I just read that a $100 million Venture fund has been established to invest exclusively in innovation for education (see TechCrunch article).
The thesis is that education, particularly higher education, is in a bubble. The fact is that millions of kids are entering the system that isn't built to handle the diversity among learning styles and needs. Furthermore, investment in crucial initiatives like STEM and general technology tools are at a standstill. If you dig deeper in this issue, it is clear many institutions are simply afraid of making the "change" into the new dynamic of learning. This fear creates the action of inaction, resulting in missed opportunity and eventual complacency.
For professional pilot education, these issues are no different. The industry continues to look for the balance between the proven craft of stick and rudder flying with the airline-demanded tech-savvy pilots. In no way can the basic tenants of aviating be compromised, but they certainly can be built upon. So the question becomes where can innovation and education co-exist.
Student Recruitment: 
This is the first area I would invest time and capital. For aviation programs, it is crucial that they take the initiative upon themselves to find the right students. Good marketing and message communication is an investment, not a cost item on your P&L. Have a dedicated staff (or student) create compelling content that highlights your program and expertise. Use some of the social tools out there to see what kids areare interested in (www.socialmention.com). Meet them half way with engaging dialouge representing not only your institution, but the industry in general. The result will be clear increases in conversion rates at a much lower cost than traditional methods.
Operational Techniques:
This is an area ripe for collaberation and innovation. First, get outside of aviation. See what other logistics and manufacturing companies have done to improive their throughput, delivery process and "defect' rates. Discuss and debate the synergies and convert some of the learnings into actionable ideas for your team. If possible, encourage operational managers to experiement without the fear of failure. In the end, the institution will be run more efficiently, have a more motivated workforce/student body and attract more talent!
There are multiple areas of flight training that can be innovated without sacrificing the core commandments of aviation education. It will take a willingness to change, ability to look at the same problem differently and potentially asking for help.
This week, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) announced that they have formed a partnership with Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA) and Delta Air Lines that will help students clearly establish a career path and get flying jobs out of school!
Students will go through rigerous testing and a series of interviews before they become pilots at either airline, but this is definitely an advantage and a significant reason to choose ERAU over another flight program. After serving as a flight instructor for a certain period of time qualified students will receive a conditional offer of employement at ASA. After accumulating experience at ASA, qualified canditates will be offered an interview with Delta.
This is a significant recruitment tactic for University Aviation and has been seen at many other schools. As it turns out, ERAU also has a separate "bridge program" set up with Cape Air and JetBlue that effectively offers a similar career path for a perspective airline pilot.
Recently, Western Michigan University College of Aviation also signed a contract with Pinnacle Airlines that allows graduates of their program to be eligable for First Officer positions with Pinnacle, Mesaba, and Colgan Air.
Clearly, this is an effective recruitment tactic to pursuade new students to attend your institution. Maybe it is time you consider a similar partnership. If you feel that your program is not large enough to establish a partnership with a regional airline, look for local Part 135 operators or other flight operations in your area to partner with.
_ _ _ _ _
Farewell from Bryant Dunn
On an entirely separate note, I am sad to share that this will be my last post from Brown Aviation Lease. It has been a distinct pleasure sharing my thoughts and collaborating with the flight-training industry.
Here's what I can promise: Brown will continue to publish thought-provoking blog posts, industry-relevant newsletters, and innovations in flight training equipment acquisition. Thank you again for your readership.
-Bryant
Remember all of the talk around "End of Days" and "Judgement Day". Again and again, these dates come and go with lots of fanfair, then fizzle. Nonetheless, the debate continues and Americana is always up for a good reason to buy that Harley and drive off into the sunset one last time.
The debate among the mass pilot retirements seems to follow this same apocolyptic sequence.
In September 2007, House Resolution 4343 was signed and changed the mandatory retirement age for pilots from 60 to 65 years of age. At the time, over 13% of the 144,681 ATP certificate holders were between the ages of 55-59, and approximately 15% were between 50-54 years old.
Historically, the retirement rate of pilots in North America has averaged approximately 3% of the ATP population per year. However, from 2008 - 2011E, this rate was virtually zero! As we all know, this legislation had a onetime effect of pushing pilot retirements out an additional 5 years. As a result, some folks are predicting over 35,000 pilots are within 10 years of retiring and retirement rates of 4-5% across North American ATP population in the upcoming years.
If I was to channel my inner Harold Camping, there will be a day when airlines will have to park planes because they do not have pilots to fly them. What do you think?
Today, I read a blog post from Flying Magazine titled “Why the Coming Pilot Shortage Isn’t Creating Lots of New Pilots . . . Yet.” There is much debate around the topic of the “pilot shortage” and the numerous comments on Flying Magazine's blog post are a testament to it. Rather than me opinionate on the topic, I would like ask a few questions to see if we can ascertain the facts.
The author of the Flying Magazine Blog, Robert Goyer, covered a few points in his blog, but I want to specifically look at two:
- Even though regional airlines are hiring plenty of pilots right now, flight school business is relatively slow. Goyer comments that in the past when hiring was booming, so was enrollment at flight schools.
- The second point relates to the 1,500 hour rule. If you are unfamiliar with the rule, read about it here. Goyer says that new pilots will graduate from aviation programs and still need to build a significant amount of flight time. Goyer suggests that graduates will stay at their institution of learning longer than usual to build the required 1,500 hours. The problem is, instructors will stay longer and the instructor jobs will not be available for the new graduates.
So here are my questions to you…
1. What has been the trend of your enrollment over the past 12 months?
2. Do you think new graduates will have difficultly building flight experience as flight instructors because there will be a shortage of jobs?
Choosing to be a professional pilot is not a decision that should be made lightly. Brown Aviation Lease published a Pilot ROI Analysis Infographic in September that uses data pulled from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that compares the career of a pilot, lawyer, teacher and doctor. Click
here to download the infographic.
This is the final part of a two part series on fleet acquisition strategies in a slow economy. If you missed Part 1, you can read it here.
1. Will your new fleet prepare students for airline or corporate pilot positions?
According to Republic Airways, one of the primary reasons their new-hires do not succeed with initial flight training is because they cannot manage the FMS and automation in Republic’s jet aircraft.
Students who have experience with glass cockpits will be highly sought after graduates because of their ability to manage automation and FMS-like avionics technology. They will be the most prepared and have a better knowledge of how to use complex automation on many of today’s airliners. Having a fleet that can teach this technology is imperative. REMEMBER: You can always "dumb" down a smart aircraft, but you cannot smarten up a "dumb" one.
Furthermore, many successful collegiate aviation schools have established bridge programs with regional airlines. These bridge programs are partly based on the fact that students are exposed to glass cockpit technology and automation early on in flight training and are prepared to transfer those skills to the airline cockpit environment.
2. What factors should I consider when disposing of my current fleet?
According to Vref (Aircraft Value Reference), the time it takes to sell a single training aircraft is 6 to 7 months. If you own your fleet, managing the sale of old aircraft and the acquisition of the new fleet is more than a full-time job. In addition, there are many costs such as insurance, tie-down fees, and maintenance expenses that must be planned for even when an airplane is not being flown for training.
3. How can I show my CFO that I am decreasing and mitigating my program risk?
As an aviation program manager there are many risks you need to manage on a daily basis. Take for example the fact that the value index for light piston single engine aircraft has decreased 25% over the past 5 years.
With this risk in mind, your University CFO is concerned with protecting the use of University capital. One mitigation strategy that seems to emulate in every industry is sharing risk through partnerships.
The operating lease is an acquisition structure that allows the University to offset almost all of the ownership risk to the leasing company. If your CFO feels the best way to use University capital is ownership, consider a finance lease. The payments are usually lower than an operating lease, but the University will take on more of the ownership risk by owning the asset at the end of the term.
Next time you plan to acquire a new fleet consider the benefits of leasing. Talk to your partners in the industry and your CFO and weigh the many options that are available to you.
Many of you may have read our Fall Newsletter published two weeks ago. One of the articles that has been receiving a lot of traction is "5 Acquisition Stragetges in a Slow Economy."
Let me first explain why I decided to write this article. If you look at a recent blog post called "Top 5 Collegiate Aviation Challenges" you will find the top two challenges UAA institutions are facing:
- Transitioning to new equipment
- Program cost management
Both of those issues are addressed in this white paper, so be sure to take notes. This will be a two part series, so stay tuned for part 2 next week!
_ _ _
We are faced with a multitude of challenges today: budgets are constrained, pending federal regulations may significantly change flight training, and the cost of education is rising. It is important for us to implement strategies to mitigate risk, decrease costs, and flatline budgets.
1. When is the right time to upgrade my fleet?
Avionics technology in airlines and training aircraft is always changing. Most educators will argue it is important that students are exposed to the latest technology. Many successful collegiate flight programs are on a schedule to transition part of their fleet every 7 years with new aircraft for the reason of keeping up with technology.
Clearly, buying new aircraft gives you a tremendous advantage and allows you to take advantage of a manufacturer warranty. However, in today’s circumstances, not all flight programs can afford factory-new technically advanced aircraft. In a slow economy, consider acquiring a fleet of slightly used technically advanced aircraft (no more than 5 years old) at a discount from new aircraft.
This will still allow your program to transition to newer aircraft and teach the most advanced systems and avionics while preserving your operating budget.
2. What is the right number of aircraft to acquire?
There is no “one size fits all” ratio of aircraft to students. However, our data analysis shows that aircraft ratio can range anywhere from:
- 1 aircraft to 13 students
- 1 aircraft to 10 students
Fleet size can also have a direct impact on utilization. The smaller your fleet, the higher utilization per aircraft you can achieve if you can operate efficiently. From our data analysis, most schools strive to reach 600 hours per aircraft annually.
If you would like to download "5 Acquisition Strategies in a Slow Economy" as a PDF click here.
During World War II just before the Americans entered the war they were studying the big guns of the Germans. They found that they could fire a shell every 10 seconds. The best the Americans could do was one every 30 seconds.
They assigned a Colonel to study the matter. He found that the gunners were told to wait 20 seconds after firing a shell. When he asked why, everyone said because it is in the manual.
The Colonel went back to examine the World War I manual. It said: "...fire the shot and wait 20 seconds."
Frustrated, he went back to the civil war manuals. They said: "...fire the cannon and wait 20 seconds to steady the horses."
Why are you doing what you currently do? Is it because that is the way you have always done it?
Take the time to evaluate why you're doing what you're doing. Do you know reasons, philosophy and context under which the ideas were formed?
If not, you could be getting out gunned by your opponents. Stop steadying the horses!
Often, the stupid question is the un-asked question. Learn the 'why' behind the 'what'. Evaluate the merits of different ideas—without bias. And, continually seek out ways to improve your craft.
That's what winners do.
A friend of mine became CEO of an education consulting firm last week. At dinner, we discussed strategies for universities to communicate their value proposition to parents of their prospective students .
Based on a survey of over 1,000 parents with college-bound freshman, the research indicated that there are 5 key pillars of experiences that parents are looking for in educational institutions:
- Internship Opportunities
- Undergraduate Research
- Diverse Interactions
- Coursework
- Employment Opportunities
According to the analysis, these 5 pillars have the highest impact on decision making for parents.
In addition, parents place more influence on programs that develop the MEANs for their kids to be successful. Specifically, parents are looking for educational institutions to:
- Provide critical thinking skills
- Communication skills
- In depth expertise in trade and/or subject matter
- Professional conduct
- Exploring careers
- Being adaptable to multiple careers
So...what should we all consider?
- Build communication (think: recruiting) plans that connects student experiences with desired outcomes
- Ensure that training programs are aligned with parent expectations in order to achieve desired recruitment results
Has anyone developed any additional strategies for flight training student recruitment? Lets hear them!
This year at the University Aviation Association Fall Education Conference Brown Aviation Lease hosted our 3rd annual Kickoff Cocktail Reception. Part of being admitted into the reception was to list your most significant aviation program challenges. The point was for us to understand what some of the pain points are that our industry is facing. We received a total of 80 challenges! We segregrated the list and came up with 5 common themes.
Check out our presentation below which summarizes the top collegiate aviation challenges, supporting facts & figures, and some actionable ideas and solutions!
Take a proactive step for your program and reach out to us on our contact us page so we can tell you about our solutions!
In June, Brown Aviation Lease published a Professional Pilot ROI Analysis. As most of you remember, this analysis spread throughout the aviation community within a few days. We were astounded with your reaction and decided to take the analysis one step further.
The analysis is geared to help high school students (and their parents!) understand their decision to be a professional pilot. However, the old analysis was bulky and not optimized for high school students to understand....well, we have solved that problem.
We developed a single page "infographic." An infographic, for those of you who are unaware, is an estetically pleasing, picture friendly way to simply view complex data and information. We think you're going to love the finished product!
Here is a small clip of the infographic! To view and download the full graphic click here!
