Kelby Ferwerda, owner of Rochester Aviation (far right), and his staff.
Owner Kelby Ferwerda’s formula for the success of 2012 AOPA Flight Training Excellence Award Winner Rochester Aviation contains experience obtained in previous work in business and marketing. When the school came to Skyhaven Airport in Rochester, New Hampshire, a few years ago, Ferwerda said there were more broken airplanes than those that worked. Yearly growth of between 30 and 50 percent is changing that broken culture.
The key to success is a combination of community, creating a positive atmosphere, offering value to students, and engaging students in events. A recent “air race” was held in August. Participants got one month to go to five destinations. Even stopping there would have been a great way to drive business and give people a reason to fly. Participants were required to buy a T-shirt. The first to photograph himself at each airport with the T-shirt won. At the end of the month there was a barbecue where the winner got a flight bag full of stuff. Lots more got prizes, and the profits from the shirts were given out as a scholarship to the person who wrote the best essay on what general aviation and learning to fly means to him or her.
Ferwerda admits the “race” increased aircraft utilization, but it also gave participants five great destinations to take family and friends within 100 miles. The barbecue was an opportunity for students to meet each other, and the school got goodwill with the scholarship. One student out of 50 has dropped out between first solo and the checkride.
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