September 12 issue of Flight School Business
| VOL. 13-ISSUE 19-September 12, 2023 |
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TRAINING TRENDS
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| Flight School Spotlight: Fly Truckee Tahoe |
| A boutique business with a niche market and a niche product, Fly Truckee Tahoe strives to give its clientele an amazing experience while remaining "organic and small," said owner Kevin Sloane. He doesn't have full-time instructors and he does find operating floatplanes in the Sierra Nevada mountains "a difficult environment from an insurance perspective," but he said the flight school is a lot busier than he thought it would be when he opened the doors eight years ago. "I really like to be a one-person company," he said. "I can flip the Closed sign on the office door." Operating three Cub variants, Sloane says it's important that Fly Truckee Tahoe's aircraft meets its clients' expectations, so they are cleaned regularly and detailed once a month. "The client is our best marketing machine. A happy client will bring us another happy client." VIEW THE VIDEO › |
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NEWS
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| FAA eases burden for many pilots with ADHD history |
| The FAA has changed its policy regarding attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The new changes will ease the medical certification burden for pilots with a history that includes this diagnosis. The new guidance now identifies certain histories of ADHD diagnosis and/or medication usage for which aviation medical examiners can issue medical certificates. Previously, if you reported any ADHD history on your medical application, you were in for a long, expensive review process. Some of the factors that can help determine if a medical can be issued on the spot include: no treatment or use of ADHD meds for any reason in the past four years, and no symptoms in the past four years. READ MORE › |
| Help make training better for all—and get feedback on your flight school |
| AOPA's annual Flight Training Experience Survey is now open. This is your opportunity to make flight training better for everyone, while gaining some valuable feedback on your flight school. The survey helps certificated flight instructors and flight schools identify trends and pinpoint areas of strength and weakness. The survey measures CFI and flight school performance based on educational quality, customer focus, community, and information sharing. AOPA will use the information gleaned from the survey to recognize exemplary CFIs and flight schools. READ MORE › |
| AviationWeather.gov changes coming |
| AviationWeather.gov is being revamped to make it a little more user friendly. The National Weather Service Weather Center says the changes will streamline menus, make navigation more intuitive, and give mobile users tools to customize their browsing experience. The changes will require users to update their bookmarks. READ MORE › |
| White House nominates Michael Whitaker as FAA administrator |
| The White House has nominated Michael Whitaker to be the next administrator of the FAA. Whitaker has spent more than three decades in aviation leadership positions, including senior leadership roles at Supernal, a U.S.-based mobility service provider that is developing advanced air mobility electric aircraft and a supporting transit ecosystem. Whitaker is also an FAA alumnus; he served as the agency's deputy administrator and chief NextGen officer from 2013 to 2016. The FAA has been without a permanent leader since Steve Dickson resigned in March 2022. READ MORE ›
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POLL
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| Flight Training Experience Survey |
| Does your flight school encourage clients to participate in the Flight Training Experience Survey? Tell us in this week's poll. |
| Results |
| In the August 29, 2023, issue, we wanted to know whether your flight school operates under Part 61 or Part 141. Here are the results.
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MARKETING
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| How can you retain CFIs? Ideas from a successful flight school |
| In the first installment of this new video series from AOPA's You Can Fly initiative, Sherman Gardner, owner of In the Pattern Flight School in Denton, Texas, shares how he helps to nurture and retain flight instructors at his very busy locations. VIEW THE VIDEO > |
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QUICK TIP
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| E-commerce continues to be a strong trend for small businesses in 2023 and beyond. If you have an e-commerce store, make sure it is up to date with the latest products, offers, and deals. Consider adding bundles to the inventory: a student pilot bundle with FAR/AIM; an instrument pilot bundle with view-limiting device; a back-to-the-left-seat bundle for the returning pilot. |
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SAFETY
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| Accident Case Study: High aspirations |
| A new accident case study from the AOPA Air Safety Institute examines a 2020 accident involving a Piper Cherokee Lance on a cross-country flight to Page, Arizona, on a hot summer afternoon. See and hear FAA ATC radio communication transcripts, NTSB documentation, and video animation to recreate the accident and find out just what went wrong for the pilot of the Lance. View the video online or at ASI's YouTube channel. |
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