Flight Training - January/February 2020 - 38

he excitement was electric.
More than 250 flight school
professionals descended
on the Redbird Migration
Flight Training Conference
gala in October to learn the
winners of AOPA's 2019
Flight Training Experience
Awards.
"Your students are the
future of our community,
and when you serve them
well, you serve us all,"
AOPA You Can Fly Executive Director Elizabeth
Tennyson told the assembled crowd at the Wings
Over the Rockies Exploration of Flight museum
in Englewood, Colorado.
"Without great CFIs and
flight schools, there would
be no pilots. You teach, you motivate, you inspire. And for every would-be
pilot who walks through the door, you make the difference between
dreaming and doing."
A New England flight training business known for nurturing students in
a professional environment and a Tarheel flight instructor who was recognized for his patience and motivation were the national winners of AOPA's
annual Flight Training Experience Awards. AeroVenture Flight Center, of
Mansfield Municipal Airport in Mansfield, Massachusetts, and MIL2ATP
flight instructor Christopher Kreske, from Wayne Executive Jetport in
Goldsboro, North Carolina, were the top honorees. This is the fifth year of
the annual recognition for the nation's flight schools and CFIs, based on
responses to an online survey of pilots currently enrolled in flight training.
The 2019 Flight Training Experience Survey received 7,585 complete
responses. From that feedback, 972 flight schools and 1,876 flight instructors were reviewed by their customers. Awards recognized standout
schools and instructors with at least five independent reviews and consistently superior ratings.
Customers highlighted educational quality, customer service, information sharing, and community among the 51 distinguished flight schools
and 53 distinguished instructors who comprised the top one-third of their
regions. A committee of industry experts awarded the top-scoring flight
school and instructor in each of six regions-Eastern, Southern, Great Lakes,
Central Southwest, Northwest Mountain, and Western Pacific. A seventh
award was presented to each national award winner.
FAMILY-RUN FLIGHT SCHOOL
Students complimented AeroVenture instructors for their dedicated
and innovative approach to flight training (see "Beyond 'Mom and Pop,'"
p. 39). Clients also said the overall ambiance provided a "very positive,
encouraging environment" while a young fleet of aircraft made learning
attractive. Family members and school owners George (the president and
CEO), Bill (the chief instructor and dad), and Debra Allen (the marketing
vice president and mom) were recognized as "some of the finest people
you will ever meet," said one respondent. The school was previously
named AOPA's Best Flight School in 2015.
"I think it's really hyper-customer focus, treating everybody right-
like they're special and not just a number coming through," said George
Allen during the Migration event. "What comes across is that warm,
welcoming family environment-not just our family but the whole
general aviation family. At the same time, they are getting a structured,
professional education. Balancing those two things carefully makes a very
positive environment" for flight students, he said.

38 FLIGHT TRAINING JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

Flight Training - January/February 2020

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