Checked Out From The SAFE Resource Center Society of Aviation and Flight Educators

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1 Checked Out From The SAFE Resource Center Society of Aviation and Flight Educators The following material has been donated to the SAFE Resource Center for the personal use of SAFE Members and others. Permission for any other intended use must be coordinated directly with the author(s):

2 10/10/13 WHAT IS YOUR CFI WORTH? TRAINEE S POINT OF VIEW When everything is normal: The instructor charges too much! But during an emergency: Judy Phelps MCFI-A & 2011 National CFI of the Year The instructor is worth every penny! Rich Stowell MCFI-A & 2006 National CFI of the Year 1

3 10/10/13 WHAT MATTERS TO THE AVIATION CUSTOMER Quality + Focus = 73% STUDENT PILOT RETENTION 60 80% of Student Pilots Drop Out Before PPL! Though cost was a dominant concern: quality of instruction is a persistent issue and a weak link in the chain Source: AOPA The Flight Training Experience, Oct 2010 Source: AOPA The Flight Training Experience, Oct

4 10/10/13 AVIATION IS A SMALL MARKET MULTIPLE FACETS WITH MANY OPPORTUNITIES 618,660 Total Pilots 115,000 Students (18.6%) 96,551 Flight Instructors (15.6%) That s only 1.2 students per instructor! BUT 3

5 10/10/13 HOURLY RATES FOR OTHER TYPES OF INSTRUCTION ROLE MODELS FOR CFIs John & Martha King Golf $75 90 Tennis $ Hal Shevers Shooting Sports $45 60 Rod Machado Personal Trainer $ Horseback Riding $45 90 Bill Kershner 4

6 10/10/13 TRAITS OF SUCCESSFUL EDUCATORS WHAT IS VALUE? Focused Motivated Hard Working Customer-oriented Professional Continue to Learn Cost + Service + Intangibles Must be Equal to or Exceed Customer s Investment of Time + Money + Desires* * Customer desires include safety, honesty, enjoyment, utility, convenience 5

7 10/10/13 WHAT ADDED VALUE DO YOU BRING TO THE TABLE? WHAT S YOUR FORMULA? Good Nearly impossible to provide all three, unethical to advertise that you can Fast Cheap 6

8 10/10/13 WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BECOME AN EXPERT? WHAT ABOUT EXPERT CFI? Min Requirements for CFI = 250 hours flight time Neurosurgery = 42,000 hrs Astrophysics = 27,000 Litigation = 13,000 Knitting = 5,800 Yoga = 700 Celebrity Gossip = 300 Newly-minted CFI Instruction Given = 0 hrs Spin Expert w/ 33,000 Spins Instruction Given = 8,500 hrs 7

9 10/10/13 INCREASING YOUR VALUE BE CREATIVE Learn All You Can About Your Craft Use a Syllabus; Be Honest w/ Students Participate in FAASTeam & Other Training Programs Join SAFE s Aviation Educator Mentoring Program Consider Master Instructor Continuing Education Program Find Your Niche Organize Training Events Become a Speaker Author Material Innovate! 8

10 10/10/13 GET INVOLVED IN THE AVIATION COMMUNITY 9

11 WHAT IS YOUR CFI WORTH? A Fresh Look at an Old Question Judy Phelps and Rich Stowell Presented during AOPA Summit, Palm Springs, CA October 12, 2012 Presenter Notes SLIDE 1 COVER SLIDE Description: Could flight instructors charge like tennis or golf pros? How instructors can invest in and brand themselves. Exploring specialized training niches such as technically advanced aircraft and tailwheel, floatplane, aerobatic, and mountain flying. Background: The presenters draw from numerous sources, including: Personal experience: combined they have 34 years in the flight training business Results of AOPA's Flight Training Student Retention Initiative Results of a survey of Master Instructors Their white paper, "Examining Instructor Pay in Relation to Student Dropout Rates and Customer Satisfaction" The Value vs. Cost Proposition Instructor accreditation programs and continuing education Introductions: Judy Phelps Instructing since National CFI of the Year, Master Instructor since 2006 Primary through CFI training plus emergency maneuver, aerobatic, and tailwheel training Vice President, CP Aviation, Inc., a Part 61 Cessna Pilot Center with: 25 Employees with 10 Instructors (six full time, four part time) 18 Airplanes with 6,000 hours logged by the flight school per year Rich Stowell Instructing full-time since National CFI of the Year, Master Instructor since 1999 Specializing in spin, emergency maneuver, and tailwheel training Author, speaker, and loss of control subject matter expert Survey the Audience: How many instructors here? How many earning a living as aviation educators? How many independent instructors? How many thinking of becoming instructors? How many pilots currently receiving instruction? How many are concerned that your instructors will charge more after this presentation?

12 SLIDE 2 TRAINEE S POINT OF VIEW The market is a competition between instructors who desire to maximize their income, and students / customers who desire to minimize their (mostly discretionary) expenses for the same goods and services. Instructors have to approach the worth question from the trainee s point of view. Goals: Promise the trainee that you are worth every penny, even when it isn t an emergency Deliver on that promise Think Under Promise, Over Deliver SLIDE 3 WHAT MATTERS TO THE AVIATION CUSTOMER AOPA Student Pilot Training Initiative (Survey Results, October 2010): Elements that make up an Optimal Flight Training Experience Look at the First and Second Order Factors Instructional Quality & Customer Focus both of which hinge mostly on the instructor comprise 73% of the pie SLIDE 4 STUDENT PILOT RETENTION AOPA Student Pilot Training Initiative: Student Pilot attrition rates were 60 80% Even so, learning to fly was a strongly positive experience even for those who lapsed the overall experience of flight training carries significant value Most & Least Favorable Training Elements: 61% reported that they received good value for their money Yet only 47% reported that rates and prices were reasonable The relationship with the instructor is a decisive one: Though cost was a dominant concern, the quality of instruction is a persistent issue and a weak link in the chain quality eclipses cost / value for most What other industry could afford to lose 60 80% of its customers and still be viable? How successful would McDonald s or Apple be if they kept losing 60 80% of the customers who walked into their stores? instructors often represent the first and last lines of defense to keep pilots motivated to continue in aviation. Instructors also directly influence the aviation culture regarding safety and training mindsets. The cartoon points to a sad reality in aviation: instructor wages reflect the actual value students have placed on the services typically provide during training. SLIDE 5 AVIATION IS A SMALL MARKET Projected numbers as of March 2011 (FAA U.S. Civil Airmen Statistics): 618,660 Total Pilots 115,000 Students 18.6% of Total Pilots 96,551 Flight Instructors 15.6% of Total Pilots # Students per Instructor = 1.2 If all Students are active, but only 10% of Instructors are active, that s still only 12 Students per Instructor

13 SLIDE 6 BUT AVIATION HAS MULTIPLE FACETS WITH MANY OPPORTUNITIES Many pilots continually seek higher ratings, certificates, training All pilots are required to receive recurrent training at least every two years Numerous opportunities to specialize: Instrument vs. Visual Flight Tricycle vs. Tailwheel Floats and Skis Personal vs. Business Simulator vs. In-airplane Emergency Maneuvers vs. Aerobatics Mountain & Canyon Local vs. Cross-country Light vs. Small vs. Large Aircraft Simple vs. Technically Advanced Different Classes (airplane, rotorcraft, glider, lighter-than-air, etc.) SLIDE 7 HOURLY RATES FOR OTHER TYPES OF INSTRUCTION Golf, Private Lessons: $50 60 for up to 45 minutes; $75 90 for one hour Tennis: $ per hour Shooting Sports: $45 60 per hour Personal Trainer: $60 $100 per hour Riding Lessons: $45 90 per hour SLIDE 8 ROLE MODELS FOR CFIs Not only are some of these folks among the most recognizable and successful educators in aviation, but they are also among the most successful and influential business people in aviation: John and Martha King Hal Shevers Rod Machado Bill Kershner (who passed away a few years ago) set the standard in the 1960/70s with his training manuals Other perhaps lesser-known yet successful aviation educators SLIDE 9 TRAITS OF SUCCESSFUL EDUCATORS Focused Self-motivated Hard Working Customer-oriented Professional Continue to Learn SLIDE 10 WHAT IS VALUE? Cost + Service + Intangibles must be equal to or exceed the Customer s Investment of Time + Money + Desires Customer desires include safety, honesty, enjoyment, utility, and convenience SLIDE 11 WHAT ADDED VALUE DO YOU BRING TO THE TABLE? Survey the Audience: Instructors what is the added value you bring to your customers? Everyone what key features / benefits would you like to receive during training? SLIDE 12 WHAT S YOUR FORMULA? Good Fast Cheap comes from project / process management, but is applicable to instructing Realistically, it is only possible to provide two out of the three And it is unethical to advertise that you can provide all three Which two will (or do) you build your reputation and customer base on?

14 SLIDE 13 WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BECOME AND EXPERT? See Malcolm Gladwell s 10,000 hour rule Other estimates on hours-to-expert: Neurosurgery = 42,000 hours Astrophysics = 27,000 hours Litigation = 13,000 hours Poker = 7,700 hours Knitting = 5,800 hours Yoga = 700 hours Celebrity Gossip = 300 hours SLIDE 14 WHAT ABOUT EXPERT CFI? Contrast the estimates on the previous slide with the FAA minimum of 250 hours total flight time requirement to become a CFI: Even with the hours of ground study added in, it is unreasonable to think this amount of time qualifies anyone to be an expert instructor Also consider that a pilot can become a CFI without having provided any actual instruction beforehand Becoming a CFI is one milestone on the lifelong path to becoming a true expert aviation educator Not at all suggesting that a new CFI might not be conscientious, dedicated, and enthusiastic, or that the new CFI may not be a good pilot, only that it takes even more time and effort to perfect the craft. Similarly, just because an older CFI might have an abundance of flight time and experience does not guarantee that that CFI is an expert teacher, either. Discuss ways to improve as an instructor, or even become an expert instructor: SAFE s Aviation Educator Mentoring Program you can provide or receive mentoring Master Instructor Continuing Education Program Other similar industry-based initiatives SLIDE 15 INCREASING YOUR VALUE Learn all you can about your craft Use a syllabus and be honest with your students Participate in FAA Safety Team and other training programs Join SAFE s Aviation Educator Mentoring Program as a mentor, a mentee, or both Consider the Master Instructor Continuing Education Program: Voluntary national accreditation based on advanced professional standards and rigorous peer review About 170 current Master Instructors at any given time even though: The vast majority of Masters acknowledge the program challenged them to become educators As a result of becoming a Master, most reported a typical increase in income of 10 40%, with several reporting a 100% hike in their sustainable hourly rates Some flight schools offer incentive packages to their Masters worth several thousand dollars per year SLIDE 16 BE CREATIVE Find your niche Organize training events For example, group ground school sessions / training clinics Become a speaker Become a writer / producer of training materials Sell aviation products to, or for, your clients Innovate build a better mousetrap Survey the Audience: How are you being creative as an aviation educator? What s your specialty?

15 SLIDE 17 GET INVOLVED IN THE AVIATION COMMUNITY Discuss the various aviation organizations, type clubs, awards programs, and other ways to get involved and gain visibility See for example: