Flight Training - November 2011 - 15

NEWS

AOPA ACTION

National flight school accreditation program launched
Schools must complete extensive checklist
THE FLIGHT SCHOOL Association of North

Aviation group leaders unite, explore troubling issues
User fees, flight training, privacy all on the table
WHAT AFFECTS ONE segment of the avia-

America, or FSANA (www.fsana.com) , announced recently the introduction of its national flight school accreditation program. The program is intended to give those schools that go through the process a means of showing their financial strength and safety record compared to the competition. The accreditation process includes a self-evaluation, an on-site visit performed by volunteer inspectors, and a hearing of an accreditation commission in which the applicant must be present. Each award of accreditation is good for three years. According to FSANA, accreditation is awarded based on a set of seven criteria. They are: safety, security, risk management, business practices, finance and accounting, education, and customer satisfaction. Each of the criteria come with specific requirements. Schools must have a business plan, follow standard accounting procedures, have a security plan, handle students’ money properly, and follow standard customer service practices, for example. According to FSANA President Robert Rockmaker, the need for an accreditation program was obvious. “The business models at the schools were not practicing best practices,” he said. “For anyone who picks up the standards document, it will really get them thinking.” Rockmaker said one of the key goals of the program is to help accredited schools secure financing, although no such opportunity exists yet. He said he expects 250 to 300 schools to be accredited for in process of accreditation in the next three to five years. The cost to apply is $4,000 for FSANA members, and $5,000 for nonmembers. Application deadlines are twice a year, and the first was October 1.

tion industry ultimately affects everyone involved in aviation, be they business jet owners, helicopter pilots, or airport operators, the leaders of the industry associations said in a recent roundtable discussion. “We are, in fact, all part of the general aviation community, and anything that affects one segment affects us all,” said Ed Bolen, president and CEO of the National Business Aviation Association. Bolen was joined by Pete Bunce, president and CEO of the General

Some of the issues facing the industry include privacy rights for personal aircraft, user fees, and the dwindling pilot population. Hightower said EAA is poised to sharpen its focus on nurturing the next generation of aviators by helping Young Eagles participants— some 77,000 per year—progress beyond first flights to actually completing their certification. Financial support and mentoring are approaches that will be used, he said. AOPA’s Flight Training Retention Initiative is working to pinpoint suc-

"WE ARE, IN FACT, ALL PART OF THE GENERAL AVIATION COMMUNITY, AND ANYTHING THAT AFFECTS ONE SEGMENT AFFECTS US ALL." —ED BOLAN, NBAA

LEADERS of aviation industry associations join AOPA President Craig Fuller (center) at a recent roundtable discussion.

Aviation Manufacturers Association, James Coyne, president of the National Air Transportation Association, AOPA President Craig Fuller, Experimental Aircraft Association President Rod Hightower, and Matthew Zuccaro, president of Helicopter Association International. The organizations have joined together to fight the issues that threaten aviation, and the group leaders agreed that a united front has helped them to gain a stronger voice on Capitol Hill.

cessful and not-so-successful practices within the training community so as to improve the student pilot retention rate, Fuller said. User fees, once thought to be off the table, cropped back up in the most recent round of budget negotiations, Fuller said. “That is not the way to raise [revenue],” he said. “It creates a new bureaucracy.” Unless we convince Congress now that it doesn’t raise money in the proper way, we’ll be at risk, he explained.

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Flight Training - November 2011

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