FSNews-Masthd
JULY 14, 2014
INDUSTRY MEETINGS
 
Annual Flight School Operators Conference Scheduled in San Diego
 
The Annual International Flight School Operators Conference presented 
by FSANA is scheduled for Tuesday-Friday, January 27-30, 2015, at the Hilton San Diego in Mission ValleyMore information about the hotel is available here.

 

Each year, flight school operators, aviation training industry companies, representatives from aviation associations, and supply  chain partners get together to exchange best practices, to coordinate efforts, and learn from each other about the "Business of Flight Training." This conference will continue and expand that effort. 

Anyone involved in the delivery of flight training should plan to attend.

 

FSANA looks forward to bringing the conference to the West Coast and the beautiful city of San Diego. 
In upcoming months, FSANA will be providing conference schedules, booking information, and sponsor/exhibitor information. For now, make sure you save the date. FSANA members receive a discount when they register. Conference registration information will be available in the fall of 2014.
FLIGHT TRAINING DATA
 

Tracking Decline in Student Starts

 

It is no secret that the aviation community has seen significant reduction in the number of pilots
since the high point of pilot numbers back in the 1970s. In addition to the total number of certificated pilots, the number of people seeking new certificates is an important indicator

for our future. Thanks to the work of AIRPAC, FSANA is able to shed some light on recent trends in the issuance

of student pilot certificates.

 

As a measure, issuance of student

pilot certificates does not necessarily indicate that each individual will become a pilot, it does indicate that these individuals have at least begun the process. On a monthly basis, AIRPAC evaluates FAA data to derive
statistical information that indicates the number of certificates issued

each month.

 

What FSANA found in the data AIRPAC provided from 2003 through last month is interesting, a little scary, and directly relevant to the providers of flight training in the United States.

 

Without even needing to go back beyond a decade, we see a continual decline in the number of student pilot certificates that are being issued on a yearly basis. The direct result of this is less students are pursuing flight training, and that means less business for flight training providers. While many reasons can be cited for decreasing student starts, from the business perspective, no industry can sustain its current (or previous) levels of service with a declining customer base. Aviation training is no exception.

 

A key aspect of any business is the development of customers that will be consumers of the service provided, and aviation training is no different. Flight training businesses need to actively engage with the customer development process because the rest of the aviation industry isn't going to do it for you. We can hope that airlines and corporate flight departments will help because they will at some point need these pilots to keep their aircraft flying, but that hope hasn't born fruit at the levels needed thus far. If flight training as an industry is going to thrive and even grow, it is going to need to pay attention to key demographic data such as the student starts data that AIRPAC has been so kind as to share with FSANA.

 

To lead this effort, FSANA will be collaborating regularly with AIRPAC to review key statistical data that is of relevance to the flight training community. As FSANA works with this data, we commit to provide that data to those in the business of providing flight training and to help lead a discussion within the aviation industry around how to drive new customers to flight training businesses.

 

To see a full data set of the issuances of student pilot certificates on a monthly basis from January 2003 through May of 2014, click here to download a pdf sheet.


For more about AIRPAC Aviation Files, visit www.airpac.com

 

MARKETING MATTERS 

  

Social Media and the Hierarchy of Marketing Needs

by Anand Jagannathan, CEO, NewzSocial 

Copyright Direct Marketing News; reprinted with permission

Some may know me for being the founding CEO of online marketing platform Responsys, but what I truly hope people remember when they think of me is my passion for marketing innovation. Having participated in several major cycles in the evolution of marketing technology, I see social media evolving itself in a predictable progression.

Like other channel innovations, social marketing practices were initially remedial. Having a presence or listening to conversations was a reasonable starting point. Parallel to prior learnings, technical capabilities increased and so did marketer demands. However, I firmly believe that social media is now perched on a pivotal moment in time, where marketer demands are ahead of existing platform capabilities. The proof is that at the end of last year two critical points were announced by the leading analyst firms in the industry: The Net Promoter Score for existing social management platforms was a negative number, and marketer priorities shifted from deploying point solutions to achieving higher value objectives-scaling effectiveness and engagement. I didn't know that a negative NPS was even possible; regardless, the point remains that marketing needs are currently accelerated beyond technology capabilities.

Below is a visual model of how I see this phenomenon occurring; similar to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, a pyramid is a great representation. Focused on outbound social media marketing and its earned and owned media capabilities, the lowest levels represent the most basic needs, and social marketers are motivated to achieve the next higher level as performance and capability increase.

Level 1: PRESENCE is the need to 'be there' on social media. The goal here is to extend 
a company's Web presence into social media.

Level 2: REACH is to make the social presence more active and "pull" potential audience members and increase the number of followers.

Level 3: ENGAGE is to evoke a response from audience members and create a connection or conversation with them. This requires a fundamental shift in social strategy, from broadcasting self-promoting content to providing audience-based value. This is done by shifting focus from quantity of messages to quality of content, targeting of messages, and having a true focus on providing value to specific audiences. When done properly, each audience is inclined to like, comment, and share the content, thereby extending the engagement of the network. Contrasting this, an emerging trend has been to leverage teams of people known as advocates to amplify messages. While the idea of increasing social participation makes sense, the underlying technology lacks managerial guardrails and too often yields a "push" of untargeted noise and an organizational behavior that Altimeter Group calls "social anarchy."

Level 4: SCALE is to align social activity with all of the company's marketing and communications programs, connect socially active teams across the company (increase topic flows and consistency of message), and increase social participation. The goal is to reach targeted audiences with content relevant to each group, thereby building social credibility across the business. Social participation across the company's groups needs to harness the individual areas of expertise. The flow of content that drives the social participation has to be streamlined into a workflow. This requires the company to develop replicable campaign processes that can align business programs with socially active teams and targeted audiences.

Level 5: INFLUENCE is to participate in the shaping of opinion within an audience and to fuse that objective to all aspects of the business. The goal is to extend the business's social credibility into being the authority on topics and become the thought leader to drive top-of-funnel awareness and audience engagement. This is done by integrating social media marketing into all aspects of the business and by connecting content and updates into a social posting cadence. The results should be measured as desired actions from the target audience, which can generate a lead inquiry, a whitepaper download, an event registration, and so on. Success is measured as a socially derived ROI that directly correlates social marketing programs to these outcomes.

My belief is that current technological capabilities leave many social media programs incapable of really extending through the "Engage" phase. Often focused on paid media strategies or trying to "push" messages in a "pull" marketing environment, these capabilities are only well-served in the earliest stages of the Social Media Hierarchy of Needs.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Where do you fit in this pyramid?


FSANA NEWS 

 

FSANA Committee Activity

 

FSANA is a participatory-based industry association and our programs are created and evolve with the input and guidance of our members. Member input is a key part of making this association successful. If you are a member and aren't already engaged with one of our committees, we invite you to contact our office and learn more about participating.

 

Here are examples of committee work scope currently underway:

  • The Program Committee is reviewing the AeroChapters program which will be rolled out in the near future.
  • The Annual Conference Committee is planning the professional program for the 2015 annual conference.   
  • The Accreditation Committee has started to work directly with the United States Department of Education.

FSANA is built by members for members. We encourage flight school owners, managers and chief flight instructors to become involved with their association. The ROI has been clearly demonstrated by those who have elected to engage and participate. 

FSANA PROGRAMS
 
AeroCamp Builds Pathways to Aviation

by Gregory S. Hayes, CEO North Coast Flight School Inc., Erie, PA

Chairman of the Board, FSANA

 

Recent decades have seen reduction of exposure
of younger generations to aviation. Less availability of training providers, higher costs of flying, and increased security roadblocks are but a few reasons. The common story we had from previous generations of a young adult's first trip to an airfield with their grandfather, neighbor, or friend are less common now than ever before. Fewer kids get their first experience in aviation after "helping wash their neighbor's plane," after riding their bike to the local airport to watch planes takeoff and land, or getting a ride at local fly-in. These experiences were special to past generations, and in many cases, they were seeds that grew into aviation hobbies or careers that lasted a lifetime. They were the beginning of a passion and a love for aviation. Without these experiences, these seeds may never be planted in the next generation.

This brings our industry to a question: if those pathways are no longer viable, what can we as flight training providers do to sow new seeds for the next generation? If we don't figure it out, where do we think students will come from to keep our businesses going in ten or twenty years?

The answer is really quite a simple one, WE become that pathway! That "open door" policy of the past, has to become more of a "bring them to the door" of the future. One thing that FSANA has worked hard to promote, and we know is successful, continues to be AeroCamp. I know we keep pushing this, but it is working for many members. AeroCamp is getting young students in the doors of flight training providers and sowing seeds of future pilot generations. AeroCamp provides an avenue for children that otherwise would no longer exist.

In my own experience at my flight school, we have been running AeroCamps even before the concept was rolled out by FSANA officially. We wanted to prove that it worked before we advocated that anyone else should try it. And it works. Best of all, I found that running AeroCamps wasn't just a way to get students interested in aviation and aerospace, but they are also very profitable.

Running AeroCamps has had a profound effect on the personality of my flight school. Getting younger participants involved has been contagious. Other students, friends, and family of the AeroCamp kids have come back. Some have begun to learn to fly.

AeroCamps are a way to spread a seed of aviation interest. That interest grows, spreads, and reaches people well beyond the direct participants of AeroCamps.

If you are going to be at AirVenture and want to learn more about AeroCamps,
join us when Greg Hayes will be speaking at the AOPA Flight School Business Luncheon on Friday, August 1st. More information about the luncheon can be
found by clicking here.

LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS 

 

FAA Enforcement Actions - Part II:
Initiation of Legal Actions - Section 1

by Jason T. Lorenzon, esq.  CFI, CFII, MEI

 

Over the past two months I have been talking about enforcement actions and the legal process that the FAA may take. In May, I gave a brief overview of an initial investigation which can lead to an administrative action or a legal action. In June, I discussed the brief overview of a legal action and the steps an airman should take. This month, I will focus on emergency orders.   

As a legal action is initiated, the FAA may determine that an emergency order is appropriate. When that occurs, an FAA attorney after consultation with the differing levels of the local FSDO office will issue an order of suspension, revocation or civil penalty. Notice will be sent by certified mail and by regular mail. The airman's conduct will be determined by the FAA to be an "emergency" and safety in the air commerce requires the immediate application of an emergency order.

The Hoover law which came into effect 2000, was thanks to pilot Bob Hoover who was issued an emergency order by the FAA revoked his medical certificate after some suspicious investigation by FAA Inspectors who though Hoover did not look well. Anyway, before the Hoover law, the airman affected by the emergency order was not permitted what is called due process of law, that is the chance to challenge the FAA's decision. The airman was not permitted to fly nor challenge the FAA's action. 

Now, if an airman is faced with an emergency order, thereby grounding him or her, that person can immediately appeal the "emergency" aspect directly to the NTSB. The airman has only 48 hours in which to appeal the FAA order. The NTSB is given five days to decide the appeal and if a real emergency exists warranting the FAA order. If no emergency exists, then the emergency aspect is taken away. However, the NTSB will have up to 60 days to dispose of the underlying certificate suspension or revocation. Again, it is important that an airman consult an aviation attorney when faced with an emergency order. Time is really of the essence and the procedural rules are unforgiving. 

Jason Lorenzon holds the FAA Commercial License, Multi-Engine Instrument CFI, CFII, MEI Ratings. He is an attorney licensed to practice in Ohio and Florida. He is currently managing partner of DeCola & Lorenzon LCC, Attorneys at Law and has offices in Cleveland, Akron and Orlando.
He focuses his practice on Immigration and Aviation law. He can be reached at
lorenzonlaw@gmail.com.
 
FSANA NEWS
 

New Director of Business Development Joins FSANA Staff

 

 

The Flight School Association of North America (FSANA) is pleased to announce the creation of a new staff position, the director of business development. The position has been filled by Debbie Sparks, who will be involved with association partnerships, conference sponsorships and exhibitor relations along with membership development.

Sparks has been involved in aviation and business management for over 25 years, working directly with flight training businesses, having been an owner in a helicopter flight training academy for over 12 years, and brings knowledge and industry experience to the position.  

FSANA CEO, Bob Rockmaker said, "Having Debbie join the FSANA team will help spread the increasing workload as the association continues to grow and evolve. We look forward to her contributions and focus which will help to enhance the "The Business of Flight Training". 

Sparks has served as a board member of FSANA and worked on the FSANA Accreditation Committee that was responsible for developing standards that flight schools utilize to promote safety, education, compliance and mentorship while utilizing best business practices. "I am excited to expand my role with FSANA and look forward to working to develop new strategic partnerships and corporate support for FSANA in this position," said Sparks.

Reach Debbie Sparks at 561-767-6826 or dsparks@fsana.com. 

SEARCHLIGHT 

 

FBO Wanted for Pennsylvania Airports 

  

Request for qualifications and proposals for FBO operator and services at Braden Airpark (N43) andQueen City Airport (XLL)

 

The Board of Governors of the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority (LNAA), is soliciting proposals for Fixed-Based Operator Services for Braden Airpark (N43) and Queen City Airport (XLL). Information and Instructions for Proposers may be obtained from Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority Administrative Offices located on the third floor of the Passenger Terminal Building, Lehigh Valley International Airport, 3311 Airport Road, Allentown, PA 18109, or by contacting Marcy Wowk at mwowk@lnaa.com
or 610-231-5202.

A pre-proposal conference and tour of the airports will be held on June 23, 2014, at
10:00 a.m. at Braden Airpark, 3800 Sullivan Trail, Easton, PA and at 2:00 p.m. at
Queen City Airport, Vultee Street, Allentown PA.

Respondents shall submit 10 completed hard copies. Submittals must be received
by LNAA, Lehigh Valley International Airport, 3311 Airport Road, Allentown, PA 18109,
no later than July 16 at 2:00 p.m. Please mark the envelope of the documents
"FBO SERVICES RFQP" to the attention of Marcy Wowk, Project Specialist. If there
are any questions, please email mwowk@lnaa.com.

Additionally, one electronic copy of each proposal shall be submitted to mwowk@lnaa.com by the July 16 2:00 pm deadline. The email should be labeled
"Electronic Submission for FBO SERVICES RFQP."

The Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority, (in accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1974, 7B Stat. 252, 42 USC 2000D to 2000D-4 and Title 49, Code of the Federal Regulations, Department of Transportation, Subtitle A, Office of the Secretary, Part 21, Nondiscrimination in Federal assisted program for the Department of Transportation issued pursuant to such Act) notifies all firms that it will affirmatively insure that Disadvantaged Business Enterprises will be afforded full opportunity to submit proposals in response to this invitation and will not be discriminated against on the grounds of race, color, sex or national origin in consideration for an award. 
 
The Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority reserves the right to accept and/or reject any and all proposals at its sole discretion.
 
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in this publication

TRAINING NEWS LINKS
HondaJet Achieves Flight Milestone

Pilot offers $12,000 scholarship through AOPA program

Boeing Expands Capabilities for Pilot Training Around the World

Crash Highlights Need for Mountain Flight Training

[Flightglobal] ANALYSIS: The Truth About the US Pilots Shortage

Airbus Shifts Pilot-Training Focus to Emphasize Manual Flying

Cessna Kicks Off Third Annual Discover Flying Challenge

Now Taking Off: Flight Training Apps

NTSB: Asiana Crew 'Over-Relied' on Automated Systems

Flight training firm CAE signs defence contracts with Germany, New Zealand

Sioux City Program Seeks to Meet Demand for New Pilots

Cessna TTx gets
FAA certification for deicing system


Emergency Parachute Deploys As Small Plane (Cirrus) Crashes In Burlington
Inviting the Best
Aircraft Operators
in the Business to
Join Our Network.
UPCOMING EVENTS
2014 Flight Training
Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C.
More information to be announced.
U.S. HOUSE AND SENATE

Find Your U.S. Congressman  

 

Find Your U.S. Senator 

 

U.S. House Aviation Subcommittee 

 

U.S. Senate Aviation Subcommittee 

 

US Senate Education Committee 

 

US House Committee on Education and the Workforce 

Click on images to download sample Aero program brochures
AeroCamp brochure
AeroParty brochure
AeroSolo brochure

FSANA Supporting Partners

V I S I O N A R Y   P A R T N E R S
L E A D E R   P A R T N E R S
AirSpruce

PilotShop.com













The above organizations are annual supporters of the FSANA mission and work of the association and its members.

Established in 2009, the Flight School Association of North America (FSANA) is the first and only association of its kind dedicated solely to the flight training industry. FSANA represents flight schools, firms that provide products and services to the flight training or aviation industry, and other supporting partners.

FSANA MISSION: The Mission of the Flight School Association is to work in alliance with the aviation and aerospace industry; to serve and foster the flight training industry; to provide programs and services that will enhance the ability of flight schools to serve their customers and communities; and to promote best business practices which will help flight schools and their industry thrive and increase the pilot population.
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