Tactics/ideas for successful FBO/flight training unit

[bluenote]

What are the steps taken by those individuals wishing to tackle the task of
running a pretty good outfit in terms of FBO/flight training unit?

* location
* personnel
* advertising
* commitment
* horse shoes up your a**
* clean classrooms and airplanes
* whatever else someone can think of
* 10 million dollars to make 1 million

[Hedley]

Keeping control of your costs. Most successful FTUs
that I've seen have their own well-run AMO in-house.

You need qualified people to head up both the flight
instruction side and the maintenance side. I might
suggest that at a successful proprietor-sized FTU
you hold at least one of these qualifications.


On the subject of FTU size ... I firmly believe that
in over-regulated Canada, you either go big or
go home. The days of the "mom and pop" FTUs
are numbered - Transport even admits this - because
of the overwhelming overhead of paperwork.

Just like the cost of an aircraft, you need to amortize
the cost of all of that paperwork over a lot of flight
training. Transport considers an FTU pretty much
the same as an airline - it needs an OC, an AMO,
SMS, etc. In Ontario and BC you also need to register
as a "career college"

This is insane, of course. In the USA, the FAA does
not require a flight instructor to get an airline-style
OC with commercial maintenance to instruct on
his buck fifty.

This has nothing to do with safety, but rather
an entrepreneurial cultural attitude down south.

Up north here, with our socialist leanings, we
favour big government with lots of overhead -
and just pass it onto the consumer, he's already
overtaxed already, he won't notice it. At least,
that's the logic in Canada as best as I can figure
it out.

Thanks, Pierre! One of these days, I have to swing
by your grave and piss on it. Margaret's doing
well, btw.

[Brewguy]

All of yout bullet points are good ones

However I'd add: Whoever works the desk should actually acknowledge people who walk in.

One of the FTUs around here would greet and chat with prospective students who came in to find out about flying, and would give them info to take home. Then came their #1 most successful sales tactic, they encouraged them to visit the other FTUs and 'go with the one you like'.

After walking into the other FTU on the field and being ignored by multiple staff behind the counter for 10 or 15 minutes; they'd walk straight back to the first FTU and sign up for training on the spot.

[Lurch]

I have been wondering a lot lately if a school dedicated to more advanced training would be able to be successful. I've seen a few shows lately about training done during the war and I'm wondering why we can't/aren't doing this today. They were starting on the Tiger Moth moving on to the Harvard then jumping into Spits at 100hrs. How many 100hr pilots these days could do this?I know I would kill myself pretty quick.

Have a school that prepares students for bush/northern flying. You do your PPL on Citabria's/Cubs, you get more enfaces on PDM and flying skills, aerobatics and real short fields and soft, not just flying within 20nm of the airport for your 50hrs

After you PPL you move on to a C180 and floats. Your CPL build up is done on floats/tundra tires during the thaw and skis during the winter. Your flights are away from base, your 50 hours of X-Country building is done on 2-3 flights where you are required to go into small unprepared strips, take fuel drums for your own fuel and you'll have to load and unload in order to fill up. You go around to a bunch of outfitter lakes and small communities for meet and greets, so when you are done you have already done the rounds to the small outfits.

Prepare students for real world flying not just the syllabus required by TC but exceed them by leaps and bounds. Create students who have hand and foot skills and the ability to make good decisions and not be afraid to fly more then 300nm from base. They enter the commercial world knowledgeable and already having done a lot of the jobs they will be required to accomplish. Not the puppy mill types being turned out today who have only flown 172s into paved 3500' strips, clear VFR days, and never more then 2 hours from home, most have never even filled their own plane.

Lurch

[iflyforpie]

How many 100hr pilots these days could do this?I know I would kill myself pretty quick.

Lots of pilots did kill themselves. More aircraft were lost during non-operational flights by the RAF than in combat in WWII.

[BTD]

Also, good or bad most prospective students look at the price tag. If there is a significant difference in cost between two FTU's most will go with the cheapest regardless of whether you are setting up a real life course or not.

[The Old Fogducker]

For marketing, you could always use the old R Z method of snaring students. FYI ... good old Raf killed himself and a planeload of passengers maybe a decade ago when an engine failed in a light twin in the States.

Quote a total cost of a PPL based only on minimums .. IE 12 hours dual @ .. $ 12 hours solo @ ... $ and total time of 45 hours and leave it at that ... and that was flying out of Vancouver International before YBB was reactivated!

That'll get 'em in the door and then you have them hooked based upon a price that would be impossible to attain and you can have the students use their cars or houses for loan guarantees.

On top of that, don't own a single airplane .. use leased planes and make zero lease payments to the owners.

Its a great way to do business and leads to a maximum amount of money in the pocketbook of an FTU owner.

The Old Fogducker

[Louis]

Assorted ideas:

Depending on your location, having a loaner car for flight crews to go get lunch and run an errand or two can come in real handy.
Better yet, you could try and talk the town into giving you an old police cruiser.

High speed wi-fi internet is always a nice thing to have. Make sure that its separated from your own network for security reasons.

Online booking. It gives you and your staff a lot of flexibility. I could look at my schedule from home and fill some holes by calling students. Turn the situation around and it makes for good customer service as I was able to make appointments from anywhere with internet access.

Cost estimates. Sure you can always have those with the minimum hours, done on the 150/152. If only to compare apples with apples, but educate your potential clients a bit about what they're likely to actually spend on this. Maybe throw together an Excel spreadsheet where you can change airplanes and times to print out something customized.

If you have to start with only one airplane, make it a four seater. For the cost difference versus a two-seater, you can also run tours, and you'll probably rent it more to PPLs.

Depending on how much you need/want to cater to the owner-pilot crowd, you could always throw the occasional social activity: hot-dogs on the second saturday of the month, aviation-themed movie showing, etc...

Keep your renter check-out/insurance requirements reasonable. Especially for pilots who fly regularly on other aircraft, like active professional pilots.

While you might want to keep this for later, getting a 702 certificate for the odd photo shoot flight might be worth it. Don't bother with 703 unless you have a twin, and even then. The places I worked at had the 703 certificate but no twin, the odd calls we did get for a charter quote were either:
-impossible to do with our fleet
-feasible; do estimate, call potential client back, say price, hear jaw drop, client not so potential anymore... (said client usually thinking that a smaller charter airplane costs less to fly on than a big scheduled airliner)

Goodbye,

Louis