Owning a Flight School

[jrh]

I do have some choice words for considering being a CPC. Together with your students you are effectively putting the rope around your neck by being connected to Cessna. There is only a superficial commitment from Cessna towards your school - the rest is smoke and hot air.

Come on now...being a CPC might not be a huge asset, but I don't see how it hurts anything.

Letting 4 Regional Managers go shortly before announcing another freaky delay with the Ground Catcher, it is grotesque to see that Peltons Wife is flying one, while paying customers are outside in the rain.

Letting the managers go was too bad, but I can understand where Cessna was coming from. They were paying out significant amounts of money to people who weren't really doing much (at least our regional manager never did).

As for the SkyCatcher....eh...I'd rather have it be high quality than on time. If it shows up late and is shoddy quality, that's when I'll get pissed. But I don't think that'll happen.

While I have gained a lot of respect for the Kings after meeting them, I consider Cessna's Online School thingy a shot in the air. I do not expect it to work well anytime soon and cannot imagine they will do a good job with support and/ or customer service.

See my comments to mojo about the online training. I think it's fantastic. And the support has been great for it, in my experience, too. YMMV.

Remember a few single points about running a flightschool:

• Your CFI's are your flag or advertising sign. Pay them well, but expect nothing but excellence, experience and commitment.
• A dumb receptionist can cost you thousands of dollars.
• Choosing the wrong location is the equivalent to actually pulling the trigger of the gun you just stuck in your mouth by thinking a flightschool could ever be really profitable.
• Choose what you specialize in carefully.

I fully agree with all of these.

 

[jrh]

it's tough to find good help

You can say that again.

It's amazingly difficult to find a "perfect" employee...as though one exists. Some will tell you the pay determines the quality, which is does, to some degree...but finding raw talent that fits the needs of the business, no matter what the price, is still tough.

There are so many factors to look at...availability, stability, attention to detail, confidence, sales skills, customer service skills, technical skills, interpersonal skills, professionalism...I could go on forever. Nobody has it all. You can only hope to find a person with more skill than everyone else.

I love the people I work with, but no matter who it is, there are days I want to pull my hair out. Of course, I'm sure there are days they think the same about me, so I try to stay positive and keep doing the best I can with their strong points.

 

[SurfandSun]

My family owned an FBO for over 25years. They sold fuel, gave flight instruction, did charter part 135, even had a couple EAS contracts and UPS contracts.
It's a tough business. The instructors who work for you are using you as a stepping stone and will leave at the drop of a hat, insurance is ridiculous, mx is ridiculous, fuel prices are ridiculous. Throw in a couple bad accidents every few years that leave you sleepless and then you have the makings of owning a biz like that.

 

[TXTBOOK]

My family owned an FBO for over 25years. They sold fuel, gave flight instruction, did charter part 135, even had a couple EAS contracts and UPS contracts.
It's a tough business. The instructors who work for you are using you as a stepping stone and will leave at the drop of a hat, insurance is ridiculous, mx is ridiculous, fuel prices are ridiculous. Throw in a couple bad accidents every few years that leave you sleepless and then you have the makings of owning a biz like that.

I'm thinking of staying as small as possible. No fuel, no charter, nothing. Just plain old teaching folks how to fly

 

[SIUav8er]

I would consider starting a flying club. less overhead since the instructors are simply independant contractors, free to charge what they want for thier services. The trick is to find a few aircraft that you can lease.

 

[TXTBOOK]

I would consider starting a flying club. less overhead since the instructors are simply independant contractors, free to charge what they want for thier services. The trick is to find a few aircraft that you can lease.

Good idea. What are the differences between a flying club and a flight school?

 

[OldTownPilot]

Flying clubs usually imply some sort of monthly dues, and/or partial equity in the airplane.