We are on a mission to serve the aviation community by providing support for pilots, support for aviation business, support for the industry, and of course, support for you.
While we do sell some products of our own, our tantamount motivation behind what we do is to help change the aviation community for the better. We want to explore the costs of aviation, analyze the economics of the industry, and try to band together with the rest of the community to bring in some economies of scale and sensible operating and training costs for pilots and students alike. We can't do this alone.
Though we have not been flying for decades, we have noticed one thing over the course of our flying years: the feeling of nostalgia that permeates the air at an airport. When arriving at many airports, we get the sensation that a once strong community thrived there. Photos on the wall often depict groups of smiling individuals, often near an aircraft. When looking on these walls, there seems to be many more older photos than new. Perhaps we are overlooking something, but we believe this is suggestive of a stronger community in the past than the present. These group gatherings of pilots and friends seems to be somewhat a thing of the past- we want to help reignite that sense of community.
Another important element which needs to be explored is the youth. These members of our community are ultimately the future. Without the youth, there is no future. Without lower costs, there is no youth. As many have simply stated, "I'd love to do it, but flying is just too expensive. How can I justify spending in excess of $200 an hour, especially as a student in high school or college." Well, they're right. Especially when it's difficult to see any return on investment coming out of learning how to fly as a youth. Education or flying? Hate to say it... but education. Obviously, the dilemma is far more complicated. Simply "reducing costs" is impossible. But there certainly are avenues which manufacturers and regulators can take to work together in order help reduce costs a bit. Check out our blog to read more about these topics and more!
Yet another disconcerting fact plaguing the industry is that the industry itself is hemorrhaging. Between 2002 and 2010, the industry saw a 30% drop in the number of Private Pilot Certificates awarded (and no... it's not because check-rides got harder). Sure, we can blame the economy. After all, flying is very expensive, which is a problem we've already highlighted.
To conclude, our mission is very important to us and we hope that someday we'll see a reversal in the negative trends popping up all throughout the aviation industry. We don't mean to sound frantic and pessimistic, but something has got to give or we'll lose the passion that we're all so adamant about as costs continue to rise and the rationale to fly continues to fall. We hope to be a part of something bigger than ourselves so that we can begin the movement forward to rectify the situation that lies before us.
