Publicity to Prime Pilot Pipeline

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has joined with the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), and major businesses and organizations in a national program to attract new pilots and revitalize the general aviation industry.

GA Team 2000, announced last March, will help the industry capitalize "on this unique moment following liability reform and the increasing production of light aircraft," says GAMA President Edward Stimpson, the program's chairman and an Embry-Riddle trustee.

Reversing an industry's decline

The passage in 1994 of the General Aviation Revitalization Act, which established an 18-year limit for manufacturer liability on aircraft with 19 or fewer seats, is credited with reversing the industry's virtual freeze on new research and production.

Before the reform, manufacturers were being held indefinitely liable for every plane they ever built and, as a result, had a "liability tail" that was too expensive to insure and liability costs that were too difficult to build into the price of new airplanes.

Since the passage of the liability reform act, production lines that had been closed have been reopened, and new products are coming into the market. Cessna Aircraft marked its return to the piston engine aircraft market with a new production facility in Independence, Kansas, and has plans to produce 2,000 planes by 1998.

Piper Aircraft, which had languished for years in bankruptcy, reemerged as The New Piper Aircraft Inc. and last year produced more piston-powered general aviation aircraft than any other company in the world. Unison Industries, which in 1988 scrapped a year's worth of research on a new electronic ignition system because of the potential liability risk, is now bringing the new ignition system to the market.

NASA also has joined with 70 companies and universities in a partnership called Advanced General Aviation Transport Experiment (AGATE) to develop new technologies for icing detection and protection, cockpit integration, new propulsion, and other needs.

Wanted: new pilots

However, the industry's continued revitalization hinges on renewing the pipeline of new pilots, says AOPA President Phil Boyer. He estimates at least 100,000 student starts a year are needed to maintain a stable pilot population. Otherwise, he says, at today's new start and drop-out rates, the number of pilots in the U.S. would drop to 530,000 in four years. A study by GAMA has found that positive public perceptions of flying have risen and that 10.5% of a target group are "very interested" in learning to fly, which projects to 1.2 million people. Another finding, that men are only twice as likely as women to be very interested in flying, suggests that the percentage of women students could increase.

And while 66% of respondents said their main reason for learning to fly would be fun, romance and adventure, those surveyed consistently overestimated the cost and complexity of learning.

Publicity campaign to be launched

Based on this research, GA Team 2000 in early 1997 will launch awareness and marketing campaigns to rekindle the public's interest in flying. Messages will emphasize the ability to get a pilot certificate in six months, the availability of a mentor to give encouragement, and that airplanes can rent for as little as $50 or less.

The campaign will use a focused, targeted promotional approach, according to Stimpson.

"We're not aiming to have an airplane in everyone's garage," he says. "Yes, we want to sell planes, but we also need to create a flight training environment and new students."

But trainers had better keep up with students, Stimpson cautions. "Show a 28-year-old plane to someone who is tuned in to new technology, and you're not going to have much interest," he says. "That's why it's been so good that Embry-Riddle is keeping up with its planes, computers, and flight training simulators. The University is competitive."

Embry-Riddle recently added five new Piper Seminole trainer aircraft to its fleet.

Embry-Riddle's role

"We have a vested interest in the success of GA Team 2000," says Paul McDuffee, Embry-Riddle's vice president for university relations.

In addition to its degree programs and for-credit courses, the University runs a variety of outreach programs for non-students who are interested in learning to fly.

For young people, "Flight Exploration" and "Sun Flight" offer flight familiarization and training, "Aerospace Encounter" and "Aerospace Summer Camp" introduce aeronautics, space and space technology, and "Aviation Career Education Specialization (ACES) Academy" opens windows on careers in flight, maintenance, air traffic control, engineering, and avionics.

For adults, "Summer Flight Institute" offers customized flight training, "Ticket to the Sky" workshops show teachers how to add aviation and aerospace to their math and science curricula, and continuing education programs are offered for maintenance, flight instruction, and aviation safety certification.

In early 1997, GA Team 2000 will make kits and promotional materials available for anyone who is interested in flying. Embry-Riddle alumni who wish to mentor future pilots may request the materials by calling GAMA's Shelly Snyder at 202-393-1500.

For information about Embry-Riddle and its degree programs in aviation and aerospace, call the admissions office toll-free at 1-800-862-2416, send e-mail to admit@db.erau.edu or view its web site at www.embryriddle.edu.

[For statistics related to general aviation, click here.]