included comments that noted the following:

  • Many expect to have to increase prices more in the future;
  • The increase is starting to affect students’ ability to pay for training or train as frequently;
  • Fuel isn’t the only price increase being experienced, oil, parts, and lack of supplies to keep the aircraft flying are also driving price increases

There is no doubt that the variable costs affecting flight training providers will affect the prices that those seeking pilot training will incur. As prices go up, it becomes more challenging for those seeking aviation careers to pay for the training they seek. FSANA will continue to engage with the training community and track these effects and share what it finds with its members and readers.

Source: FSANA Update

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Flight School Association of North America Opposes US Airline Initiative

US Regional Airline – Republic Airways LLC (Republic) has filed a petition for exemption from C.F. R. 61.160 (a) (click here to see the full request) – which is a petition for exemption for restricted ATP Training Requirements. This would allow Graduate Pilots from its own Flight School – LIFT Academy – to already join the airline at 750 hours experience.

The Flight School Association of North America (FSANA) has received much input since the petition was filed. A FSANA survey was recently conducted and 78% of the responses were opposed to the FAA agreeing to the Republic exemption.

If the FAA were to approve the Republic request, pilots would be permitted to be seated in the right seat of Republic regional jets with 750 TT. This would be a 50% reduction from the current 1,500 TT rule. Congress passed the 2010 Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act which was driven by the Colgan Air fatal accident in Buffalo, NY on February 12, 2009, which killed 49 people on board and one person on the ground.

Data in the past has shown a direct correlation between applicant practical test pass rates and periods of high instructor turnover. In other words, the more experience that a CFI has, the more likely the quality of the pilot candidate.

Bob Rockmaker, President & CEO of FSANA noted that the association has received several phone calls from flight training providers who said they would put their schools up for sale if the FAA approves the Republic exemption request. The increased CFI turnover rate will be devastating to their flight school model and decrease safety.

FSANA has identified several primary concerns with the request that include:

  • A deviation from regulatory practices that have served to produce the safest period of airline travel in the United States since they were implemented;
  • A fundamental flaw in the deviation request that attempts to indicate that the training provided in the Republic Airways process would meet and/or exceed that of military training, a statement in which FSANA does not agree;
  • A significant turnover of CFIs would result from further reduction of R-ATP experience requirements that would actually hinder the overall industry ability to produce more pilots;
  • That Republic Airways indicates that its training meets ACS/PTS standards which are a minimum standard, not an enhanced standard that would warrant a reduction in requirements due to higher standards in training provided.

There are other concerns with the exemption request but the fundamental points are that a reduction in R-ATP or ATP minimums right now will do more to harm the industry and decrease safety than enhance it in the opinion of FSANA and those in the flight training industry with whom we have received input.

FSANA welcomes input from members and the overall flight training community when issues such as this develop. The association is here to advocate on behalf of the best interests of the flight training community and our members. While FSANA knows there will be those within the industry with whom its position does not agree, FSANA feels it is critically important that it remains focused on the mission of this association while also working to improve the overall flight training community to deliver a safe, vibrant, and healthy aviation sector.

To check out FSANA’s full position paper regarding the Republic Airways’ request for Deviation from Restricted ATP minimums, click here.

Source: FSANA Update

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US Pilots Association: “Raising Pilot Retirement Age is Ill-Advised on Multiple Fronts”

The Allied Pilots Association (APA), representing the 14,000 pilots of American Airlines, spoke out against changing the mandatory retirement age for professional airline pilots.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is reportedly soliciting cosponsors for legislation that proposes changing pilot retirement age from 65 to 68. Congress raised the retirement age from 60 to 65 in 2007 to align with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards.

“It’s not at all clear that raising pilot retirement age would actually increase the pilot supply. Moreover, while it might not be less safe, ‘might not’ must never be a rationale on which to base safety-sensitive decisions in our industry,” said APA President Capt. Eric Ferguson. “Further, it would likely create additional instability in airline schedules by displacing pilots age 65 and older from international routes due to ICAO’s age 65 limit for international flying. Pilots age 65 and older would then be assigned to domestic-only flying, in turn displacing less senior pilots from those routes.

“Airlines would also be faced with significantly more training cycles,” he said.

Ferguson also emphasized that raising pilot retirement age would introduce additional risk into commercial aviation.

“According to numerous studies, cognitive abilities decline with increasing age,” he said. “Flying longer would also result in prolonged exposure to solar radiation and the debilitating effects of circadian rhythm disruption. In addition, as we age, we become more susceptible to other health problems such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. These facts are borne out by American Airlines’ own pilot disability demographics, which rise sharply with age.

“Despite what supporters of raising retirement age may claim, there is no shortage of qualified pilots,” Ferguson said. “FAA records indicate that nearly 16,000 new airline transport pilot licenses were issued between 2019 and 2021. During that same time, approximately 9,600 pilots retired, leaving a surplus of several thousand pilots.

“Raising pilot retirement age is ill-advised on multiple fronts, and we urge lawmakers to direct their focus elsewhere.”

Founded in 1963, the Allied Pilots Association — the largest independent pilots union in the United States — is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. APA represents the 14,000 pilots of American Airlines, including several hundred pilots on full-time military leave of absence serving in the armed forces.

Source: Allied Pilots Association Press Release

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