CFIs, do you follow up on a student pilot who presumably dropped out?

K

ktsai91

Well-Known Member
Hello all. CFIs I have a question for you. I'm just curious if CFIs can do this. Let's say you have a student pilot in primary training (going for sport, recreational, or private pilot certificate). But that student has not scheduled a lesson with you for a long time. You thought that student must have dropped out or quit flight training without telling you.

Would you follow up on a student who has not flown with you for a long time? Basically what I am asking is would you ask a student if they dropped out and if they did drop out, would you ask them why and try to convince them to finish training or work out a plan to help them complete their primary flight training?
 
Sure. At the last flight school I worked at, every 6 months or so we would run a report of inactive customers, sort through it based on those that we knew finished or moved away and then cold call the rest.
 
Previous customers can become a part of your active book of business if you pursue it. Totally contact them. The only way to find out is to reach out to them and remind them about you.
 
Yes, have had a few who got busy for a month and dropped off radar or who needed to save up some funds to keep going, and after I checked in they started right back up.

Life gets busy, priorities need to get moved around, and people like to feel valued and part of a group. Showing that they are missed is part of the social need cycle... not just "yo my schedule is empty and I need flight time where you been?" but an actual interest in whats going on and how they are progressing.
 
Definitely okay to do. Some never come back, but a small percentage will and that is just money in your pocket and time in your log book.
 
It'll sound something like this:

YO DUDE! WHERE U AT???

Ohhh, hey. Well....Uhhhh... I got my credit card bill for my first month of flight training aaaannnndd, well, its really expensive. I need to cool it for a while and take care of a few other things and maybe come back in the summer. Thanks man, life just gets in the way and junk....


After a while, you get too busy and stop chasing it. Flying is something they need to WANT to do. If they want it bad enough, they'll figure out a way.
 
TwoTwoLeft said:
It'll sound something like this:

YO DUDE! WHERE U AT???

Ohhh, hey. Well....Uhhhh... I got my credit card bill for my first month of flight training aaaannnndd, well, its really expensive. I need to cool it for a while and take care of a few other things and maybe come back in the summer. Thanks man, life just gets in the way and junk....


After a while, you get too busy and stop chasing it. Flying is something they need to WANT to do. If they want it bad enough, they'll figure out a way.
Click to expand...
Honestly... With a lot of them if I thought they didn't want it bad enough to keep making it a semi regular thing, I didn't really want to work with them all that much anyway. This is the people that I know had plenty of money but obviously the motivation to do the work wasn't there half the time.
 
At an AOPA shindig last year one of the speakers quoted a study by the Feds that said 80% of people that get a student pilot medical never get a certificate.

I keep bugging students until they tell me to get lost.

If they aren't flying what do you have to lose?

It's getting tougher for sure, people have less $ to spend now days
 
DBrown said:
Would you follow up on a student who has not flown with you for a long time? Basically what I am asking is would you ask a student if they dropped out and if they did drop out, would you ask them why and try to convince them to finish training or work out a plan to help them complete their primary flight training?
Click to expand...
[/quote]


I call, send an email, or text every few months or so. People get busy with work/other things, it happens. I teach part time, so when my schedule starts to open up, that's when I'll start making calls.

I don't try to convince anyone to do anything, just ask how they've been and let them know I'm still teaching.
 
I agree with what most people are saying. About every month or so I drop an email, ask about their other interests. I make sure to keep it casual so I don't come across as a used car salesman. Especially if you are doing non vocational flight training this is important. Building lasting relationships is important, keeps your doors open when times are tough.
 
It depends on why they dropped out. If it was money, then occasionally I'd call/email to check up on if they're doing any independent study/prepping for a knowledge test/interested in doing ground work at all. If it was apprehension or fear of flying, or the student was really not progressing, then I'd just let a spade be a spade and leave it alone. With some students, I know it's a busy schedule on their end and I've developed a relationship where I can call them up and bust their balls, so to speak. It usually gets them going. I don't teach full time anymore though, so it's kind of a moot point-- people come and go as they'd like, I keep one or two students at a time, and usually I'm referring people off to an instructor better able to hold down a regular schedule.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top